When actor/impressionist Jim Meskimen put up a YouTube video of himself reciting a speech from Shakespeare’s Richard III in July, he didn’t expect it to become a web sensation; he was just trying to promote his one man show to a broader audience. Currently, it has over 700K views.

And when his follow-up to Shakespeare Impressions, Celebrity Alphabet hit two weeks ago, he didn?t expect it to go viral… in Australia.

With the majority of the viral traffic coming from ?down under?, Meskimen has tapped into a whole new ?Aussie-ence?, which comes conveniently at the same time as a trip to Sydney next month, where Jim will appear on the Australian version of The Today Show, in between corporate gigs.

Meskimen wraps up his season of live JIMPRESSIONS shows in Hollywood on the 4th & 5th of November at The Acting Center, where his one-man presentation of 75 celebrity voices, with a journey through the actor?s unusual career, has been met with acclaim and sold out houses.

Gather.com said, ?Not since Rich Little has there been such a talented and hilarious impressionist?, and Entertainment Weekly.com concurred, calling Meskimen ?one side-splitting, hyper-observant impersonator.?

Calling himself the “Man of an Infinity of Voices”, Meskimen has been performing impressions for years on television, for Parks & Recreation, Whose Line is It, Anyway? and most recently for the comedy Community, and on animated projects including one of the quintessential viral videos of 2004, Jibjab.com’s This Land, which lampooned then president George W. Bush and John Kerry, among others (Meskimen did all the voices, including Bill Clinton’s forlorn “Whud ah DO?”)

His latest stage show, JIMPRESSIONS, takes a retro, 70′s look at the art of celebrity impressions, and features over 75 different well known celebrity voices, some in song, like Frank Sinatra, who Meskimen presents singing a medley from the Beatle’s rarely covered (and with good reason) White Album.

What is it about impressions that captures the imaginations of audiences worldwide?

“I don’t really know,” says Meskimen, who is the real life son of actress Marion Ross of Happy Days and Brooklyn Bridge fame, “but when my Shakespeare Impressions went viral, it became very clear that a LOT of people are really attracted to seeing someone change before their eyes into someone else. I guess it’s a kind of fundamental amazement at changing identity. I?m a sucker for it, too! I loved the old school impressionists like Rich Little and Frank Gorshin who were on TV when I was a kid.”

He followed up the popular Shakespeare video (did we mention he also imitates Ricky Gervais and Ron Howard?) with Celebrity Alphabet, a salute, in alphabetical order, to 26 other celebrities, in rhyming couplets, again, performed all in one take.

Tommy Lee Jones fans, or fans of Jim’s version of Tommy Lee Jones, may enjoy his tribute to The Fugitive star in Tommy Lee Jones Recites Hamlet, also on Jim’s YouTube channel.

On the strength of his YouTube success, Meskimen brought his show to audiences in England, Canada, Chicago and Tampa, and heads down to Australia in November. “The Aussies have really been passing my latest video around a lot” said Meskimen.

Any other plans for his Jimpressions?

“Maybe a kind of American Idol for impressionists… there’s clearly an audience for it.”

See JIMPRESSIONS Friday November 4 & Saturday November 5 at The Acting Center, 5514 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood CA 90028. Tickets and info at http://www.theactingcenterla.com/on-the-stage-2/

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For its natural beauty Mexican crafts can be used to decorate any home space, not mattering which style you have chosen.

Mexican craft’s market offers a versatility of decorative products, for its beauty they have the ability to harmonize or even transform a dull looking room into a warm, welcoming room, adding sophistication, simplicity and elegance.

Mexican crafts offers a wide range of products in its materials and finishes, it should be noted that their inexpensive prices made them become a key for decoration. Different colors, shapes and textures can be found, helping you to create the desired effect or atmosphere for any room of your home.

Because of its wide variety of products you can find from a colorful jar for your kitchen, to a beautiful black clay pottery for your living room, or a gorgeous Talavera tableware set to impress your guests.

Some of the most accepted Mexican crafts are Oaxaca’s black clay , the wonderful Talavera sinks, tiles and tableware from Puebla, embossing works, oil paintings, glassblowing products, traditional Mexican clothing, wrought iron furniture, paper mache arts, yarn paintings, ceramic and wood products, etc.

Perhaps the biggest advantage for Mexican handcrafts are that are designed to fill a key role in everyday life: black clay pots in the kitchen, inlaid tables, pewter frames, painted clay pots, straw hats, copper pots.

So the Mexican crafts are one of the most decorative elements used in homes, not just for aesthetic reasons but also for their usefulness.

