Hamsa Hangings

I wish I could take credit for this wonderful craft project but I can't. It's straight from this fantastic eclectic site called Kid World Citizen. I have always loved hamsas, hand shaped "amulets" that are made in the Middle East and elsewhere. I have several hung in my house, all made in Israel where some of my family lives.

I knew hamsas were Islamic in origin but at this site I learned that Jews consider it the hand of Miriam, Moses's sister who protected and saved him, that the five fingers can be representative of the five books of the Torah, or Old Testament. And that some Christians call it the Hand of Mary.

The Picasso's Basement artists used old cereal box cardboard as the base and cut the shape, covered it with heavy aluminum foil, and painted the eyes on with acrylic paint.  They started designing into the foil with blunt pens and pencils but in the end all made the decision to use thin sharpies to really get the designs to pop! They also punched holes in them and strung them with a strand and a bead or two. The link I mentioned has a series of photos that show the process so I'll get to the punch.

Here's what our artists created!

Lame Post (or THIS is your child's valentine's box???)

That's right. It's time for the LAMEST posting.
I have a cold.
I am tired.
And so rather than showcase my wonderful students' artwork I will instead attempt to inspire you with just my own lame craft.

Every year at least one of my 2 children has been asked to decorate a box for valentines day so that at school the other children could fill it with tiny purchased cards. I've purchased those cards myself. You know the kind--the cheap ones that rip a little when you try to separate them and then get stuffed into teeny envelopes that don't stay properly closed. Well, that's the route I usually go as well.

But now I'm an art teacher. I have to raise the bar. I have  a standard to uphold.

This year I decided we'd do it all by hand. Inspired by our new schnauzer we made schnauzer cards. We printed out photos of the dog and pasted them on red paper and cut them to the shape of his head. When recipient of card opened them they found a dog tongue holding a cheapo piece of chocolate. (You know, the waxy kind you get in bags this time of year at the pharmacy.) I would love to show you one but I we gave them all away. Although we did keep some of the cheapo chocolate...

We also made an excellent box to resemble our schnauzer.

Real Schnauzer. Do not confuse with dog box. Do not feed valentines cards.

 It was made out of a shoe box, and two smaller boxes. (I think one was from a pot pie.) We cut a hole in the top boxes so that you could "feed" your valentines into the dog's mouth.

Valentine's Box that is virtually identical to real dog. Can you tell the difference? NO!
Open mouth, insert cards.

That's right. My son's Valentines Box actually eates valentine cards. Pretty cool, huh? Apparently the class loved it.

Am I going to wrap this up with a clever or wise comment?

Heck no.  I'm taking 2 NyQuil and going to bed. Wake me when it's St. Patty's Day.