Creative Moments: Scraps

Recycling art materials has been an integral part of our household for years. My children have constantly heard me say, "don't throw that away, we might be able to make something out of that another time." This has been true for large pieces cut from projects, as well as the holes left after using a puncher. My children thought it was silly, until I approached them with this project.

Materials:

• glue stick (one for each child participating)
• mod podge (or your favorite decoupage medium, to be used by the parent)
• sponge brush
• one piece of construction paper for each child
• scraps saved from previous projects (or even cutting coupons)
• junk mail
• papers from using hole punchers
• paper cutter (to be used by the parent)

Instructions:

• tear up all the larger pieces from your scrap pile (each piece should be torn in random shapes; teach your child how to tear a deckled edge)
• tear up all the junk mail in the same random shapes
• glue all the pieces in a random pattern on to the construction paper; layering colors and shapes over each other
• glue the punches all over the top of the random pattern (some children like the "snowflake" look of this)
• parent: use the sponge brush to cover the entire piece with the decoupage medium. This will seal the piece and prevent corners from coming up.
• set each piece aside for twenty-four hours
• parent: when they've dried completely, use the paper cutter to cut each piece into strips to use as bookmarks, into squares to use in scrapbook projects, into squares to use for handmade greeting cards and into rectangles to use as gift tags. Use every bit of the construction paper piece.

This project encourages recycling, abstract thinking, and imagination. As you can see from the final step, several other projects will spark off from this one and lead to many more creative moments.