Mexican crafts are a great resource to help you decorate your home with great taste and a low cost; since there are a lot of products that will offer decorative solutions that would fit in to your pocket.

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Using mortar as glue, learn how to securely apply tiles for stepping stones in this free garden craft video from a mosaic artist. Expert: Cooie Grey-Lavin Bio: Cooie Grey-Lavin has been a mosaic artist for over twenty five years. She has a degree in horticulture. Currently, she teaches mosaic classes at her studio. Filmmaker: Owen Roth

Bathrooms with ceramic tile flooring is hardly a new concept. Ceramic tile floors in bathroom are the first choice for a huge number of homeowners due to the fact that ceramic tile floors are attractive, tough and are easy to keep clean and maintain. There are, however, several other ways ceramic tiles can be used in a bathroom all of which should be considered when planning a bathroom makeover.

Another place where ceramic tiles are commonly placed in bathrooms is the walls. Here you can really let your imagination run loose and set the tone of the decor for the whole room. With the amount of ceramic tile options available on the market today including, different shapes, sizes, colors, textures and patterns, sometimes one can find the selecting of new ceramic tile a daunting task at first.

Using small accent ceramic tiles in conjunction with larger ones is a popular bathroom design trick that can be very effective. With a little imagination they can be used to create a border or an overall theme that you just can’t beat with paint or wallpaper. Ranging from classically elegant to whimsically modern and amusing there is a ceramic tile design option available to suit any budget while catering to even the most unusual design sensibilities.

Used in homes ever since Roman times, terracotta tiles are quite alike in form to many limestone tiles, in that they are crafted from a naive stone that inherently features a unique copy and comes in many warm, neutral colors. Also, terracotta tiles can range from composite, rich ivories to stupefying browns of virtually all shades, and can even be found in splendid tones of gold. In addition, the tiles are typically available in plenty of finishes, including honed, filled, unfilled and tumbled, which can all work to bring out multiple different effects in the overall design of practically any finished suite, regardless of personal manner.

Although they are possibly most popular in the bathroom – on the walls and/or the deck- ceramic tiles are also fantastic for many kitchens, and even work quite nicely in some outdoor rooms. No matter of the locating, clever lighting techniques can draw the eye to more than one points in the copy of the stone, bringing out the glorious natural shimmer and unusual shine of these stupefying naive stone tiles. Its superb versatility is also driving the notability of kind of fabric, which can immediately lend a classical air to any bathroom place, yet can also feel very innate in an outdoor setting, while bringing a new level of sophistication to the kitchen place.

Ceramic tile manufacturing and design process have really evolved over the years. Because of this one can now find ceramic tile use for more than just the bathroom. You can use ceramic tiles in your kitchen and beyond. Some ceramic tiles do not even look like typical ceramic tiles but they have all the same wonderful properties. Now ceramic tile styles can now be found in styles that emulate metallic, wood and so much more. These tiles can really be used to create a truly unique and sophisticated atmosphere in any room. This is very different than how tiles have been used in the past.

If you want to create a great looking bathroom that is easy to clean and has great style a ceramic tile bathroom may be the best choice for you.

bit.ly Versatile and fun dishwasher magnet project using My Tile Kits.

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The scope of public art

Monuments, memorials and civic statuary are perhaps the oldest and most obvious form of officially sanctioned public art, although it could be said that architectural sculpture and even architecture itself is more widespread and fulfills the definition of public art. Increasingly most aspects of the built environment are seen as legitimate candidates for consideration as, or location for, public art, including, street furniture, lighting and graffiti. Public art is not confined to physical objects; dance, procession, street theatre even poetry have proponents that specialize in public art.

La Joute by Jean-Paul Riopelle, an outdoor kinetic sculpture installation with fire jets, fog machines, and a fountain in Montreal.

Sculpture intended as public art is often constructed of durable, easily cared-for material, to avoid the worst effects of the elements and vandalism; however, many works are intended to have only a temporary existence and are made of more ephemeral materials.

Permanent works are sometimes integrated with architecture and landscaping in the creation or renovation of buildings and sites,an especially important example being the programme developed in the new city of Milton Keynes, England.

Some artists working in this discipline use the freedom afforded by an outdoor site to create very large works that would be unfeasible in a gallery, for instance Richard Long’s three week walk, entitled “The Path Is the Place in the Line”. Amongst the works of the last thirty years that have met greatest critical and popular acclaim are pieces by Christo, Robert Smithson, Andy Goldsworthy, and Anthony Gormley where the artwork reacts to or incorporates its environment.

Artists making Public art range from the greatest masters such as Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Mir, to those who specialize in public art such as Claes Oldenburg and Pierre Granche, to anonymous artists who make surreptitious interventions.

