Quite a few of my posts start out by me looking for information regarding something I’m working on. Today that would be annealing borosilicate glass. I’m in the midst of a project that is requiring extra extra large beads so I’m working with borosilicate. Yesterday I made a bead that’s over 2″ x 2″ and before I go to the next level, which will be beads that are about 4″ x 2″ and 3″ x 5″ I want to make sure I’ve got all the annealing temperatures right. I normally work with soft glass and I know all about annealing that kind of glass. Boro is something I don’t play with much. You should have see the flame I worked with…wait, isn’t that it in the picture? Anyway, I went over to Arrow Springs web site for some information. They are always a very safe place to go when you need to answer a glass question. Now, back to the torch.
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Rainy Day Craft Projects for Kids
It’s said that April showers bring May flowers, but where I live the rainy season definitely isn’t over when April is. These crafts inspired by rainy days are great to make when the weather is awful, or they’re just cute crafts to decorate a classroom for spring.
This little paper umbrella from Easy Peasy and Fun is made with folded paper circles, so if you’ve got a round craft punch the prep on it will be pretty fast. Make them full all around or leave a flat space on the back for hanging on a wall. You can also add raindrops to the edge if you like. So cute!
The Pinterested Parent has a printable umbrella template that kids can decorate, cut out and tape or glue together to make an umbrella. Ths would be fun to do in a classroom and see how kids choose to decorate their umbrellas in different ways or using different media like paint, crayons or colored pencils.
Play with oil pastels and watercolors with this rainy day art project from Projects with Kids. This one looks like so much fun I kind of want to make it myself! There’s a lot of fun techniques in this one, including using pastels as a resist, painting with watercolors and doing blow painting with a straw.
I love this raindrop suncatcher project from Pre-K Pages, too. This one might be best to do with a small group or one on one since it includes using a iron. This technique is a great way to use crayons that are broken or have lost their paper, and you can use other colors and shapes to clean out your craft closet.
Or use the rain as part of your art, like with this project from Nurture Store. Start this project when the rain starts falling, and let nature collaborate in your art!