Use Crayola Model Magic to make this lifelike skeleton hand holding a mason jar, add a candle to complete the look for a perfect, creepy glow! It’s a cold, rainy October day here in New York and I’m getting all the scary, spooky vibes from the heart of the season! This skeleton hand holding a jar came out spooktacular and I’ve already put it on display, the warm glow from the candle shining through those bony fingers is so cool.

You only need a few materials and a little bit of time to make this eerie Halloween craft. First, I use Crayola Model Magic for projects like this, it’s the coolest material and alternative to clay, plus it comes in white which makes it very easy to paint or mix with paint as well. I also used a silicon mold that I purchased from Michaels to make the skeleton hand. Check out my photo tutorial in this post to see how I made this project.

Materials:

• Crayola Model Magic-White
• Mason jar
• Silicon mold
• Clear tacky glue
• Acrylic paint
• Candle or tealight

Directions:

Step 1. First knead your Model Magic a bit to warm it up and make it a bit more malleable, then press small pieces into your mold.

Step 2. Carefully remove the molded pieces from the mold, loosen up the edges if you have to. Be sure to keep the fingers in the right order.

Step 3. Use clear tacky glue to adhere the hand to your mason jar, try to pose the fingers like it’s naturally or realistically holding the jar.

Step 4. Allow your Model Magic to dry, you should really wait at least a day for the surface of the clay to set before painting.

Step 5. Paint on some scary details to make your bones look spooky! Add a candle and enjoy!

Take a look at my skeleton hand from all different angles below, and if you make this craft be sure to share your experience with me! Happy Halloween everyone!

I am so happy to introduce an original enamel pin designed by me, The Art Dream’s unicorn logo! It is a beautiful combination of purple and blue hues gradually changing across the body of this geometric, majestic animal. The supply of this pin is limited so get yours today! Find it in the shop here at The Art Dream!

Enamel pins are so trendy these days and there are some really clever designs out there, I think I’m going to get into creating a collection for myself! If you’d like to do the same then start here with this super cool enamel pin. Find it in the shop along with my original printable designs as well.

These enamel pins come with a butterfly clasp in the back and are designed on a silver backing with silver details. Each pin features ten different colors all working together to create this beautiful unicorn! I think I’m going to pin mine to my ties and use them as tie clips!

Of course you can wear your pin on your lapel, hats, backpack, the strap of a bag or any other accessory you’d like. Be sure to check out the shop to get your hands on a fun, unique pin like this!

Go on an epic journey with this fire breathing dragon craft! Use a cardboard tube as the frame for this fiery guy. Dragons are a totally “in” thing right now and they are one mythical creature you don’t want to mess with, however you can download and print your very own friendly pet dragon right here in the shop at The Art Dream! Add your own orange, yellow and red tissue paper to create the illusion of a mighty fire being exhaled from this super cool craft!

Kids will love running around pretending their arm is the body of a fierce dragon while his hot fire brings doom to all of the bad guys. I especially love the horns on the top of his head they really bring this craft to life. If you like this project then check out some of my other printables in the shop! I’m also going to give you a super quick tutorial on how to put this craft together in this post! You’ll just need a few simple materials.

Materials:

• ​My dragon printable from the shop
  
• Cardboard tube
  
• Scissors or craft knife
  
• Tissue paper
  
• ​Glue or stapler
  

Be sure to share with me how your dragon turned out in the comments below! And if you love this dragon check out his icy friend and my adorable unicorn printables as well, hope you all have a great time crafting and creating!

This craft is so easy to put together you barely need directions, but I will give you the details anyway. I really hope that you all enjoy making this project as much as I have. It’s always exciting to experience the process of creating something like this because when you make art from scratch you never really know what the final outcome will be. Will it be a flop? Will it be just “OK”? Or will it be a hit? Who knows, what I know is that I get such an indescribable feeling in my heart when I’ve created something that I think children and all people will love.

So please enjoy and be sure to share your outcome as well!

You’ll need just a few things to get started, first my printables which you can download in this post below the materials list.

Materials:

• My Simba printables, two pages
• Cardboard tube
• White cardstock paper
• Scissors or craft knife
• Glue

Directions:

Step 1. I suggest printing out the files on white cardstock paper, it is stronger and durable. Then cut out all of the shapes with scissors or adults can use a craft knife. Kids can simply cut out the shapes very loosely, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Step 2. Wrap the large rectangular piece around a toilet tube and secure with glue or you can use a stapler.

Step 3. Glue on the details as you like.

And the circle of life is complete! How did your Simba turn out? Isn’t he the cutest? I think so. Let me know how your projects turned out in the comments below!

