Christmas Flash Mobs

Lately I have been seeing an interesting amount of Christmas flash mob videos of people singing Christmas carols at malls, food courts and in airports, just to name a few.

I like the idea of people taking time out of their busy lives, during the holiday season, to do these. The flash mobs are fun, festive and even a little inspirational.  

I especially love how one camera captures a father telling his family, "Lets just make this quick, okay?" and later in the video you see him glued to the floor listening to the singers with a big grin on his face.

I have gathered a few of the videos that I thought were well done, even if a few of them happen to be corporate sponsored.  Joy is joy, no mater if it was paid for or not.

"In the darkness there is always a bit of light should you choose to see it."

Enjoy!

Credit: Journey of Faith Flash Mob

Credit: Northlands Christmas Flash Mob

Credit: WestJet Surprise Flash Mob

Credit: T-Mobile Home for the Holidays


 Happy Holidays! 

Black Friday

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Amy Rose Designs

Paper Mache' Pumpkin

Newspaper, whole and cut into 1" and 1 1/2" wide strips

Paints, Tempura or Art

Paint Brushes

Starch

Bowl

Paper Towels

Aluminum Foil

Tray or Plate

Preparation:
Cover your working space with a table cloth or vinyl covering.
Cut the newspaper into strips of 1" and 1 1/2" wide Take aluminum foil and cover a tray or plate and set it aside. Pour a good amount of the starch in the bowl. (2"inches or enough to dip the strips)

Process:
Begin by taking the whole sheets of newspaper and smashing them into a ball.
Continue to do this until you have the size of the pumpkin you desire.

Sealing in the main body:
Take one of the 1 1/2" strips of newspaper and dip it into the starch; getting it fairly wet.

 

Holding one end of the strip with your left hand and placing your index finger and your middle finger together at the top of the strip (like scissors in a closed position) and slide it between your fingers pulling off the extra starch from the strip.

Take the wet strip of newspaper and place it at the top of the pumpkin and lay it down the right side of the pumpkin body, under the bottom and back up to the top of the pumpkin and seal it on top of the beginning strip. 

 
Take the next strip and repeat the same process again, but do it on the left side of the body at the same starting point on the top.

Turn the body so the first strip is facing you and repeat the same process on the other "middle" of the pumpkin. Keep turning the pumpkin and repeating this process until all the "middles" have been covered and you can no longer see the inside of the pumpkin. This process helps to seal he body so the pumpkin becomes easier to handle in the finishing process.

Creating the final look:
To finish the final look of your pumpkin you are going repeat the same process as above, but now use the 1" strips.

 
After laying the initial strip down in this process when you go to do the second strip lay it down in the same manner, but lay the strip slightly over the first strips edge. Remember to smooth the strips down as you go.

 
Repeat this process at least TWO times over the entire pumpkin.

When you have covered the body place a few small dry pieces of newspaper to the bottom of the pumpkin to keep it from sticking to the tray/plate. At this point your pumpkin should look like this:

 

Stem of the pumpkin:Decide how long you want your pumpkin stem to be and choose the width of the newspaper strip to achieve it. 

 
Get the strip wet with starch and begin to turn the strip on to itself (like a fruit roll-up). Keep adding more strips till you have your desired stem thickness taking care to keep the bottom of the stem even.

 

Take the end of the stem and dip it lightly in the starch and place it on the top of the pumpkin.

 
Take the 1" wet newspaper strips and wrap them on the top of the pumpkin and over the top of the stem to the other side. Repeat the same "sealing process" to secure the stem into place.

Tear the 1" strips in smaller, more manageable wet pieces, and wrap them around the body of the stem to give it a more finished, smoother look. Let your pumpkin completely dry before painting it.

The finished product:Paint your pumpkin as you wish giving time in between coats to dry.

Happy Halloween!

* Please, supervise young children! 

Cheese Cloth Ghost

 

2 1/2 Yards Cheese Cloth
3 Small Buttons or Black Embroidery Thread
2 Liter Bottle
2 - 4 Balloons
1 Cup of Starch
Aluminum Foil
Bowl
Tape
Tray

-Pour the starch into a medium bowl and set aside.

-Cover your tray with aluminum foil

.

-Blow up TWO balloons to about 6" to 8" round and tape the balloons to the side of the bottle making two arms.

-Blow up the TWO remaining balloons to about 3" to 4" round and set them aside.

-Fold the cheese cloth over so it is about 22" across.

-Dip the cheese cloth into the starch saturating it then squeeze out the remaining starch.

-Pull the cheese cloth apart returning it to its 22" across measurement.

