What the Art Teacher Wore, Double Dose Edition!

Hey, friends! Feeling as frazzled and flakey as I am?! Super duper! It would appear that I've lost my ever-lovin' mind (along with my students...yeah, I see you outta your seat totally off task, tip-toeing over to your friend's table). I've also managed to lose the following recently: my house key, my car keys, my To Do list, my cup of coffee (I regularly leave one in the copy room, the microwave and on the hood of my car) and my sanity. Yay! It's the most craziest time...of the year! 

 Me, every.single.day.

In other news, I've got two weeks of What the Art Teacher Wore's to share with ya. So grab a drink (I don't care what, I'm not here to judge) and let's commiserate on just how bonkers this time of year is! 

Also...if retail therapy is your thing, as it is mine, my sweater is from Michaels!

Despite the insanity, the show must go on...and on it is on my art room. We finally wrapped up all of our Artome Art Show work this week (holy smokes! We've had so many interruptions to our schedule that it literally took a lifetime to complete those bad boys! If you are interested in seeing what artwork my students create for this fundraiser, hop over here). In the meantime, wearing these tacky Christmas sweaters with tights are my new favorite and snuggly thing. I scored this sweater last year at Target and the tights were a Christmas present last year from a student.

I have been planning like crazy the lessons for the next couple of weeks. I want to create projects that will keep my kiddo's attention to the very end. This is one I'm working on with my fourth grade students and they are REALLY excited (which says a lot...they are a bunch that does not excite easily, le sigh). I'll share the lesson with you soon...this is just a sneak peak. More views on my Instagram, if you are interested! 

Tennessee doesn't really get much of a winter...so it's been kinda strange to actually have days that don't get above 30 degrees! I'm from Indiana where we do have this thing called winter...but having lived here for 20 years, I've forgotten how to dress for the cold. Thankfully my Mondrian coat is a warm thing for these cold days!

Tis the season to bust out all the tacky sweaters. ALL OF THEM. Even the homemade ones that itch like crazy around the neck! 

Well, after Thanksgiving, our art room elf, Esmeralda, always makes an appearance. This year as been no different. This time, she's gotten our new art room addition, Ricky Rainbows, in on the mix! Ricky was created by the artist Jennifer Strunge and he's just the cutest thing. 

Okay, here's something I'm not ashamed to admit: I have more tree skirts turned lady skirts than I have days to wear them! Seriously, how did this happen?! I know...because they are the easiest thing to make! I have found that Big Lots has the best tree skirts for this: they are inexpensive and long. And tacky...which is a requirement. Here's how to make your skirt! Y'all might remember that this summer, I caught a similar bug when I bought 6 round beach towels from Walmart and made them into circle skirts too! 

So for that snow globe lesson I mentioned above? My fourth graders are using 14" cardboard pizza rounds for the globe. Each kiddo had to spend the first 7 minutes of makin' time creating a minimum of 2 idea sketches before tacklin' their glove. My new favorite thing right now is having my students create idea paintings/media sketches to get their wheels turning. We've always done sketches...but not with paint or chalk or whatever. This is new and I'm loving it. Like I said, more to come!

Don't hate...just appreciate. Found 'em one year at Marshall's and they are pretty much the best thing ever. 

Ah! Friday! This dress is from Meijer and I promise you it appeared much longer on the hanger...ahem.

Kindergarten and first grade have been spending a lot of time painting themselves into dizzy spirals. This has been quite the learning curve for them. Like, literally. Painting such fine lines requires a lot of brush skill and patience. Something we covered A LOT while spending two 30 minute art classes on these beauties.

So, I plan my outfits out on Sundays...do you do this? I started last year and I love it! It really saves me so much time in the mornings.

I'm pretty much living in these tights...please don't judge. Made this dress about four years ago! LOVE the faux fur neckline. 

That third grade lesson I shared earlier this week? LOOK!! I'm in love with the results. More details on how we finished these in a follow up blog post! 

My friend Cheryl loves Christmas ensembles as much as I do! When she walked into art class, all the kindergarten started singing Rudolph and it was the cutest thing ever!

Lately, my early finishers have been diving in to the next phase of the lesson with sketches. My first graders, when finished painting their spirals, started drawing penguins, first on dry erase boards, then on paper, as practice for their big paintings to come later. 

Walmart, men's section, y'all. I had to. I mean, CHRISTMAS AND CATS?! YES.

With the help of a super mom, we got all the Artome artwork organized, labeled, glued, packed and shipped! Yippie! I cannot wait for the show!

So those boots? I'm pretty much living in them. Dress was made by me (with lights in the hem!) several years ago. 

Big ole bingo dauber penguins by first grade, y'all! Next up, we paint and cut these out to add to our spiral paintings! I'll keep you posted. 

 And that's a wrap! Like, literally, if you take a look at my skirt. The rest of the weekend, was Christmas Craft Nightin', hiking, sleepin' and tickin' off my To Do list. Happy Sunday, y'all! 

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In the Art Room: Elf on a Shelf

Every since the ole Elf on the Shelf hit the market, I wanted one in my art room. I love the idea of bringing magic into my kids' lives even if they don't celebrate the holidays...we can all believe in magic, right? I never really knew just how I would make it happen and I really didn't wanna splurge on that expensive book/doll set I'd seen at the big box stores. But this Thanksgiving, when I was at Michael's, I saw they had a colorful elf (and a wee elf door!) for 70% off and I scooped it up. I have a habit of over-thinking things and then not following through. With this elf, I really had no idea what I was going to do, how the kids were going to respond but just decided to go for it. Y'all...I'm so glad I did! 

Every since the first day Esmerelda appeared (by yarn bombing the entrance of my art room, making all of my classes crawl under the mess), the kids have been super stoked. They stop me every day to ask what she's been up to, they peak in my room at every chance, they leave notes and drawings for her outside of her door. I teach kindergarten through fourth grade and EVERY child is all in with this elf. I've never seen anything like it.

However, there are always the nay-sayers. Last week, when a third grade student claimed he didn't believe, another child spoke up. "You should set up a security camera, Mrs. Stephens. That would prove that she's real."

At first I scoffed at the idea. I ain't got time for that! When I shared the conversation with my husband, he was like, "No. You HAVE to do it!" We chatted about the scenario and even what music should accompany the video. I filmed and edited last night and I'm excited to share a preview with y'all. Here you go!

I cannot wait until Monday to share this with the kids. I really think they are gonna freak! My plan is to hide paper elves all over the art room and allow my best behaved tables to go on the hunt (it's THAT time of year where we need a little extra incentive to make good choices). Only a few of the elves will have a green hat which will get the kids a special surprise from Esmerelda. Oh, y'all. It's gonna be a fun week!

 One reason I'd never done an elf before was because I wasn't sure how to do it and if I'd have the time. Let's face it, this is the busiest time of the year. Here's how I do it: every morning, I come in and slap together the most insane mishap in less than 5 minutes as that's all the time I have. I do something different everyday because the kids ask EVERY DAY what she's been up to. Not only that but I do see some classes from one day to the next. 

The best part of having an elf is that you can be messy! I'm leaving up her holiday decor as I feel it embodies my life right now. 

 An incentive for a kindergarten class? If you behave, Esmerelda will let you have one of her special snowballs. 

I'll keep you posted on Esmerelda and her adventures! Stay tuned to the reaction to the video, that should be super fun. Love to hear if you have an elf on the shelf or any other magic happening in your art room!

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