I’ve also collaborated with the wonderful Trixi Symonds over at colouredbuttons.com for Sew a Softie month! It’s July and it’s time for you to pick up a needle and thread and learn how to make some simple stitches. You can learn a whole lot from Trixi because she’s the expert, check out this link as well... sewasoftie.com. Sew a Softie month is a campaign to encourage kids and their parents or teachers to make more art involving sewing, and for me this will alway be one of my favorites to make with my art classes! The kids really learn a unique skill, it helps them focus, stay on task and become better problem solvers on their own.

So on behalf of Sew a Softie month I’ve put together this pencil pillow tutorial, you’ll be needing a few things including my pencil pattern which you can download in this post below.

Materials:

• Felt
• Embroidery floss
• Needle for embroidery floss
• ​Fiber fill
• Fabric scissors

Step 1. Fist you’ll have to decide how big you’d like your pillow, mine is about 18”x7.25”. My pattern is designed to print on 8.5”x11” paper so you will have to enlarge it if you’d like but it’s a very simple pattern and shouldn’t be an issue to just freehand your own pattern on a large piece of paper.

Step 2. Cut out your pattern and attach it to your felt, I like to just staple it but you can pin it if you like. Then cut out your shapes with fabric scissors they work best. Be sure to cut two layers of the large yellow piece.

Step 3. Next prepare your needle and thread with the embroidery floss. Use a running stitch to attach all of your pieces to the top layer of yellow felt only. Be sure to stitch on the seems that are inside the shape, don’t stitch the edges.

Step 4. Stitch on any other details you’d like, then stitch all around the edges, I used a blanket stitch for this, it’s much stronger and looks nice too. Leave an opening at the end to stuff with fiber fill.

Step 5. Fill your pillow and stitch up the remainder and bam! You have a cute little pencil lumbar pillow!

Have you found everything you wanted from the Target dollar spot? Did you make one of my felt pillow projects? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Hello everyone and welcome to the summer season, I’m celebrating with FinFunMermaid.com to bring you this felt, plush mermaid tail! Sewing and stitching is such a great summer activity to do with the kids and it will definitely keep them busy and entertained.

How cute is this green and teal mermaid tail, make it any size you'd like using my template, it'll be a great addition to any under the sea themed celebration. You could even turn this little tail into a key chain!

Making little stuffed plush projects is a lot of fun and it’s a truly unique way to make art, I highly recommend trying this type of activity, you don’t need a whole lot of materials either. So get your felt and try a new project today!

I’ve partnered with Fin Fun Mermaid and created this special project inspired by their fun, real mermaid tails you could wear in the pool! Just check out my template and see my video tutorial below for full instructions on how I put this felt project together.

Here’s what you’ll need.

• My template, which you can download below this list
• Felt in your choice of colors
• A needle and thread
• Good fabric scissors
• Fiber fill
• Sequins and any other embellishments you’d like

Be sure to check out FinFunMermaid.com for fun accessories and super cool gadgets for summer fun in the pool! Also, share the felt projects you've made, I'd love to hear all about it in the comments below!

So these days I’m teaching High School but it doesn’t stop me from doing fun, interactive and creative projects like this with teenage students. It does seem as if they enjoy it, don’t quote me though. Even if at the end of the day a student feels like “what’s the point of this?” or “this is dumb” or “this isn’t for me” at least I know that through these feelings they’re at least learning some fundamental skills like how to do a simple stitch, which might come in handy one day, ya never know! Plus they are learning some problem solving skills and just some basic concepts about assembling materials to achieve a final product, most of which comes incidentally. So if you’re having second thoughts about teaching felt, stuffed foods to the older kids then don’t worry, they’re going to like it a lot! Most of them anyway! Haha

Ok, so my tutorial video below was rather long so I sped it up quite a bit, it gives you a quick overview on how to make one of these donuts. There are also tons of other resources on the web for you to reference as well so feel free to add your own tricks to these kinds of projects. My friend Trixi over at colouredbuttons.com is a wiz at sewing and she has some great tutorials if you’d like to get started there on learning how to sew.

Materials:

• Felt
• Embroidery floss or thread
• Fiber filling
• Needle
• Good fabric scissors
• ​Scrap paper for patterns

Directions:

Step 1. First decide what you want to make, it doesn’t even have to be a donut, could be any food or an animal perhaps. Then create a pattern out of paper. The pattern for a donut is probably the most simple, it’s just a circle with a smaller circle in the middle. Use the donut pattern to help you make a separate pattern for the frosting. I also suggest avoiding small or narrow details when designing your felt plush, they’re difficult to work with.

Step 2. I like to staple my patterns to the felt so they don’t move while I’m cutting them out, you of course can use pins to keep your pattern in place if you have them. Pins are not an option for me in the classroom, a staple or two works fine and they barely effect the felt.

Step 3. Be sure you have the correct number of layers! So for the donut I need two layers of the cream colored felt, these two layers get stitiched together and the fiber filling goes in between. You also need a layer of felt for the frosting which gets stitiched to the top layer of cream colored felt first.

