Impromptu Art

I made this on my computer one night while we were all hanging out, spinning records, playing games, and having an all around good time.  I was inspired by the music, by the friendship, and by my housemates, who I love so dearly.  What do you think?

How to Make a Decorative Paper Chain

Paper chains are great.  You can make them to fit any holiday or special occasion, they can be used for decoration year round, they are relatively easy to make, AND they can be made from mostly recycled materials.

What you need to make paper chains:
1. Paper. I like to use old magazines and catalogs.
2. Scissors (to cut the paper).
3. Tape
4. Creativity



STEPS:

Step 1: Gather all your paper product together.  Hopefully you've found some old magazines or catalogs that we can use.  Scan through the magazines and catalogs and find pictures that stand out to you.  Maybe they have amazing colors to them or neat designs or whatever.  Cut those pages out of the magazines and such and set them aside.  Continue to do this until you have a huge stack of paper.

Step 2: Once you have lots of paper, you can start cutting it into strips.  Try to make the strips even, but make them however thick or however thin you want.  Pile up your paper strips, but mix them up, so that all the strips near each other in the stack are from different pages.

Step 3: Pick up one strip and make a loop.  Connect the two ends of the loop with tape to make a circle out of the paper strip. (It should look like a bracelet.)

Step 4: Pick up another strip of paper and slide it through the center of the first paper circle.  Make a loop, connect the two ends, form a second bracelet-like circle and you have now "linked" your loops like a chain.

Step 5: Continue Step 4 over and over again until the paper chain is the desired length.  Then stop, hang it up, and love it!

Step 6: Clean up all the scraps and any other messes, and enjoy your paper chains!

Paper Chain And Other Paper Craft Resources:

A Paper (Fabric) Chain Tutorial
Papercopia
Advent Paper Chains: An Easy Christmas Craft
Printable Paper Valentine Chains for Kids
How to Make Paper Chains - Ring Type

PonchoMeg Says: Coloring books are NOT just for kids... Oh yeah... and I love my cats!

Yes, it is true... I absolutely love the cats at our house.  Ava is my baby, but Sam and Binks have been very welcome additions to my life.  I am so glad to know them and live with them.

Now, because I am a super creative person, and I love making things, and I love coloring, I decided a while back to color a coloring book photo of three cats to look like Sam, Binks, and Ava.  How do you think I did?

Here are the cats just as they are:

And here's the coloring book page:

  What do you think?

Tie Dye

Tie Dye is such a fun activity.  You can be completely creative and let your whims lead your fantasy to create a truly original piece of art.

Sometimes though, it is also fun to start a project having some idea of what the product is going to look like in the end... especially when it is a sweet tie-dye project such as this one:

Camo Peace Sign Tie-Dye T-Shirt Pattern

In case you get bored and want to do even more tie-dye, check out these other great tie-dye resources:

How to Tie-Dye.net

How to Make Different Tie-Dye Effects: eHow.com

60's Fashion: Hippie Clothes

Tie Dye: The How-to Book at Amazon.com

Above: Me and my former roomie (aka: "Roomie for Life") Kelsey back in college.  I am rockin' out my tie-dye tank top! Not to mention an amazing peace sign necklace and cool jewelry.  What fun!

Have fun in all your tie-dying, high flying, death defying, arts and crafts adventures. hehe

Until next time...

Peace and Love,

Meagan