Altered THREE on Thursday :)

Seriously...where is this week going? I can't believe it's Thursday already! But, I'm NOT complaining :)

One of the reasons this week seems to be flying by for me is SUMMER CLASSES at the art center! Our first week of summer session started on Monday, so it's non-stop kid traffic, in and out, and all around the building!! Although it's chaotic, it's one of the things I will miss most about my job. For the six weeks of classes during June and July, I see hundreds of kids and learn to call them all by name. They are so sweet and energetic...even the one that pulled the fire alarm on Tuesday! It happens every year, so why not get it out of the way the first day?! AND the firemen we're too bad to look at :) Next thing to look forward to will be the three year-old calling 911 from the payphone in the hall! That usually happens every year as well. In hopes to avoid it this year, we've taped a cardboard box over the phone, so hopefully the kids won't notice it! This summer we're offering 138 classes...everything from cooking around the world, pirates and ceramics to wacky water, ribbon purses and detective in training... we love to keep the kids involved and exploring their creativity!

I have been able to teach a few classes each summer since I've been here, but one of my favorites is Altered Things! I've taken some classes from my favorite scrapbooking diva, Alicia, and it gave me the 'altering bug'!! I consider altering to be taking everyday objects and turning them into something useful, creative and fabulous! Over the years, we've altered everything from clipboards and cd cases to notebooks and wooden boxes. The wonderful ladies from Crop Camp donated tons of awesome scrapbooking supplies to the art center every year and the girls in my classes have a blast with it all! I have 8 girls in my class this summer and they are all so creative. They're super QUIET too!! I have to remind them it's okay to talk!

Here are THREE of my Altered Things projects from this week's class:

ONE-Random plastic box (someone donated close to 15 of these, and I knew I could make them into something much prettier). Here's a before...

After...turned it into a recipe box! It could also be used to sort and hold pictures

TWO- spiral notebook altered into a beautiful journal with some patterned paper & ribbon
THREE- boring 'ol clipboard altered into something bright and cheery

Hope I've inspired you...make your world a prettier place, go out and alter something today! AND don't forget to share some pictures when you do! I'll have to share some more of my alterings later :)