Rodabaugh - The paper playhouse: awesome art projects for kids using paper, boxes, and books

Awesome Art Projects for Kids
USING PAPER, BOXES, AND BOOKS

Katrina Rodabaugh

2015 Quarry Books

Text 2015 Katrina Rodabaugh

Photography 2015 Quarry Books

First published in the United States of America in 2015 by

Quarry Books, a member of

Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

100 Cummings Center

Suite 406-L

Beverly, Massachusetts 01915-6101

Telephone: (978) 282-9590

Fax: (978) 283-2742

www.quarrybooks.com

Visit www.Craftside.net for a behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world!

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by the producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digital edition: 978-1-62788-161-6

Softcover edition: 978-1-59253-980-2

Digital edition published in 2015

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

Cover and Book Design: Raquel Joya

Photography: Leslie Sophia Lindell

Gallery Images: By the artists, except where otherwise indicated.

For my son, Maxwell Forestmy light, my moon.

Sourcing and reusing materials, basic tools, staying organized, and carving out creative space

Junk mail, security envelopes, file folders, magazines, greeting cards, calendars, and decorative papers

Used books, vintage books, library castoffs, notebooks, and other books to alter or make

Shoe boxes, shipping boxes, cereal boxes, matchboxes, and other reusable containers

Taking art to the streets, stages, and lemonade stands

Artists as Inspiration

Welcome to The Paper Playhouse. Id like to imagine this book contains all of the inspiration you would need to outfit a dream playhouse from top to bottom. Enter the playhouse doors, and youll find handmade birdhouses, garlands, mobiles, monsters, notebooks, costumes, cars, dollhouses, paper airplanes, and even a lemonade stand. Its your imaginary studio for all things paper, just waiting to be transformed. This playhouse is your space to create, to imagine, and hopefully, to adore.

The list of potential art materials takes us no farther away than our own mailboxes, desk drawers, kitchen cupboards, and recycling bins. The possibilities for using and reusing found materials are endless. Even when we focus on materials made of paperbooks, boxes, newspapers, magazines, maps, and decorative papers of all shades and textureswe are still flooded with potential. Now, add children to this mix of inspiration and the ideas multiply exponentially. Endless.

In creating this book I have three goals in mind: to foster inspiration, to make art accessible, and to encourage adults and children to see the creative potential in castoff materials. I want you to feel as if you have permission. I want you to feel as if you have full access. And I want you to feel inspired! These projects are not meant to be created perfectly without a wrinkle, dent, or other imperfection. They are not meant to be replicated exactly or with great precision. Instead, they are meant to be used as a starting point. As an entryway into making art projects using paper, boxes, and books. They are meant to be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Whether you make these projects alongside your little ones or intend to make them as gifts, I hope you will follow your own instincts for color, texture, shape, and materials. I hope you will view my instructions as guidelines and not rules. More simply, I hope you will make things. And, of course, I hope you will use this book to connect with the creativity of children through art.

Be inspired, collect materials, make plenty of mistakes, take breaks when you get tired, and sip that lemonade. And, ultimately, if you just arent sure or if something is pulling you in a different direction than what Ive createdplease go ahead and make it up. Yes, make it up. Feel empowered to truly make these creations your own. The projects in this book are meant to encourage you, inspire you, and, ultimately, engage you with creativity. They are meant to fill your home with the possibility and power of art.

Welcome to The Paper Playhouse. Please, make yourself at home.

xoxo,

Katrina

The majority of the projects in this book rely on recycled or upcycled materials. The hope is that you will start to view castoff objects as filled with potential for art and craft projects. You might need to save materials for a few weeks before you have all that you need for these projects, or you might want to ask friends, neighbors, grocery stores, or shipping centers if you can have their leftovers.

Boxes come in all shapes and sizes, and I encourage you to alter the project instructions to fit your materials. That said, there is a difference in the weight and construction of various boxes, so if the project calls for shipping boxes, know that any corrugated cardboard box would probably do just fine as long as its an adequate size. If a project calls for shoeboxes its likely that cereal boxes, cracker boxes, or tea boxes will be fine as long as they are big enough. As for the decorative/recycled paper materials youll need throughout this bookbe creative!

Build an arsenal of pretty recycled papersbirthday cards, security envelopes, maps, magazine covers, old calendars, small posters, business cards, and wrapping paperready to be upcycled into art projects. Nearly any favorite scrap can be fodder for future artwork. Even if theres just a small, 1" (2.5 cm) image that you really lovethats probably enough for a garland circle, the center of a rosette, or an added detail on a small book cover.

Once you turn your attention to the beautiful paper scraps available to you, you will quickly build a hefty stash. Again, you might need to build this stash before beginning these projects. Once I realized the potential in the patterns on the inside of security envelopes, they quickly found their way into my work. Now my husband automatically puts the most unique patterns on my desk once hes sorted the mailthey are just too good to pass up.

When using recycled paper materials, consider the overall conditionis it folded, dented, bent, warped, or otherwise damaged? If so, that doesnt necessarily mean it wont work. Can you use part of the paper and recycle the rest? Has the paper simply been rolled and not folded? If so, you can probably let it rest under weight and smooth out the curls, but you might not be able to smooth out folds. Search your recycled materials for evidence of glue, tape, and stickers, and remove these adhesives right awayeven remove price tags from new paper immediately so that they do not leave a mark.