-Using the middle of the cheese cloth as your guide put the cloth over the top of the bottle head and draping it over the sides of the arms of the balloon and straight down the front and back pooling the remaining cloth in a ghost like fashion in the front and back. The pooling in the front and back are what will give the ghost it's structure to hold it up.

-Take the remaining two balloons and place them in the front under the cheese cloth draping them over the balloons to create a wave.

-Let the ghost dry over night. Pull the ghost off its structure.

-Glue the buttons on for eyes or wrap embroidery thread into a small ball and glue them on to the ghost for eyes and a mouth.

* Do not use a candle under the ghost!

Scrabble Love

There's nothing like saying "I Love You" with tiles.

A great way to make a statement at the entry way to your home or among the family photos or on the wall in the privacy of your bedroom.

We have chosen a specific set of colors, but this is a custom print that can be made to match the interior of your home.

  Scrabble Love in Sand

Scrabble Love in Red

Scrabble Love in Chocolate

Scrabble Love in Blue

Scrabble Love in Purple

Scrabble Love in Pink

Scrabble Love in Mint

You can find all of our art here!

♥ All ARD designs are protected by copyright and have an embedded watermarked

ABC is for...

Simplicity and color gets the job done in this new print.

It's sweet and brings back memories of your own childhood when you first began to write your own name in school.

Celebrate your child's name in print with our "ABC is for..." print.

Choose one of our color sets or let us know what you would like to see!

 

ABC is for... in Rust

 ABC is for... in Mustard

 ABC is for... in Ocean

ABC is for... in Orange

 

ABC is for... in Plum

ABC is for... Aquamarine

 ABC is for... Butter

 ABC is for... in Mint

♥ All ARD designs are protected by copyright and have an embedded watermarked

Up in the Air

We're back into the swing of things and adding more children's art to the store!

We simply like the simplicity and fun of "Up in the Air".

Add this piece to your child's room or playroom and there will certainly be fun times to be had.

See our other pieces here!

♥ All ARD designs are protected by copyright and have an embedded watermarked

Rocket to the Moon

It has been a while since we released a new piece of children's art, but we are happy that is about to change!

Introducing our newest piece, "Rocket to the Moon" for the little space captain in your house.

This piece personalizes your child in space with his name highlighted.

Personalize your child's space with this fun, whimsical space themed piece of children's art.

Choose your space man with blonde hair

or with brown hair

Shop for your space man here!

♥ All ARD designs are protected by copyright and have an embedded watermarked

Super Boy and Super Girl

Faster than a speeding bullet.

More powerful than a locomotive. 

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound it's... 

It's SUPER BOY and SUPER GIRL! 

Super Boy with Brown Hair 

Super Boy with Blonde Hair

Super Girl with Brown hair

Super Girl with Blonde Hair

♥ All ARD designs are protected by copyright and have an embedded watermarked

Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine

We just love our new print, Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine.

A counting of sheep jumping the fence in search of the illusive sleep that so many of our little ones try to escape.

We have chosen four colors for the girls in Cotton Candy Pink, Mint, Violet and Butter Yellow and Ocean Blue, Olive, Sand and Charcoal for the boys.

Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine - Girl

Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine in Cotton Candy Pink

Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine in Mint 

 Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine in Violet

Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine in Butter Yellow

 Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine - Boy

Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine in Ocean Blue 

 Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine in Olive

 Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine in Sand 

 Sleep, Sweet Child of Mine in Charcoal 

♥ All ARD designs are protected by copyright and have an embedded watermarked

Cowboy and Cowgirl Collection - Childrens Art

We're happy to release our Cowboy and Cowgirl Collection of Children's Art to the store.

The colors we used in the print are fun, bold and really set the art off visually.  

If you have a cowboy or cowgirl in your house the three pieces we have created will be perfect to hang on the wall to set the rooms theme.

Cowboy Collection

Personalize your child's date of birth with our Cowboy Birthday print.

Personalized the piece with your child's birth information as well as choosing the cowboy that best suits your little man the best with blonde hair, brown hair or dark hair.

Choose our A-B-C print to coordinate with our Cowboy Birthday print.

Make your set complete with our 1-2-3 Cowboy print.

Do you have a little Cowgirl at your ranch?

Have people take note of your little girls date of birth with our Cowgirl Birthday print.

And just like our Cowboy Birthday print your little cowgirl can be customized as well.

A-B-C Cowgirl Print

1-2-3 Cowgirl Print

Yeehaw, these sure is cute!

** All photographs have an embedded watermark and copyrighted

 

Happy Fourth!

Wishing you and your family a safe and Happy Fourth of July!