Category: Craft

Art, Craft, DIY, Drawing, Make, Create, & Share!

Inspired Zentangles

Intheartroom

If you’ve done classes with me before, we’ve probably created some sort of Zentagle inspired art! They’re one of my favorite activities to warm up with or combine with other art projects. They’re something anyone can create and have unique results! If you haven’t yet made a Zentangle; The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. Learn more at zentangle.com.  According to the method, true Zentangles are completed in black ink on white paper (and can include some pencil shading) on 3.5″ square pieces of paper, however, you can create art inspired by Zentagles many different ways – I like to mix them up with other projects too! I’ve included below my inspired method for creating Zentangles and a few examples of ways you can apply them to other art! *”Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc.

What you need to get started with a basic inspired Zentangle art:

  • Paper – I use white card stock or smooth bristol paper, however, any paper will do (you could even use colored card stock or construction papers). The traditional size for a Zentangle is a 3.5″ square – or change it up and make your Zentangle into a bookmark, greeting card or any size or shape you’d like!
  • Black Sharpies – a regular sharpie marker and a sharpie pen. You can use any black ink pen or marker you have on hand though! Or change it up and use the same methods but with colored pens & markers!

Step one: My favorite way to get started is by drawing a few lines across your paper – edge to edge. I use the sharpie marker for this step. It’s okay if your lines overlap or start and stop on the same edge. The lines can be wavy, zig-zagged, curvy, etc. My finished Zentangle will be a bookmark!

Step two: Your lines have created spaces, or shapes, that we now get to fill with patterns! I like the smaller sharpie pen for this step. Your patterns could be repeating lines, shapes, or a combination! Take a look around to find inspiration for your patterns – there are lines, shapes & patterns everywhere!

Step three: Continue to fill in your spaces or shapes with patterns until you have them all filled in!

Variations – Instead of filling in the whole piece of paper with Zentangles you could first draw an outline shape to fill in (trace your hand, use a stencil or freehand a shape/object). Make it collaborative – it’s fun to have everyone join in, each person can fill in a different space after the lines have been drawn or each person can start a Zentangle which can then be passed to the next person, added to, and then passed along again! You could also add color to your completed Zentangles. Or make a painting into a Zentangle – paint a picture fist and then draw Zentangles on top (see the butterfly and cat pictures below).

Some examples of student Zentagles and variations! If you still need more help getting started or would like more inspiration to get started with check out my inspired Zentangle packet! Happy Zentangling!

Art, Craft, Easter Eggs, Holiday

Marbled Easter Eggs

Intheartroom

These marbleized eggs are a tradition in my family – I can’t remember a year where we haven’t used this method to dye some eggs! They don’t require very much to achieve the effect and have fun results. Everything used is edible so you can still eat your eggs too – we use our dyed eggs in an Easter bread, but they also make a nice decoration or Easter snack 😉

What you need:

  • Hard Boiled Eggs
  • Food Coloring
  • Cooking Oil
  • Distilled White Vinegar
  • Several Shallow bowls (one for each color you would like)
  • A Fork
  • Paper Towels
  • Clothes that can get messy and a protected work surface!

Step one: Fill your bowls with a couple inches of water and add one Tablespoon of white vinegar to each. Then add several drops of food coloring to each one – the more food coloring you add the brighter your colors will be. I used the primary colors (Red, Yellow, & Blue) to create all the other colors you see on my eggs!

Step two: Add one teaspoon of cooking oil to each bowl. Depending on your bowl size you may need to add more oil – a little bit goes a long way for this, you don’t want it to cover your entire water surface, use a fork to help break up and disperse the oil on the surface.

Step three: Take one of your hard boiled eggs and roll it around in your bowl of color and oil. Once the egg has been completely covered let it set on a paper towel while you roll all your remaining eggs! Tips: If you’re color is not showing up well you can clean your eggs with white vinegar first and/or add more drops of food coloring to your bowls. Roll eggs quickly (but gently!) to make sure you pick up some of the oil spots on your egg.

Step four: Take your colored eggs and gently wipe off any remaining oil with a paper towel. Now roll you egg in a different color – Keep in mind the first color you rolled your egg in and the second color will mix to create a new color! Tips: Don’t dip your egg into too many colors – it can just make your egg brown and loose some of the marbleized effect. Wipe off your egg before you dip into a new color! You may need to break up the oil on the surface again to help pick up the oil spots! Instead of rolling the whole egg you can just dip part of it for a two-toned egg!

We use our dyed eggs in an Easter bread every year but they’re pretty displayed in a bowl too! This is also a fun project to learn about color mixing and the science behind why oil and water don’t mix! Check out Mocomi kids for a quick lesson on the science and a density experiment you can do at home! Mocomi kids also has several egg experiments to do too 🙂 Have a Happy Easter!