Picturing America through Fresco Art

Our Homeschool Coop (Master's Learning Coop) was awarded the "Picturing America" Artwork and Curriculum a couple of years ago from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

We finally got around to incorporating it into our schedule and I'm the lucky one who gets to teach it!  I am actually thrilled!  I love this!

This award includes 20 laminated, poster-sized 2-sided prints of American Historical Artwork and a book of lesson plans for each piece of artwork.

I started the first week using the curriculum and after blank stares from my students and their inability to answer key questions at the end, I decided it was time to start teaching this class with a little Stacy-Flare.

Enter Al Fresco Art!

The week's artwork was the Mission Nuestro Senora de la Concepcion  in San Antonio, Texas (the architecture itself, not necessarily the painting of the structure).

The Mission Concepcion was originally covered in white plaster and decoratively painted with Spanish Baroque patterns.  This got me to thinking that just maybe we could do a little painting on plaster ourselves to get a little feel for how the original artist created this "Mission Masterpiece."

I immediately started googling to see if this had been done before (why re-invent the wheel?) and sure enough, a fun little art project called "Fresco" which in essence means "mural-type paintings on plaster."  Of course, the most famous Frescoes have been done by Michelangelo.

Thanks to a fabulous tutorial video from Dick Blick, I was able to scale down this undertaking from a large wall to a piece of take-home art.  With a few tweaks, a hands-on lesson to learn more about the Mission Concepcion was born.



For full instructions, I highly recommend the video mentioned above. Here are my modifications for our specific project:
1. I used fabric I had on hand versus burlap
2. I added a rope "hanger" at the time of pouring the plaster so the artwork could hang on the wall.



3. I found geometric designs by searching for "stained glass geometric."
4. To transfer the design onto the plaster, I traced the design with charcoal, flipped it over and transferred the charcoal onto the plaster by tracing/rubbing the back.
5. I had the students only use Red, Yellow, Blue or any combination of these colors only (the colors used on the Mission Concepcion).

I love how each person brings their own personality into their art:



And there you have it! Not only did I personally learn about an important piece of American History (Mission Concepcion), but I also learned a new art technique AND a groovy new word that I like to throw around--FRESCO!

DIY Super EASY Lightweight Cropped Top PONCHO

I've been seeing the cutest cropped knit ponchos or drapey shirts in the stores lately AND I just so happened to find some fabric (not knit, but lightweight) at a yard sale a few weeks back that I KNEW without a doubt I would figure out SOMETHING to make with it. Soooooo, the two ideas came together in this "so-me" cropped, lightweight poncho.

THIS FABRIC:



Inpsired by a shirt style like this (from Forever21):


Equals:


Here's how I did it and you can too!

First you will make a pattern:






NOW, using brown packing paper, wrapping paper, butcher paper or some type of wide and long sturdy paper to create your pattern with the above measurement:


For the neck, measure down 2 inches on the Torso measurement and sketch a curve connecting that point with the shoulder point. From the shoulder point, slightly angle the sleeve length 2 inches (point will be even with neck measurement).



To make the half circle shape of the pattern. Attach chalk to a piece of string the length of your torso measurement. Hold the string at the top of the torso measurement point and holding string tuat, draw your line until even with the neck.



You will need about 2 yards of fabric (I didn't measure this).





Now let's get to sewing!



Now for the tricky part, (it's not that tricky). Turn it inside out and try it on. Decide how big of an armhole opening you would like and pin it on one side.
With poncho WRONG Sides together, stitch both sides together at pinned area about 3 inch long stitch. Fold the poncho over to mark other side and repeat.



THAT'S IT! Super Easy!

I don't know what this look is about...modeling isn't quite my thing, but I heard people like to see the person behind the blog...so here I am!



Linking up at all these great places:

DIY T-Shirt Extender Tutorial

So I've been seeing reviews on the Blush T-shirt Extenders EVERYwhere. I haven't been able to get them out of my mind, soooooo it was time to put my sewing machine to work and recycle some t-shirts in my drawer that have seen better days....been the star of many plays...not really...that's song lyrics.

What is a t-shirt extender?

It is a little something you wear under your shirt to give the APPEARANCE of an extra t-shirt peaking out underneath.

Why a t-shirt extender? 

• Add a t-shirt without adding extra layers
• Wear shorter shirts modestly
• Extend the life of a shrunk t-shirt by wearing it with an extender
• For gals that are as endowed as I am in the top area of my body...shirts lose length because of it and this is just the answer!

Anyway, being the thrifty, frugal, wife of Mr. Spends-A-Lot, I'm always looking for ways to hold onto our budget. I will admit when I saw the t-shirt extenders are available in Target stores, I did search for them with full intention of buying myself a set. Too the joy of my wallet, our local Target does not carry them.

So began my determination to recreate the t-shirt extender. Here's how I did it and here's how you can do it too!





Now here's how you determine the next measurement:

FIRST:  Decide how you will wear your extender: At the waist, right below the bust-line, or somewhere in between. Mine will vary depending on the outfit, so I decided to go with a below the bust-line so I have more options.

SECOND:  Measure how far down you would like your t-shirt extender to extend from the placement you decided on. I chose for mine to fall right where my hip and leg meet.

 THIRD:  Add to the above measurement the width of your elastic plus 1/4 to 1/2 inch for seam allowance. My measurement was 9 inches from below bustline to hip/leg connection + 2 inches for elastic and seam allowance=11 inches.

Now it is time to create a waistband. I realize there are a ton of ways to do this, this is how I did it:

















And now for my modeling debut: YIKES!




Did you see my Anthropologie Inspired Necklace? I combined tutorials from How Joyful and Little Birdie Secrets for my own rendition.





Shirt: Old Navy $4.97 Clearance
T-Shirt Extender: $0.25 for the elastic at a yard sale
Shorts: Old Navy $1.00 Thrifted

NOTE:  Since I posted this in July, I have had almost 400 visitors stop by and take a look.  If you found this tutorial useful, please comment below....I love to hear from my visitors!!


Linking up at:

10 Steps to a Thrift Store Footstool Ottomon Makeover

I told you I'd be back with another made-over item for my bathroom!

I found this not-so-cute little footstool under a pile of items that didn't quite make the cut for our the thrift store floor. I almost missed it!

I've only done a couple of small re-upholstering projects, but this one looked simple enough, so I nabbed it up.

Here's how I turned this "Out-dated Ottomon" into a "Fresh Fleur De Lis Footstool" in ONLY 10 Steps!!















Footstool / Ottomon: FREE. (I made a small donation to the New Image Thrift Store regardless).
Fleur De Lis Upholstery Fabric. $5.82 (33% off at Hobby Lobby)
Pom-Pom Trim: $2.00 ($1/yd at Hobby Lobby)
Spray Paint: Leftover from another project

Total Project Cost: $6.82

See how nicely this goes with THIS:



What project are you working on in your home?

This week's project is linked up at: