Egg Shell Sculptures

My husband has been incredibly patient; I've had a bowl of egg shells sitting on my counter for months, waiting for this project.  Yesterday was finally the day the kids and I were all free to do something together.  It was a beautiful, warm day, so we opened the garage door for shade, laid out a tarp, and commenced with our art projects (they also made some canvas paintings; blog posting to come later).  To prepare for this project, you will need to save a desired amount of egg shells.  I recommend boiling and bleaching them to protect against Salmonella.    

 For the first part of this project you will need the egg shells, a piece of cardboard or posterboard for sculpting on, and glue.  I cut squares from an old cracker box for the sculpture.

The kids squeezed glue over the cardboard (lot's is good!)  Then they placed the shells where they choose. (My daughter painted my son's face and arms with face paint, so if he looks extra messy, that's why :)   

Michael started with a big piece.  I told him little pieces were OK too, so he broke some shells into smaller scraps. 

Ariel decided on small bits.

Once Michael had filled up his cardboard with shells, he added more glue to ensure they would stick. 

Ariel tried to move her sculpture, but some shells fell off, so she too added more glue. 

Ariel's 1/2 finished project.  Now the glue needs to dry a bit before you being painting.  We set ours in the sun to speed the drying process.   

Once the glue is dry, the sculpture is ready for paint.  Ariel squeezed her paint over the shells.

Then she added glitter to the wet paint for extra sparkle! 

Ariel's finished sculpture.  

Michael chose to paint using a brush.  We used another piece of the cracker box for a paint palette.   

He used the minimalist approach with the paint. 

 Then he added glitter.   

  Luckily, his glue was still wet, so the glitter stuck.

Artistic inspiration can come from anywhere!  What strange items have you or your kids created art from?