Oooops Paint

You might be wondering if someone else's mistakes are worth writing about.   They are.    The oooops paint at Lowes is something to see, every time.   In short, you can usually pay about five bucks a gallon for unwanted colors.  

Put your brush in plastic wrap in between coats.  
Wear something you don't mind getting paint on because you can't worry about that while you work.

Before you continue reading, let me tell you that my taste in decor is questionable and a little on the tacky side.   My color palette is unsophisticated, but it makes me happy, and yours should too.

I don't have the best luck during winter, but spring brings out all of my favorite mistakes.   It's a bonus when the paint is the combination primer and color.   Also, don't worry about using exterior paint on furniture for inside your classroom.   All that means is that it can take more of a lickin'.

A few years ago I rescued some wooden bookcases from local thrift stores and sanded, cleaned, primed and repainted them in cool greens and blues during a Mad Men marathon.   Well, those bookcases were gone before the tornado touched down.   Our school used to host a countywide auction of unwanted school furniture, and I think my sweet shelves got mixed up in that situation while it was in the hall and the janitors waxed the classroom floor.   Dang.   Well, it really doesn't matter anyway.

But I can show you a picture of the rocking chair I just rehabilitated.   If I put it in the classroom, I'll probably have 10 broken toes by the end of the week, but it's the same five dollar color that I'm going to use for a tiny game table I found.   I just need to wait for another humidity-free painting day.   Now that I work a half a mile behind a Lowes, I think my paint collection is about to expand.

Furniture with spindles, rockers, stretchers and splats means patience. You have to move quickly and keep an eye out for drips and paint build up before it dries.   Let it dry between coats.   I painted this chair right side up first and upside down second.   That will let you see any places you missed.   I turned it right side up for a final check at the end.

Random Acts of Inspiration/In the Beginning...

It's the last week of school, so I'm trying to be reasonable about what I ask kids to do in class and what I'm willing to grade.   Last Friday, we reminded ourselves of Where the Wild Things Are before sketching ourselves as Wild Things, cutting out our mini-portraits and gluing them in a group to form a massive Rumpus.   We also wrote vignettes about our earlier Wild Thing selves.

It's my opinion that opportunities for art and kindness should be integrated into the curriculum whenever possible.   I never feel like I do enough of the latter, so I wanted to think of something small and cheap that could turn into something big and priceless.   And, yes, it would involve paint chips.

To replicate this activity you will need one paint chip per child, a single hole punch, ball point pens, yarn, scissors and patience.   To add a little drama, you will need some super awesome Facebook friends, a camera, stamps and envelopes.

Here come the baby steps.   Have kids get out a spare piece of paper for a rough draft.   They should imagine opening a fortune cookie and reading an uplifting message that makes them have a positive outlook on their lives.   What would that one sentence say?   Come up with four rough ideas.   Star one.   Craft it into perfection.

Once they think they've got it going on, they should show it to you for approval.   You may need to help and redirect them at this point.   Mark their sentence with a highlighter when it's a final draft.

When they get the official okay from you, they should pick out a paint chip, punch a hole, tie a piece of yarn and write their message.

Option A:   Allow students to take their own messages and hang them somewhere out in the world for someone else to find.

Option Awesomer:   After school, create a Facebook event.   Invite your friends.   People who choose to "attend" can send you their snail mail address and receive a paint chip in the mail.   They must agree to hang the inspirational message, post a photo on the event page with a brief message of the where and why to their location choice.   The next day, have kids write the return address on the envelope as well as a thank you message on the back of the envelope.   Kids then select a pre-approved tag and attach a sticky note, "This chip was handpicked for you by (student's first name)'".   Unsealed envelopes should be placed in a box.   After looking inside the envelopes to make sure that all is well, have a "responsible" student seal the envelopes and another one put the stamps in the corner.   Send yet another child to the school's mailbox.   Include them in as many ways as you can; they should feel like they are in control of something good.

Students know what I'm planning to do with their work, and they know that any extra chips will be delivered on my road trip to the Delta.   (And, no, they are absolutely not my Facebook friends until they graduate high school, friend me first and I know at least one of their parents.)

Here's what my friends and my students have in common.   They're all willing to give a potentially good idea a chance.   I never confuse the two groups, but I sure do appreciate their shared sense of daring.

Keep your eyes peeled.   My buddies have all summer long to get the job done.   Wanna play along?   The next time you are in Lowes, grab a stack of paint chips and commence with some guerrilla inspiration.

Deck the Room with Paint Chip Garlands

You know how much I love paint chips.   They are beautiful, inspiring, plentiful and free.   I've already told you about Paint Chip Poetry.   Let's make something festive for the classroom.   How about some mini all-about-me collages to string into garlands?

Swing by Lowes for the Valspar paint chips that come with three colors and three squares cut from the bottom edge.   Haul out your Magazine Mountain.   Get the scissors, glue and twine or ribbon.

Here's the tricky part.   Students will need to keep their chips color side up but with the three holes along the top of their collage.   This is where the twine will go to string the art.   Someone in each class will probably assemble his upside down.   It happens.

My preference is for the collage to contain words and images and not extend up to the top third of the chip.   I like to see a little bit of the colors they chose. and I need room to thread the collages.   Also, no ratty edges from magazine pictures extending over the side of the chip, please.   Names can go on the back, since it's easy to flip the chip and see what's what.

This is a great beginning or end of year activity.   It's also a relaxing respite from a week of state testing.   Teens need the opportunity to express themselves...and see themselves in their learning spaces.