Artistic Artwork Holder

by Christine Dvornik

Age: Preschool and up
Time: An hour or more
Type of activity: Arts and Crafts

Kids love to exhibit their creations. Now your child can create her own way to display her artwork!

Materials needed:
· 2 wooden clothespins
· 5 popsicle sticks
· 2 magnetic strips (sold in packages at local craft stores)
· Craft glue
· Tempera paint
· Small paintbrush
· Glitter, markers, ribbons, etc.

What to do:

Step One: Paint each clothespin. Even though a clothespin is a small surface to work with, there's still tons of room for creativity. Maybe you want to paint a background color and then a pattern or design in another color. Or, you could use several colors and patterns until the surface is covered.

Step Two: Now you're going to paint each popsicle stick using the same creativity you did to paint the clothespins.

Step Three: Let the clothespins and popsicle sticks dry completely.

Step Four: Next, add any additional decoration to the popsicle sticks using ribbons, glitter, buttons, or other materials.

Step Five: The popsicle sticks are going to "connect" the two clothespins. Glue one end of the popsicle stick to the bottom of one clothespin. Glue the other end of the same popsicle stick to the bottom of the other clothespin.

Step Six: Repeat Step Five for each of the four remaining popsicle sticks. Space them out evenly, to the top of the clothespins like a ladder. Creativity can come into play here as well -- you could glue the popsicle sticks diagonally instead of horizontally.

Step Seven: Cut two magnetic strips to the length of the clothespins. Now, glue the magnetic strips to the back of the clothespins. If you have several strips (or pieces) make sure you space them out evenly.

Now you're ready to hang a masterpiece!