Master the Art of Reading

NaNoWriMo began well. I'd hoped to be a lot farther along, word-count-wise, by now, but I'm pretty happy with my weekend. It may seem it from today's post, but I won't forget about you this month.

I wrote a post earlier today but I don't want to put it up. I'm a little uncomfortable writing about artists who are still living. Tomorrow's post will lead to a fun and simple project on Wednesday, though, so stay tuned.

I do have something pretty cool to share with you today. I was at my local library on Saturday and I noticed some new reading posters decorating the walls. There are twelve posters in all and each features a different famous work of art. The paintings have been changed so that they include books. There is the Mona Lisa, reading a book with a smile. There is Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte with books scattered across the lawn. And the subject of Edward Munch's The Scream is reading what must be a horror novel, judging by his expression.

Check out set 1 and set 2. I'm thinking of ordering them...

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My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:

6756 / 50000 words. 14% done!

NaNoWriMo!!

No art post today. I just wanted to remind you all that National Novel Writing Month begins tomorrow!

In case you have not heard of National Novel Writing Month, called NaNoWriMo, it a free, month-long event during which people from all over the world try to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. That’s about 200 pages. More than 100,000 people are signed up to participate.

NaNoWriMo has a fantastic Young Writers Program as well. It is open to anyone under the age of 18. Young writers can set their own writing goals and then work toward them throughout November.

During the month you will receive pep-talks in your email that will help keep you working. Many of the pep-talks are written by famous authors. How cool would it be to get an email from the author of one of your favorite books?

On the Young Writers Program website you’ll find all kinds of tips and resources. There is even a workbook to help you create your characters and come up with a plot.

You may remember that I participated in NaNoWriMo last year. I reached the 50,000 word goal on the final day. I will again take part in this great program. You can track my progress in the little blue widget in the right-hand column.

If you decide to write your own novel this November, I would love to hear about it. Just leave a message in the comments.

Happy writing!! (And happy Halloween!)

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Create Your Own Origami Pumpkin

I have already posted about origami. I have also posted about a few origami books. But origami is fun and this little origami pumpkin is a delightful Halloween project. Enjoy!

Supplies Needed:

Square of orange paper, any size
Green pipe cleaner
Black marker

I used orange construction paper but I recommend using a thinner paper. Origami paper is the best choice.

Fold your paper in half diagonally. Open it back up. Fold it in half diagonally the other way and open it back up. Fold it in half straight. It should look like a rectangle. Fold the rectangle in half to create a small square. Open it back up. It should look like this:
Fold the paper back into a rectangle. Use the diagonal fold to help you make your paper look like this:
Notice the fold down the middle of the triangle. Fold along that line. Do the same on the other side of the paper. It should now look like this:
Fold up the two bottom corners of the triangle:
Flip your paper over and do the same to the other side. It should now look like this:
Fold the corners of the diamond in so that they touch the line. Flip your paper over and do the same to the other side. It should look like this:
Fold down the loose flaps at the top of your origami and tuck them into the triangles on the side. Flip the paper over and do the same to the other side. It should look like this:
Your paper now has four flaps that are attached in the center. Flip the flaps over until your paper looks like this:
Draw a jack-o-lantern face on one side of the origami. Like this:
One end of your origami is closed and the other end has a hole in it. Blow gently into the hole until your pumpkin puffs out.

Poke a hole in the top of the pumpkin and slip a piece of green pipe cleaner into it.

Your finished origami pumpkin should look something like this:
Happy Halloween!

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Create Your Own Pumpkin Lantern

You may have decorated your porch, balcony, or driveway with real jack-o-lanterns, but you wouldn’t want to keep them inside. But what if you want to decorate the inside of your house with lit pumpkins, too? Try making a few pumpkin lanterns!

Supplies Needed:

Orange construction paper
Green construction paper
Tape
Scissors

Fold one sheet of construction paper in half, lengthwise. Face the fold toward you and cut one-inch wide slits across the width of the paper. Do not cut all the way through. Your slits should stop about an inch from the edge.
Unfold the paper and hold it so the slits run up and down and the fold points out. Bend the paper into a cylinder and tape the edges together.

Cut a one-inch-wide strip of green. It should be about 8 inches long. Tape the green strip to the top of the lantern. This is your handle. If you plan to light your lantern with a candle, angle the handle to the side. This will stop the candle from heating up the handle.
Have an adult light a tea light candle, place it in a jar, and set it inside the lantern. If you or your parent are concerned about creating a fire, stand a short flashlight inside the lantern instead.

Create as many as you want and use your lanterns to light your house on Halloween night for a spooky, festive feel!

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Create Your Own Pumpkin Table Decoration

I hadn’t planned to post any Halloween crafts but, as it turned out, I missed creating them. So today is the first in a series of Pumpkin crafts. This pumpkin is a great table decoration. Make a bunch of them and decorate your whole house!

Supplies Needed:

Orange construction paper
Green construction paper
Pipe cleaner, either green or orange
Scissors
Hole punch

Cut eight or ten long strips of orange paper. Each strip should be about an inch wide. I folded my paper like an accordion so I would know where to cut. You might choose to measure and draw lines instead.

Cut a short, one-inch-wide strip of green paper.

Punch holes in both ends of every strip, including the green one. The hole should be about the width of your pinky from the end of the strip.

Stack all the orange strips on top of each other. Slide the pipe cleaner through the holes at one end of the stack. Twist the end of the pipe cleaner into a little knot so that it won’t slip back through the holes. Arc the orange strips upward and slip the pipe cleaner through the other set of holes. Now slide the pipe cleaner through both ends of the green strip. Don’t make any folds. You want your pumpkin to be rounded.

Twist the end of your pipe cleaner into a little knot on the top of your pumpkin. You may need to trim away a bit of extra pipe cleaner. Ask and adult to help you with this.

Spread out the orange shapes until your pumpkin looks round.
(You’ll notice that my pumpkin has holes punched through the middles of the strips. Yours should not have those holes.)

Place you pumpkin in a place of honor and enjoy!

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