Paper Dress: Little E with Manila Shawl

During the holidays, my sis-in law got the nearly perfect gift for me: a Matisse book from Taschen Basic Art Series. 

I was flipping through the book on my day off today. Matisse's oil canvas painting "Madame Matisse in Manila Shawl" caught my eye. It reminded me how it was featured the exhibition "China: Through the Looking Glass" at MET last year. To me the exhibition was a representation of Chinese cultural influence through high fashion/apparel + film/music clips + objects of art. Despite the different critics reviews of the exhibition, I did enjoy the beauty and creativity of the so-called "Orientalism".

I used a couple of  free tissue paper from clothing stores and kids' paint to make a paper version of the dress and shawl from Matisse' painting. 

As Amelie, Madame Matisse, patiently wore the costume as a model for the artist in 1911, little E wore the paper version gracefully as my little model today : )

Paper Dress: Mosaic Peacock

I've always love the color of  peacock blue. The other day I saw this peacock pillow cover in a home goods store. It reminded me of the tissue paper I found long ago with similar peacock feather pattern and colors. Little E and I decided to make a peacock dress this time!

We cut out long stripes and trimmed one end round. 

Then we used yellow and blue origami paper to finish the peacock feather pattern.

 While I was still brainstorming how to finish the dress in a simple style (not trying to make a performance dance wear), Little E started cutting the paper scraps for fun. 

So I decided to use them  and made a simple mosaic style dress top. 

Check out our newest paper dress made together: Mosaic Peacock.

(I made a little hair piece using pipe liners, too!)

Paper Dress: Glitter Poinsettia

Christmas is around the corner and kids are making all sorts of holiday projects at school. Big E took home a poinsettia made out of red construction paper. Little E took out origami paper right away and wanted to make some flowers too!

I drew some poinsettia foliages on the red origami paper.

Little E cut them out and glue them on the skirt.

 Then we added some green leaves and yellow core.

They look bright and festive already!

We used glitter glue to make some decorative details. 

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Paper Dress: The Bird Cage

If you know me, you know I have a favorite brand for handbags. And this is the newest apple of my eye from their Asian influenced series. 

Some critics found it a tacky representation of 1920's Shanghai. Some found it whimsical and clever. I just thought it reminded me of my last grandpa's bird cages. He had always had 3 bird cages at his place - a bamboo cage with a yellow bird, a wooden cage with a white bird, and a golden-color metal cage with a green bird. As a little girl, I enjoyed so much watching Grandpa feeding them and cleaning the cages. I loved it when Grandpa whistled a different tune to go along with the each birdie's singing.

But just like childhood memories, this precious bag is gone in a blink of an eye. I decided to make my paper version of a bird cage with Little E's help.

I drew two little birds and cut out some black tissue paper making a cage shape.

Little E colored the birdies green and cut them out.

We glued the birds on the skirt part and started twisting/lining up the golden pipe cleaners.

Then we glued the pipe cleaners in place using white glue.

It was not easy to keep them in place!

After leaving the dress dry overnight, here is our 22nd paper dress made together - The bird cage!

Paper Dress: Sea Star Bubbles

A friend of mine recently shared this photo of amazing sea star online. I was totally in awe of its vibrant colors and unique pattern. Big E and Little E have always enjoyed observing the life of different sea animals. After I showed this photo to them, they were so excited and asked to see more sea creatures at the local pet store. This week, Little E and I decided to make a paper dress about this beautiful sea star!

I drew 3 sea stars with a black sharpie. 

Little E and I spent quite some time to choose the colors and filled the patterns in.

Look how colorful these sea stars are after we cut them out!

The cutting part was not easy for Little E but we worked as a team.

Then I pulled some bubble wrap pieces out. 

Little E painted them with water color - pink, purple, green, and blue.

The water color took a bit longer than we expected to dry.

Maybe next time we can try acrylic paint on bubble wraps.

Here is our 21st paper (bubble wrap) dress made together - The Sea Star Bubbles!

Paper Dress: Black and Foil

Black origami paper and foil.

Right after I saw this pair of beauty online, Little E and I wrapped this up in 5 minutes.

She re-purposed the foil gem from the dress as her hair piece - a much more brilliant idea!

Here is our 20th paper dress made together - The Black and Foil.

Paper Dress: Summer Popsicles

Two months of summer break is almost coming to the end. Big E and Little E have had so much fun doing different activities, playing with friends and visiting grandparents in L.A.

And of course in the summer heat, the kids have a lot of chances to enjoy frozen treats - shaved ice, frozen yogurt, ice cream cones, milk shakes, popsicles...and so on. I'm always amazed by how fast they can chow down the sweet icy treats in a blink of an eye (compared to the long dragging 45 minutes at regular meal time) .

After our trip to Legoland, the kids still remembered the rainbow popsicle they had there.

When we came home, Little E and I decided to make some popsicles on paper by ourselves.

We cut out popsicle shapes using white printing paper. 

I drew some different designs and Little E colored them using markers.

I use brown poster paper to cut out two pieces of skirt patterns out. 

Little E glued most popsicles on one piece of skirt.

Here is the 19th colorful and vibrant paper dress we made together - the summer popsicles!

I thought Little E looks like a girl scout selling popsicles : )

Paper Dress: The Angel Wings

I love shoes. Sandals, pumps, heels, flats, boots, loafers, flip-flops, sneaker...You name it, I have it.

I am not the Carrie Bradshaw type to go for Manolo Blahnik or Christian Louboutin though. My wallet, my wide feet, and the reality of having two little kids won't allow me to have this kind of luxury.

However, I do know how to appreciate a pair of beauty when I spot them online or in the magazine.

This pair of colorful wings caught my eye when I saw it for the first time. I can't think of an excuse for me to buy it or an occasion for me to wear it. Therefore, I'm making a paper dress version of it for my Little E to enjoy.

I drew 3 pairs of angel wings. Little E and I cut them out. 

Then she colored them in two different shades of pink.

I used two pieces of orange tissue paper to make the dress and drew a simple maze on white paper. 

Slide the maze under the tissue paper as a pattern. 

Little E cut and glued the purple origami paper strips to recreate the maze.

Then Little E glued the 3 pairs of wings on the dress. 

I made her a pair of bigger angel wings using fuchsia and blue construction paper.

 For the straps on the dress, I taped 3 long strips of white paper to make braids. 

Little E was a great little helper when I was braiding the paper together.

If the maze is too hard to get out, Mama gives you wings to fly over, my little girl!

Here is our 18th paper dress made together - The Angel Wings.