Public fountain sculpture that is also a musical instrument (hydraulophone), which any member of the public can play at any time of the day or night.

Interactive public art

Some forms of public art are designed to encourage audience participation in a hands-on way.

Examples include public art installed at hands-on science museums such as the main architectural centerpiece out in front of the Ontario Science Centre. This permanently installed artwork is a fountain that is also a musical instrument (hydraulophone) that members of the public can play at any time of the day or night. Members of the public interact with the work by blocking water jets to force water through various sound-producing mechanisms inside the sculpture.

Federation Bells in Birrarung Marr, Melbourne is also public art which works as a musical instrument.

Public art on display at Clarence Dock, Leeds, UK

Arne Quinze. Wooden public art installation The Sequence at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, 2008

Percent for art

Public art is usually installed with the authorization and collaboration of the government or company that owns or administers the space. Some governments actively encourage the creation of public art, for example, budgeting for artworks in new buildings by implementing a Percent for Art policy. 1% of the construction cost for art is a standard, but the amount varies widely from place to place. Administration and maintenance costs are sometimes withdrawn before the money is distributed for art (City of Los Angeles for example). Many locales have “general funds” that fund temporary programs and performances of a cultural nature rather than insisting on project-related commissions. The majority of European countries, Australia and many cities and states in the USA, have percent for art programs. The first percent-for-art legislation passed in Philadelphia in 1959. This requirement is implemented in a variety of ways. The government of Quebec requires that the budget for all new publicly funded buildings set aside 1% for artwork. New York City has a law that requires that no less than 1% of the first twenty million dollars, plus no less than one half of 1% of the amount exceeding twenty million dollars be allocated for art work in any public building that is owned by the city. The maximum allocation for any commission in New York is 0,000.

In contrast, the city of Toronto requires that 1% all of construction costs be set aside for public art, with no set upper limit (although in some circumstances, the municipality and the developer might negotiate a maximum amount). In the United Kingdom percent for art is discretionary for local authorities, who implement it under the broader terms of a section 106 agreement otherwise known as ‘planning gain’, in practice it is negotiable, and seldom ever reaches a full 1%, where it is implemented at all. A percent for art scheme exists in Ireland and is widely implemented by many local authorities.

Guerrilla art in New York

Arts Queensland, Australia supports a new policy (2008) for ‘art + place’ with a budget provided by state government and a curatorial advisory committee. It replaces the previous ‘art built-in’ 20052007.

Public art and politics

Public art has often been used for political ends. The most extreme and widely discussed manifestations of this remain the use of art as propaganda within totalitarian regimes coupled with simultaneous suppression of dissent. The approach to art seen in Stalin’s Soviet Union and Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China stand as representative.

In more open societies artists often find public art useful in promoting their ideas or establishing a censorship-free means of contact with viewers. The art may be intentionally ephemeral, as in the case of temporary installations and performance pieces. Such art has a spontaneous quality. It is characteristically displayed in urban environments without the consent of authorities. In time, though, some art of this kind achieves official recognition. Examples include situations in which the line between graffiti and “guerilla” public art is blurred, such as the art of John Fekner placed on billboards, the early works of Keith Haring (executed without permission in advertising poster holders in the New York City Subway) and the current work of Banksy. The Northern Irish murals and those in Los Angeles were often responses to periods of conflict. The art provided an effective means of communication both within and beyond a distressed group within the larger society. In the long run the work proved useful in establishing dialogue and helping to bridge the social rifts that fuelled the original conflicts.

Controversies

Public art sometimes proves controversial. A number of factors contribute to this: the desire of the artist to provoke; the diverse nature of the viewing public, with widely varying degrees of familiarity with art and its syntax; issues of appropriates uses of public funds, spaces, and resources; issues of public safety and civic oversight.

Richard Serra’s minimalist piece Tilted Arc was removed from a New York City plaza in 1989 after office workers complained their work routine was disrupted by the piece. A public court hearing ruled against continued display of the work.

Victor Pasmore’s Apollo Pavilion in the English New Town of Peterlee has been a focus for local politicians and other groups complaining about the governance of the town and allocation of resources. In this case artists and cultural leaders from the region mounted a campaign to rehabilitate the reputation of the work with the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art commissioning artists Jane and Louise Wilson to make a video installation about the piece in 2003.

House, a large 199394 work by Rachel Whiteread in East London, was destroyed by the local council after a few months. In this case the artist and her agent had only secured temporary permission for the work.

