I am teaching a recycled arts camp this summer at the Columbia Arts Center.  The class is still open for registration.

Recycled Art Camp

Taught by: Cynthia Caudill

Create using recycled materials…the possibilities are endless! Each day students will create a functional art piece while learning about sustainability in our world. Students will have the opportunity to choice their projects that include: reusable sandwich and snack bags, found paper wallets, recycled framed chalkboards, sweater monsters..

July 30 - Aug 2

Monday - Thursday

• 1:00pm to 4:00pm
• Ages: 2nd grade to middle school
• Limited to 12 students
• Fee: $85

Gnome Chair

I found an IKEA chair at Goodwill that looked perfect for painting.  Here is my gnome/mushroom inspired chair.

American Clay Paster Bags- June Challenge

   
 The Challenge Material for the month of June is cloth bags used for packaging for American Clay Plaster.  Up until recently, they were made from cloth which lends itself easily to repurposing.  The cloth is a soft canvas material.  American Clay Plaster is now packaged in woven plastic bags, similar to the challenge material from the month of April.
   The Repurposing Project is sponsored by Sustain Eco Interiors and Design in Hood River, Oregon.

Garage Sales

I love having my Fridays free to go to garage sales.  I spent a total of $10 today and here is what I came home with.

Large Basket $7.50

Perfect for pillows, blankets or a shoe basket

IKEA shelf $1

IKEA coat hooks  50 cents

Flower arrangement in a vase $1

Malt Bag Challenge

Here are a few of the items that were created with April's Challenge Material, Malt Bags from the brewing industry.

Cloth Basket

Tote Bag

Placemat and coasters...

 malt bags on one side, cotton fabric on the other

Brewer's Notebook

Recycled Sweater Fish

As promised, here are the Recycled Sweater Fish made by 4th-6th graders during the School's Out/ Art's In program at Parkdale Elementary and Cascade Locks School.  The students learned about the flooding of Celilo Falls and the importance of fish to the Native American tribes in the area.

Not only did the students learn about the fishing culture and the devastation of the flooding of Celilo Falls, but they also learned how to use recycled materials to create art.

The students learned how to cut out and pin a pattern, how to put right sides together to sew a stuffed animal, then turn it inside out, stuff and hand sew the opening.

Once all of the fish were completed, they were put on display at May's First Friday at the Columbia Art Center in Hood River  for the whole community to see.

Classroom Marketplace

My daughter has the best 3rd grade teacher.  During a unit on how commerce works, she created a classroom market place where the students learned about how to operate a small business.  They used a class currency to earn money, then created products to sell at their class market.  The students could use the money they earned throughout the unit to buy items from other classroom vendors.  In partners, they had to come up with a product, a plan to make the product in a time and cost effective way, then decide how they wanted to market their product.  Parents came in as guests to share their expertise in business to teach the students how to operate a successful buisness.  I talked to the 3rd graders about having a booth at a craft fair.

As the day for the market drew near, students could assign their parents homework, so they could earn some of their own spending money at the Market. ( I earned $5 for making my daughter's lunch!)

Handmade crayons called Cupcake Crayons.  They were made in cupcake liners in a muffin tin, so the end result looked like miniature cupcakes.   The girls used coiled pipe cleaners on the top to make it look like frosting on top of their Cupcake Crayons.  So creative!

These labyrinths were very popular.  We came home with 2 of them.  They were made using straws and shoebox lids. You will roll a marble through the maze. The more challenging the maze, the more they cost.  The boys even went to the local shoe store and asked for their old lids.

Not just any old friendship bracelet, but Rockin' Bracelets!

Handmade cootie catchers in a variety of colors and patterns.

Water wands made from decorated straws and joke books.  This booth even had a demonstration area for trying out the water wands.

Love the marketing!  Makes you want to buy more than one, doesn't it!

The classroom marketplace was a hit.  Everyone learned so much and walked away with great handmade items.