Paper Dress/Vest: The Bowtie Newspaper

How many of you still read the actual newspaper? (The kind that have words printed on actually paper , get your finger tips inky, and delivered on your front porch)

Like the most of us, I have been obtaining news on various websites. Unless we are visiting the kids' grandparents or great-grandparents, then I would find newspaper laying on the coffee table or the dining table for me to browse through.

When I saw a pack of newspaper-like tissue paper in a clothing store, I was like Captain Cat found a random treasure! I couldn't wait to open it and start having an idea about what to make out of it.

I taught Little E how to fold and flip the paper to make a bowtie. 

She was trying very hard to remember the "flip then fold" process. Good job, little girl!

I made several paper bowties using twist ties I saved from bread bags.

 Then we made a paper purse by folding a piece of tissue paper in half and glued the sides.

The next day, Little E folded more bowties while I cut out a template of paper vest using a piece of black construction paper. We were planning to make Big E something, too!

After a lot of bowtie folding and taping, here are the finished products.

I love the vintage look so much! Big E was surprised that he got something to wear, too!

This is the 13th paper dress (and vest) we made together - The Bowtie Newpaper!

Storybook: The Paper that Eats People

Going to the local library is one of our Saturday routines every weekend. This week we checked out a book called "The Book that Eats People". It tells a story about a book that really, really, eats people. The vivid and colorful illustration really caught the eyes of my two little readers. But this book doesn't seem to be a good choice for bedtime story : )

This book also reminded Big E one of our favorite picture books by Oliver Jeffers - "The Incredible Book Eating Boy". It tells a story about a boy, Henry, who likes to eat all sorts of books, red ones especially. He became smarter and smarter until one day he couldn't digest them anymore. The information inside started to jumble up!

Inspired by these two wonderful stories, Big E created his own storybook: 

The Paper that Eats People

 

 

Paper Dress: The Striped Fashionista

I like stripes. Black and white stripes. Colorful stripes, I like stripes on almost everything.

When I saw this outfit on a Saks 5th Ave ad, it was love at first sight. 

Unfortunately, I'm a pear-shaped lady who is barely 5'2.  And I never lost the baby weight (The kids are already 7 and 4 to be exact.) I'm not sure if I would look chic and carefree after I put these beautifully aligned stripes on.

Since Little E is learning about patterns and shapes at preschool, I thought it will be a good idea to make a paper version of this lovely outfit.

I picked out some origami paper with similar colors and drew half inch wide columns on the back.

Little E started cutting the black and multicolored stripes out.

I drew a line in the middle of a piece of poster paper. 

Little E glued the colored stripes on according to a pattern - pink, purple, red, green, blue, and yellow.

Then she glued all the black stripes on the other half of the paper.

The next day, I cut out the template for the top.

Little E glued the black stripes in the middle. 

Then we cut the colored stripes half in length to glued on both sides.

The finished top and skirt look fabulous already (I love stripes!)

Here is our 12th paper dress made together - The Striped Fashionista!

I thought our paper version isn't too shabby at all : )

Artist Inspired Craft Kit - The You I See

After the kids were done with the colorful silhouette project, I showed the picture of Yayoi Kusama's original artwork - One Thousand Eyes to Big E today. 

He starred at it for a while and wowed by the amount of faces there are. He said, "It must take the artist a long long time to finish this art project!" I told him it takes not only talent but also hard work and patience to make a good piece of artwork.

Then Big E and I decided we could try a project like this, too!

Big E started by drawing an irregular loop on half piece of white printing paper. 

I asked Big E to imagine this is a journey for his silhouette.

Which direction is he going? What is he going to see?  

We put another half piece of white printing paper on top of the loop.

Big E started tracing the silhouette cut-out using a pencil and moving it along the loop he drew earlier.

Big E was very focused! At times, he was a bit confused which direction the silhouette needed to turn.

It took quite some time for him to trace the silhouettes with a thin black marker afterwards.

Here is the finished work!

 I asked Big E, "Where do you think the silhouettes are going? What are they going to see?"

He thought about it for a second, 

"That's for them to decide. It's not up to us. You know, Mama, they might see you!"

I was speechless. Then I named this artwork - The You I see

Artist Inspired Craft Kit - The Me I See

I got caught in Yayoi Kusama's art work - One Thousand Eyes (silk screen on canvas) at her exhibition in Shanghai.

Standing in front of the empty faces, I felt surprisingly content among this unfamiliar crowd - no need to do anything, not trying to get anywhere. My once in a blue moon solitude was surrounded by a thousand unseen eyes and yet, not even slightly stirred.



Today I found a couple of kids' photos that I used to make their silhouette 2 years ago. (They were 2 and 5 at that time!) Then I came up with this artist inspired craft idea for Big E and Little E to try.

I printed the photos out and made the silhouette pattern.

The kids trace the silhouette cut-out on 2 pieces of origami paper of their choice.

Big E did a good job tracing and cutting. Little E needed a bit more help cutting the silhouette out.

They used the silhouette cut-outs to make a pattern and glued them on another piece of yellow paper.

Here are their finished artwork. 

I love the vibrant color and the pattern of their choices!

 Little E said " Wow, there are a lot of me on the paper!" 

Therefore, I named this project - The Me I see!

Paper Dress: The Strawberry Cream

May is a happy and busy month for us. We had 2 birthday parties for Big E and Little E. Then today we had a wonderful  lunch with family for Mother's Day. Both kids were showered with gifts and love. We are truly lucky to have friends and family around.

For Little E's birthday, we decided to have a celebration at her preschool. Little E helped me bake strawberry cupcakes for her friends and teachers the night before. I piped fresh whipped cream on top and cut out heart- shaped strawberries as the topping the next morning. All her friends and teacher enjoyed it and Little E had a fun time being the birthday girl!

The colors of her birthday cupcakes were so vibrant and beautiful. It became the inspiration of the paper dress this time. I decided to make another accessory to go with the dress this time. 

I used a bowl and two layers of used white tissue paper to make the shape of a sun hat. Instead of using white glue and water to set and harden the hat, I just used tape and staples to keep the shape.

I printed out strawberry templates online and Little E colored them in red and pink.

 Little E is getting better and better at using the scissor. She cut all 4 strawberries out without my help! 

Then I taped another 2 pieces of used white tissue paper together to make the body of the dress. 

Here is our 11th paper dress made together - The Strawberry Cream!

The little model really loves her big hat!