All of my classes have been working on a series of sculptures for our school. In the front of the school are 6 alcoves where the windows for the classrooms on the front of the building are. We have tried planting all sorts of things there, plants, bushes, etc. but we can't get anything to grow due to the lack of easy access to water. So after some research, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I found the website of Michelle and Nathan Stitzlein http://www.artgrange.com/ and found some amazing pictures of bottlecap murals that Michelle has done with a variety of schools. I decided that bottlecap flowers might just be the thing we need for the alcoves. So at the beginning of the school year I sent a letter home to all parents asking them to save plastic lids. All year long the students brought them in (they are still coming in even after we are almost finished! Ted (Mr. E of Art with Mr. E) I have a bunch of caps for your next project! LOL! Anyway... we finally had enough to start. I bought four sheets of plywood and drew out flowers and leaves. Our school nurse graciously volunteered her husband to come and cut them out. Then I had a couple of helpers come in over the weekend to prime the wood. While they were doing that, one of my loyal minions started sorting the bottlecaps by color. (Please note that I have parent permission to post these pics of the students).Finally everything was primed and we started painting the shapes the approximate colors that we were going to use.
My kindergarteners and first graders finished sorting caps, and the third graders painted the shapes. The second and fourth graders then started gluing the caps on. I had them use tacky glue, since I needed the glue to hold the caps on until I could get around to attaching them with screws. Lots and lots of screws... like 13 pounds of screws...
We are now finished with this, and I just have to get the wood for the "stems" we are going to use 2x2's and cement them into coffee cans. After the cement is set up, the wood is primed and painted, some volunteers will come and dig holes to "plant" the stems. Finally, we will attach the flowers and leaves to the stems. I am hoping that this will be done when we get back from spring break.
7 comments:
WAY COOL!!!!!Can't wait to see the finished flowers!
What kind of screws are those? Was it very expensive? I like the idea of the kids collaborating on this!
they were 1/2 screws, you can buy them by the pound at lowe's or home depot. They were $10 a pound. For all 18 flowers and 16 leaves we used 13 lbs of them. But remember, these are huge flowers!
Love it!!! What kind of paint did you use to paint the flowers before you put the caps on?
Looks great! Why did you need to prime the wood? I am about to do a similar project but hadn't thought of that step.
I did this project with my Brownie Girl Scouts last year. The sculptures turned out great. We stuck our on garden posts and they are displayed at our local science museum in their garden. I have pictures if you want to see them. Contact me.
I was just wondering how your flowers are holding up? I am about to start our bottle cap outdoor sculptures( after saving bottle caps for 2 years) and was researching the best products to use on an outdoor installation. I would love to hear the pros and cons to your selection of products! Thank you ~ Lisa Cox Grapevine, Tx
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