Art Lesson: Watercolor Paper Dolls

I have a friend I met at one of my early craft shows that made paper art dolls out of scraps of her watercolor paintings.  I wrote about her on the blog a couple years ago when I reviewed the Second Storie Indie Craft Show.

Anyway, I have been inspired by her work and have always wanted to try it myself (even if mine didn't turn out as beautifully abstract as hers).  And since teaching the art class, I have wanted to do it as a project with the kids.  So a few weeks ago on art class day, I got out some watercolor paper, paints, and mini brads and  had the kids make some.

(The big one on the left side is mine.) :)

Big Kids' class...

First I had them use the watercolor paints on the paper, telling them to "scribble" abstract designs with the paint.  Then I had them cut the pieces out to make the arms, legs, head, and body...then attach them with the brads.  I used a large needle to poke holes for them to more easily attach the brads, since it's difficult to poke the brads through the thicker watercolor paper.

Then the next week we did the project in the Little Kids' class... 

The kids all had a lot of fun with this project, and I think they liked making something they could play with later.