Painting with Marbles

Today's art activity was really fun! 

We painted with marbles!!!  Painted with what?!?!  MARBLES!!! = )

We did this a couple of times at the preschool where I used to teach.  Painting with marbles evolved from 'painting with rocks.'  Painting with rocks was a bit more difficult as the rocks tumbled about awkwardly, almost always missing the paint streaks on the paper so we ended up experimenting with painting with marbles.  The results were amazing!

So since we had marbles (as I posted on Cereal Box Marble Run), we tried the activity this afternoon! The girls picked out the paper and the different paint colors, and we watched how the artwork turned out when the marbles rolled over the paint streaks.

The end result: nine (9) mini Jackson Pollocks!

Here are the materials we used:

Tubes of paint
Marbles
Plastic tray that could fit 8.5x11" paper
8.5x11" paper

First, we put the paper into the plastic tray then we applied the paint streaks.  For the sample, I used the primary colors.

 

And the girls rolled the marbles about in the tray.

Our first finished product.

Really neat, huh?!

Here are the rest...the girls took turns choosing paper and paint, and tilting the tray from side to side.

Blue and silver paint.

Purple and gold.

Gold and silver on speckled black paper.

Blue, orange and gold on speckled black paper.

Light blue and gold on speckled black paper.

Trying out as many colors.

Trying out as many colors on purple paper.

After all nine works of art, the marbles were thick with paint.  Since we used acrylic, I washed them off right away with soap and water.  The paint came off quickly with a little bit of scrubbing.

These works of art make great gift-wrapping paper!

Or when framed, a nice, homemade Father's Day gift to brighten up daddy's office wall!

So, mommies, try and make little Jackson Pollocks out of your little ones with this simple yet really fun painting activity! = ) 

Homemade Toy - Cereal Box Marble Run

This project was inspired by a blog post by Made by Joel.  I saw this blog post three years ago and thought it was great fun!  My daughter was still too young then to be playing with small marbles and I wasn't sure if she'd sneak a marble into her mouth while playing (choking hazard!), so this  idea was shelved for later.

Fast forward to five days ago...we were at the supermarket and little daughter asked me to buy her another baby doll or Barbie.  But since both her baby doll and Barbie collections are bursting at the seams, I tried to negotiate.  We made a round of the toy section and school supplies section and stumbled upon these marbles!  A mere P 20.00 (that's about half a US dollar) for about 50 pieces!!!  And when she saw it, she burst out in excitement, "Marbles!"  Yay for me!

To my surprise, the marbles were a great hit!  Not only with her but with her cousins.  They played with the marbles the night we bought them...and the next day...and the next.  There were marbles all over the house - on rugs, corners, behind the couch, by the dining table.  It was fun to watch them enjoying and experimenting with the marbles!  They rolled them down the hallway, flicked them and rolled them down a makeshift slide that they made out of our living room cushion.

Then I remembered Made by Joel's Cereal Box Marble Run!  I made them a couple of times for the boys at school and wondered how the girls would like it.  I saved two cereal boxes and made this marble run version in about 10 minutes.  I used masking tape to adhere the cardboard cutouts to the wall under the stairs.

Watch them go!

Weeee!!!

I followed Made by Joel's tutorial and left a little ledge at the bottom to keep the marbles from rolling out of the box.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that they loved it more than I expected!  One afternoon, my daughter spent hours (yes, hours!) playing with this marble run.

Made by Joel has a detailed tutorial on how to make one.  If you try it out, we hope you have as much fun with it as we have! : )

Party Paperminties

 

Paperminties is proud to announce its newest product offering  to help you with your party needs - “party paperminties!”

Party paperminties are cut-paper party decorations which include:

1. Large Wall and/or entryway Décor
2. Birthday Poster/Banner with the celebrant’s name
3. Table Centerpiece Sticks
4. Table Confetti 

Large Wall Decor

Large Wall Decor

Large Wall Decor

Birthday Poster/Banner

Large Wall Decor with Birthday Banner

Table Centerpiece Sticks

Table Centerpiece Sticks

 

Table confetti

Paperminties’ first party is Miguel’s fifth “Snakes” themed birthday! 

Miguel only wanted orange, yellow and green snakes as party décor!  So glad he was pleased with the results!

Here are some photos of his fun, slithery “Snakes” party.

 

Big, big thanks for asking paperminties to do your cut-paper party decor, Miguel!

With four more parties underway, paperminties is really excited to feature more party paperminties in upcoming posts!  Do watch out for them in the next few weeks!

If you need us to customize your next party with cut-paper party decor, just let us know by sending us a private message through our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/paperminties. ; )