little van goghs.

~*by lourdes*~ (close up)


i'm sharing some photos of my 2nd grade students' beautiful art work. they worked on these the last 3 days of school. the materials included black construction paper, pencil, white glue, chalk & pastels, and black tempera paint.

~*by clayton*~
(he called these firework flowers.)

i got the lesson plan from "dynamic art projects for children". although the concept is still life, they did not have a vase of flowers in front of them. instead we looked at and discussed van gogh's 'sunflowers'.

~*by marco*~

day 1: they first drew lines with pencil onto black paper. i encouraged them to make the flowers different shapes, sizes, and to make as many as they can flow out of the vase and fill the paper. next, they traced over the lines with elmers glue and let dry overnight.

~*by jesus*~

day 2: students colored in the flowers, vase, table, and background with chalk (that is what it called for in the directions). then with a brayer, the students rolled over the paper with black tempera paint. it was supposed to cover the glue lines and make them darker but it also resulted in a lot of black splotches over the chalk. we let it dry overnight.

~*by shawn*~

day 3: students had to go back and fill in areas that were covered by too much black paint. i wasn't very happy with the pale results of the chalk and decided to bring in my set of pastels. i encouraged students to use them as needed to bring in splashes of colors & highlights. i really love the boldness of the pastels mixed with the paleness of the chalk.

~*by brianna w.*~

in the end i was entirely impressed with my 2nd graders' creations... the art teacher came in and loved them as well. he says he'd like to do this project next year. i told him i wanted his job!

~*by ruben*~

i don't think i'll be getting an art position next year. i took the art certification test two saturdays ago and won't get the results until the end of the month (too close to the beginning of the school year).

but i'm making a promise to allow time for one big art project a month next year. the students had so much fun with this and put all of their hearts into it.

~*by brianna p.*~

i'm so proud of my students and love the bond art creates.

~*by r.g.*~
this one was created by a visually impaired student... i find it striking and beautiful in so many ways! it has so much texture, boldness, fragility, detail, and character. it melts my heart. so does the boy who created it.

now, hopefully each one of these got home safely!

miniature plant worlds.

curtis and i did a few plant projects this morning that included 2 small terrariums and this bird cage garden.

i lined the bottom and the side with dry spanish moss and then filled with small succulent cuttings collected from the ones we've been growing for a few years. i also purchased a few other small plants yesterday. they aren't labeled so i don't know what they are called...

i hope by the end of the summer the entire cage will be full of thriving healthy plants with weeping, lush, green layers pouring out.

as for the terrariums, we filled two small jars with a bottom layer of rocks, then shale and soil. then we put small maidenhair ferns and also live & decorative moss inside.

i also included a darling ceramic deer in mine.

curtis didn't want one in his because he's anti-cute things.

lastly, i think i've taken 200 photos of this tiny cactus, but i'm always so excited when it flowers throughout the summertime... today there are two blossoms.

reglor crush.

i've been on vacation for the past few weeks visiting 3 lovely places: fredericksburg (my granny and best friend live there, and it's where i went to high school), key west (where my parents are now living), and the beautiful city of chicago. but instead of posting boring vacation photos, i want to talk about lamps!

reglor lamps to be specific. i've always noticed and admired these, however it wasn't until recently i learned of their interesting history. they are beautiful in a kitchy sort of way. i'm eyeing a few on ebay, and they can be quite expensive! i really want a set with the original shades to use as bedside lamps. one day i hope!

1. Male dancer lamp, 2. Lamp with my old dancers., (not a reglor) 3. 1950's Reglor lamp, 4. Reglor Fish Lamp, 1951, 5. My Auntie Pat, 6. Reglor 1950's, 7. Reglor Lamps, 8. Toreador Reglor Lamps, 9. Reglor of California Lamps

here are a few i love from the city salvage collection:

sea maiden

flamenco dancer

pirate girl

i know that the majority of the world would find these hideous. i do too in a way. but the charming, funny, gaudy side of them make them beautiful and make me terribly happy!

our porch of happiness:

lately there's been more cheer on our porch with a shiny, clean, aqua floor,

a flowering cactus & new recycled watering can (from target),

a new striped welcome mat (also from target),

& our lovely bunches of echinacea.

we found this hand-painted mexican pottery at the flea market last year and loved the cheeriness of the brightly painted red-roofed cottage and blooming cactus garden. sadly, the other day if fell and broke. i saved the pieces to hopefully glue the bottom part together and use as a planter.

we've been sitting on our front porch a lot lately dreaming up plans for our garden! if only we could remedy the mosquito problem!

yay, today was officially my last day of work until august!

wallpaper memories.

i spent a little while over at my friend brooke's house yesterday evening and freaked out over this salvaged piece of wallpaper that came from her grandmother's house.

brooke said it's her fondest memory of visiting her grandmother's home. when she passed away, brooke asked her aunt to cut a piece of it before the house sold. she will cherish the memory of her grandmother each day as it is now framed and hanging in her own home.

the entire bathroom was covered in this bright, retro wallpaper from the 50's that her very own grandfather hung. her mother grew up in this house. as a very special gift to her, brooke framed a piece of this and mailed it to her for mother's day.

her mom cried at brooke's thoughtfulness of passing this wallpaper down 3 generations of mothers and daughters. it's a really sweet story.

i've never quite seen wallpaper as dazzling as this. i'd honestly never leave my bathroom if it was covered in such quirkiness. i just love all the pompoms on the rugs and towels & the ornate chairs and mirrors. the bathtub and shower curtain are super dreamy too!

i find every little swirly, striped, & checkered detail inspiring.

the daydreamers: part III

inspiration for the desert set: arizona saguaros, the red yucca & prickly pear in my garden, my adorable flea market find- a vintage horse on springs... and of course, the beautiful screen printed tutu by whimsy ranch.

here are a few detail shots i took of the set.

i came across this mary blair concept art for "it's a small world" the other day. i first rode the little boat through that magical world when i was 4.

my parents bought me the album as a souvenir. an all boy choir sang the songs... my favorites are 'kookaburra' and 'lemons & oranges.' i stared at the cover art as much as i listened to the songs... both are equally enchanting.

i mentioned my garden earlier... this isn't really a photo of it, but curtis built us a fence! after a war with invasive hackberry trees and a chain link fence, it's such an improvement.

we're going to paint it white soon, and possibly paint the gate yellow... i'm so excited! curtis constructed it beautifully! now we're making sketches for the landscape. we've already planted a red bud (our third), a desert willow, mimosa, vitex, & fig tree. they are all babies, but will be worth the wait... there are so many breathtaking trees in the world, i wish we could plant one of each!

the daydreamers: part II

i really wanted to do a city scene, and i was very much inspired by some of the illustrations in my vintage children's books and mary blair's beautiful cityscapes. isn't the yellow dress too adorable? i just love faith works4u clothing! (nick came up with the sweet & perfectly suited name, 'the daydreamers'.)

i had planned to have the children pull old fisher price pull toys but never found any... the color coordinated balloons were a last resort, however very much meant to be. this set reminds me so much of my favorite scene in one of my favorite films. my 2nd grade teacher was mean, but showing this film to us was one of the best things to ever happen in my childhood.


(the second video that pops up after this plays is the same scene set to amelie's score. it makes me all weepy...)

the little house (1952) lost in the big city: by mary blair.

here are a few photos i took during the shoot:

they are such cuties!