Tissue Paper Rainbow Catcher

So, today I'm sharing something that my 2 year old especially likes, but it's also something my 8 year old enjoys as well.....You need different colors of tissue paper, scissors, clear contact paper (we found some in the aisle with the shelf liner paper at walmart), and some construction paper (if you want to cut out shapes to add in with the tissue paper)....

Before the fun begins, you need to roll out a square/rectangle of contact paper, cut it off the roll, and peel the paper off.  I usually try to just peel one end of the paper off at a time so I can tape the corners to the table the kids are working at, just make sure the contact paper is sticky side up.  You can either cut out squares (really it doesn't matter if they are all uniform, or really square) before or after you get the contact paper fixed to the table.  (This would also be a good time to do construction paper shapes if you decide you want to do them)

Then the kids can put the shapes and tissue squares wherever they want on the contact paper.  Just try to help them not put a pile of them in one spot, just spread them out.

 

Like that pile up there to the right of Rue's hand....don't worry we fixed it.

 

I just love watching those tiny fingers work their magic....and how every piece has a specific spot.

This part can be a bit tricky, but I've found that if you (once again) only unroll one end at a time it goes a bit better.  This time you want the sticky side of the contact paper down, so the layers sort of stick together.  Oh, I usually try to cut the top piece a bit bigger than the bottom piece underneath so it will overlap, and then it doesn't matter so much if you get all the edges lined up and perfectly matched.....trust me mine aren't....

 

As you continue peeling the paper from underneath, gently press on the contact paper so you don't end up with bubbles and lines in your finished project.Then you can either fold over the sticky edges to encase the masterpiece, or you can use your scissors to trim the raw edges off.

Rue decided that she wanted to hang her masterpiece in her big brothers window, because he did something to his blinds a few months ago and they ended up on the ground and they can't be fixed.  So, long story short, he's not had any sort of "window treatment" for a bit now.  So, we got the tape out and decided where it would go, and also that we were going to make another to go beside this one so the bottom part of his window would be completely covered with her art.  (I should've just rolled out a longer piece for her to work on, but you know how hindsight is 20/20, right?)  Sorry for the funky quality of the pic, way too much snow outside, and his light bulb had burnt out..... but you get the gist....

I wanted to show you what I did with the munchkins last summer.  I had rolled out a long piece and had the kids go to town, and we also used construction paper shapes (the hearts and flowers and stars, which you just put in between the layers of contact paper, when you do the tissue paper stuff) which aren't as transparent.  Really, for the older kids you could do a whole "scene" or picture this way.  

I didn't have anything covering the window in our backdoor that's in the kitchen, which was sort of creeping me out, and I didn't want to hang a curtain because I was afraid it would stick out too far as our steps downstairs are perpendicular to the door.  I tried that mylar sticky reflective stuff, which you're not supposed to be able so see through, but you can, and it's a pain in the butt to try to adhere or cut or mess with.  Long story short, I cut up their tissue paper design and taped (shh, we won't tell) the pieces onto the glass panels in the door.  It worked great, and I get that nice color which is so awesome about this time of year, with all the gray and snow and such.  Again with the funky pic, but really the colors haven't faded as much as I thought, because we get full sun on that side of the house, and it's been up there for at least 6 months.

So, do you have any neat artsy craftsy ideas to share?  Please do.....