home >> art teaching >> project of the month: dec 2005

Festivas Shakers!

This is an easy, inexpensive project that looks really great when you are done! These shakers were made for New Year's but you can change designs and colors to go with any holiday or party theme! Plus I always like to recycle, recycle, recycle! Have Fun!

1. Collect cardboard paper towel holders. (Toilet tissue tubes work as well but are a little harder to work with because they are smaller.)

2. Spray holders with spray paint; here I used Rustoleum Metallic Silver.

3. Create designs with a Paint marker (regular markers don't "stick" to the metallic finish). I used "Painters Opaque Paint Marker" (medium tip).

4. Further decorate designs using a 3D shiny paint; here I used a brand called "Scribbles." It comes in a little plastic bottle with a squirt tip.

5. Place 3 or 4 staples to close the bottom of the tubes.

6. Using a hole punch, make 4 holes equidistant from each other (eyeball this) along the top edge.

7. In the paper towel tubes, place 15 pieces of ziti pasta. For the toilet tissue tubes, use something smaller; here I used 10 pieces of a smaller tube pasta called "ready cuts."

   

8. Cut 4 strands of curling ribbon, colors to match the 3 D shiny paint. Here I used lavender and purple to go with the purple 3D paint. You want the ribbons to hang down loosely and the amount of curl that the ribbon has will vary the number of inches of ribbon you will need. Again, just eyeball the length and cut ribbon accordingly.

9. Tie one set of ribbons thru two holes opposite each other and pull tight and tie into a knot. Do the same with the second set of ribbons. Some curling ribbon is stronger than others, so be careful when you tie that you don't pull too hard on the ribbon or it will break.

   If closure with the ribbon is not tight, just add a few staples to insure top is closed so that the pasta does not fall out.

10. The Festivas Shakers make wonderful sounds so enjoy and have fun!!

Contact Anitra for more information.