Getting My Creative Juices Flowing

The supplies are purchased and that leaves just one thing....the construction of my son's sixth grade class project for our PTL's Dinner, Dance and Auction.  In a world where every school is trying to raise money for one thing or another, it is these one-of-a-kind items that have the potential to bring in the most money.  So what have I and my fellow room mom chosen for this year?  Well, you will just have to be surprised (and with construction just getting underway, I too may be surprised at the outcome).  I can however share with you last year's project, which garnered several hundred dollars.

What exactly did I do to create this?  I started with my camera and took pictures of each student standing in front of a solid background.  I then printed those pictures and cut around their silhoutte.

How best to display these sihouttes?  I purchased a large canvas from my local craft store (of course using one of my stash of 40% coupons) and a package of acryllic paint.  I divided the canvas by number of students, leaving a space in the middle for a quote (which the students voted on from a list I supplied them).  To make it more eye appealing, I staggered the colored squares and alternated colors; keeping in the primary family. Once the colored squares were dry, I used the cut out photo as a stencil and traced around it with a pencil directly on the canvas.  With a very steady hand I started with a thin brush and my black paint and started to outline each child.  This made it easier to go back and fill in the rest their heads, while keeping nice crisp lines.  Once I was happy with each silhouette, I then traced the lettering for the quote and went back and filled it in with black paint.

That's it!  A fabulous (if I must say so myself) one-of-a-kind piece of art!

**A couple of helpful hints - I painted the edges of the canvas so the winner wouldn't need to frame it, but could hang it directly on the wall.  I also penciled in the names on the back so 25 years from now (come on...we know they'll keep it at least that long, right?) they'd know who was who.  Lastly, the quote that the kids chose is "Truly wonderful the mind of a child is" - who doesn't love Yoda?

Do you have a unique project that you have completed for a class project?  I'd love it if you'd share and stay tuned for updates on this years project...