Step 4. Stitch on sprinkles in several different colors using the running stitich. Don’t forget to stitch on the frosting as well along the edges.

Step 5. Stitch the two layers of cream colored felt around the perimeter using the blanket stitch, it’s much more secure and visually it looks nicer.

Step 6. Stuff your donut with fiber filling before stitching the donut closed, then complete the stitching to seal the opening.

Enjoy making your felt foods, I hope you make lots of fun desserts! Remember to share your ideas and creations with me here at The Art Dream!

So have you worked with Model Magic yet? If not then definitely start here with these easy to make unicorns using a cookie cutter! If you like the one I used then check it out here at Sweetapolita. This is such a fun way to keep the magic of the holidays alive and going because who really wants to let go? I don’t! So make a whole tray of these (just don’t eat ‘em) and get them decorated to give out to friends and family. Kids will also love making these at home or in the classroom.

​I’ve also worked with RedTedArt.com on Maggy’s “31 Days of Love” crafting extravaganza to bring you these little clay uni’s, you can see the post there along with a bunch of other wonderful crafts made by some talented artists and crafters.

If you’re looking for a great art material to work with then definitely try Model Magic by Crayola I’ve raved about it before and I will again, it’s very versatile, clean and easy to work with. Grab your favorite art materials and the kids to get them started on creating their own unicorn pet. They will also make great Valentine’s for the whole class.

​Materials:

• Crayola Model Magic
• Unicorn cookie cutter
• Craft paint
• Fine glitter
• Chunky glitter
• White or clear liquid glue

Enjoy making your clay unicorns, be sure to get creative in the way you use them, perhaps glue them to the front of a card, hang them from a small tree, glue a magnet to the back to put on the fridge or simply put them on display. Also, be sure to share your creations with me in the comments below!

For this project I used my Cricut machine and a simple lantern pattern which you can find on the system if you search “lantern”. I cut it out as big as I could using the 12”x24” mat. I drew four images on a transparent piece of paper. You could use something like vellum or even tracing paper then add color with markers or colored pencils. Cut or trim your images if you have to in order to glue them into the frames of the lantern. Then, assemble the lantern and place a flameless tea light candle inside!

The subjects you choose to depict are of course totally up to you, I have chosen to show balance of power, civil rights, environmental issues and gun violence.

Take a close look at how I’ve assembled this project in the video below. I hope you guys enjoy it!

It is Halloween time again folks, my all time favorite! And I’ve recently been obsessed with molding Model Magic by Crayola. This clay like material is so versatile and fun to work with, it’s very malleable and the best part is that it’s super clean, so you can let the kids make art with it at the table or in the classroom without the mess that’s made from other clays. Here I’m going to show you a few examples of the spooky Halloween sculptures I’ve made. However, I didn’t make photo tutorials for these but I will tell you all about ‘em!

Above is this chic and scary scene, I think I went a little modern spooky on this one and I’m so happy with how it turned out. So don’t forget that Model Magic works great in molds. You can of course buy silicone molds online but I went to the dollar store and bought hollow plastic decorations like skulls and pumpkins too. The plastics are cheap and thin enough to cut with an Exacto knife or craft knife so that they can be used as molds. Ice trays are also fantastic for molding Model Magic and creating your own sculptures.

The frames are a silicone mold I bought on Amazon, they are great and came in a set of 7. After you press the Model Magic into your molds just pop them out and let them dry overnight. The Model Magic doesn’t fully harden for at least a week or two but you can start painting the next day. Paint the Model Magic with craft paint and embellish how you’d like. For my skull above I glued on some plastic gems!

​Check out my photos below for a quick look at the rest of the materials I used!

Check out this guy laying exposed in his grave, poor soul! Ok so for this guy I casted my own mold using something called mold gel. The skeleton is one of the little plastic decorations you find in the dollar store. You mix the mold gel according to the directions, pour it into a small, deep tray or receptacle and then place the plastic toy/decoration or whatever it is you want to cast into the mold gel, let it dry then pop the plastic figure out, the remaining result is a mold very similar to a store bought silicone mold. You can then use it to create your sculptures. The tombstone and pumpkin were molded from an ice cube tray.

I just love this little spooky scene! It’s like a complete piece of Halloween heaven! Oh and I’ve also added some glow in the dark paint to this sculpture for a bit more of Halloween magic!

Definitely the most gruesome of them all is this zombie head. I took one of the larger plastic skulls from the dollar store, cut it in half and used it as a mold. After I had my skull I added Model Magic features like, eyes, ears and a nose. This helped it to look less like a skull and more like a zombie’s face. All of the details help too like the flaps of skin, lips and some texture like forehead lines and the holes in the chin. Some great tools to use for sculpting are plastic palette knives and toothpicks!

Be creative and have fun, Halloween is also about imperfections so remember that your sculptures don’t have to be perfect!