DIY Gold Frames (that kids of all ages like to make)

Today we are sharing a project that I’ve been making with kids of all ages for years.  It began as an art project for my students but have found that it is just as fun to make and give as gifts…especially to grandparents!

It all started when I was teaching art history and I wanted a project that was fun and different to go along with our study of the Baroque period.  I’ll spare you the art lesson but suffice it to say that during that time period in art everything was ornamented and gaudy…super gaudy…

So thinking about that I decided to have my art students create some “gilded frames” to hold their miniature value study drawings in….and after the first time I made them with a class I was hooked…and so were the students (who happened to be a lock down high school class…and I’m telling you that if those kids got sucked into working on these frames…any kids will).

Here’s what we did:

I bought wooden frames and some large bags of crazy shaped pasta (pinwheels, corkscrew, bowties, shells, whatever…) and let the students glue the pasta to the front of their frames to make interesting and GAUDY patterns.  Then I took them all outside (the frames, not the students) and spray painted them gold.

It was a hit and I’ve made them a million times since.

Most recently I made them with my 5 and 2 year old girls and they had just as much fun making them as any of my art students ever have…maybe even more fun.

We started with the frames.

(Which we bought at Jo-Ann.)

And then I spread out a blanket on the floor, unwrapped the frames and started covering them with glue.  (Plain old Elmer’s Glue.)

After that  I pulled out some bowls of different items to glue onto the frames and let the girls go to town.  We started with the silly shaped pastas for Grace:

But then used something easier for Ruth…something she could just pile on by the handfuls….wheat:

It was so much fun…the girls worked and worked and I just kept adding the glue (and shaking off excess wheat, beans, and whatnot from the frames).  When we finished we had decorated all 6 of the frames we had purchased.

I set them on a shelf and let them dry over night.  The next afternoon I took them outside and spray painted them gold.

And when they were dried we ended up with these:

 (It says “Rice Covered” but I meant wheat covered…although you could totally use uncooked rice and it would look just as cool.)

(Ruth made this one to…it’s just made from uncooked lentils that she piled on there…and I kind of love the look of it!)

(This is one of Grace’s creations…she started trying to strategically place every kernel but then went to Ruth’s just dump them on there method.)

(And here’s Grace’s pasta version…the older the kids get the more defined the designs become…most will just choose one or two types of pasta and make designs that are pretty amazing.  But since Grace is 5 she used a little of everything and painstakingly placed in each piece where she thought it would look best.)

All in all the girls ended up making 6 frames to give to others…but Ruth’s wheat covered frames are my favorite…I just love the texture!  And It has started me on a whole wheat covered kick that I know I’ll be sharing soon….

A big thanks to Jo-Ann who inspired this post with their Celebrate the Season challenges. (#fabulouslyfestive)

(We’ve had so much fun creating items from a company that we already know, love, and frequent.

Head over there and check out all the fun projects made by others from all across blogland!)

-liZ

(And just in case you need anymore temptation you can check out their holiday catalog HERE.)

*NOTE:  I was given a gift card for this post but all the crazy ideas, opinions, and dialog are my own.