 |
| Top three are wax relief; bottom four use mixed techniques with watercolors; the tree on the far right middle uses layers of "sponge painting" in three shades of green with large and small bubble wrap. |
Use a pencil to
lightly outline around the outside of Christmas cookie cutters on watercolor
paper. Cut the shapes and decorate with a variety of simple watercolor
techniques for a kid-friendly project that is festive and fun. I designed this
project for Christmas VBS and as a simple art project for children at the
annual Wassailfest in downtown New Braunfels. The easiest way is to have the
shapes pre-cut. Use a paper punch to put a hole for a ribbon at the top of the
shape. If you have more time and are working with older children or adults then
they could outline and cut their own stack of shapes from a sheet of watercolor
paper.
 |
| Basic supplies: a selection of cookie cutters, watercolors, glitter crayons, and watercolor paper.
Watercolor
technique options:
Wax relief: Use glitter
crayons to decorate both sides of the ornament—press hard so the wax is bold
and heavy on the paper. Paint with watercolors on both sides and tie with a ribbon.
Wax relief also works well for custom gift tags. Write the name in crayon and then watercolor over. Affix the tag onto a package using double-stick tape or punch a hole and tie with ribbon.
 
Watercolors Mixed Techniques:
Practice different watercolor techniques such as wet on wet so the colors blur
together; dry on dry so the watercolors have a more distinct edge; layers of
watercolors—force try between layers so they don’t turn muddy. This variation reminds me of the "egg yolk paint" cookies we made as children--cookie dough that was sweetened with honey and then the shapes cut out and painted with food coloring in egg yolk and baked until the colors glistened.
Sponge painting: use a variety of materials including sponges,
bubble wrap with large and/or small bubbles, and wadded up tissue paper or
paper towel.
|
 |
| "Sponge painting" with bubble wrap--paint the bubble wrap with watercolors and press bubble side down onto the ornament. |
 |
| Layer with different sized bubble wrap and different shades of green. Force dry with a hairdryer between colors. |