Pierre Vivant’s Traffic Light tree (1998) near Canary Wharf, also in East London, caused some confusion from motorists when first constructed, some of whom believed them to be real traffic signals. However, once the piece became more famous, by 2005 it was voted the favourite roundabout in the country by a survey of Britain’s motorists.

Maurice Agis’ Dreamspace V, a huge inflatable maze erected in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, killed two women and seriously injured a three-year-old girl when a strong wind broke its moorings and carried it 30 ft into the air, with thirty people trapped inside.

16 Tons, Seth Wulsin’s vast 2006 work includes the demolition of the raw material it works with, namely a former skyscraper jail, Caseros Prison, located in the middle of Buenos Aires. The prison is guarded by the Argentine military 24 hours a day, so that, in order to gain authorization to carry out the project, Wulsin had to engage a huge network of local, city and national government agencies, as well as groups of former prisoners of the jail, former political prisoners, human rights groups, and the military.

In any given controversy, complexities are involved. Though press reports often present community debates as contests between two rival camps, a variety of views exist among both art specialists and lay public. Neither subset of the population is a monolithic group. Art is challenged and defended in a variety of ways by a number of individuals.

Recent developments in public art now demonstrate an appeal to a friendlier notion of the public in the form of “community” art. Artists accept the many contexts brought to public art by its diverse audience, along with their own standing as members of the communities they address. They design pieces that generally curb avant-garde tendencies in favour of work that celebrates shared experiences. This approach validates the concerns of most public arts administrators and granting agencies. The approach encourages community involvement and critique of art works in the planning stages. It can head off controversies before large expenditures of public resources are involved.

This approach tends to alienate those who wish to see art take a more confrontational approach to social issues. Work that emphasizes common experiences within a community, they charge, plays down unpleasant conditions that persist within that community. Art groups like the Viennese Wochen Klausur (Weeks of Enclosure) aim to offer an alternative by working with expert agencies and using contemporary art idioms to explore possible solutions to pressing social problems.

Sustainability of Public Art

Public art faces a design challenge by its very nature: how best to activate the images in its surroundings. The concept of ustainability arises in response to the perceived environmental deficiencies of a city. Sustainable development, promoted by the United Nations since the 1980s, includes economical, social, and ecological aspects. A sustainable public art work would include plans for urban regeneration and disassembly. Sustainability has been widely adopted in many environmental planning and engineering projects. Sustainable art is a challenge to respond the needs of an opening space in public.

Bibliography

“One Place After Another”, Miwon Kwon. MIT Press, 2003.

Public Art by the Book, edited by Barbara Goldstein. 2005.

“Dialogues in Public Art”, edited by Tom Finkelpearl. MIT Press, 2000.

“The Interventionists: Users’ Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life”, edited by Nato Thompson and Gregory Sholette. MASS MoCA, 2004.

“Conversation Pieces: Community + Communication in Modern Art”, Grant Kester. University of California Press, 2004.

Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art, edited by Suzanne Lacy. Bay Press, 1995.

“Evictions: Art and Spatial Politics”, Rosalyn Deutsche. MIT Press, 1998.

“In/Different Spaces: Place and Memory in Visual Culture”, Victor Burgin. University of California Press, 1996.

Art, Space and the City: Public Art and Urban Futures, Malcolm Miles. 1997.

Spirit Poles and Flying Pigs: Public Art and Cultural Democracy in American Communities, Erika Lee Doss. 1995

Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy, Harriet Senie and Sally Webster. 1993.

Public Art Review, Forecast Public Art. Bi-Annual publication

On the Museum’s Ruins, Douglas Crimp. MIT Press, 1993.

Art For Public Places: Critical Essays, by Malcolm Miles et al. 1989.

“Marching Plague: Germ Warfare and Global Public Health”, Critical Art Ensemble. Autonomedia, 2006.

The Lansing Area Arts Attitude Survey, by Suzanne Love and Kim Dammers. Michigan State University Center for Urban Affairs, 1978?

Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, by Dianne Durante. New York University Press, 2007

See also

Wikipedia:WikiProject Wikipedia Saves Public Art

Percent for Art

Community arts

Creative Time

Murals

Trompe l’oeil

Site-specific art

Installation art

List of sculptors

Sculpture trail

IUPUI Public Art Collection

Outdoor sculpture in New York City

Plop art

Public Art Fund

Sustainable art

Environmental sculpture

Street art

Statue

References

^ Percent for Art in NYC New York City Department of Cultural Affairs website. Retrieved September 4, 2007.

^ Women killed as artwork floats off – Telegraph

^

External links

Public art at the Open Directory Project

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Categories: Public art | Types of art museums and galleries

Art can come in many forms, cave paintings and sculptures and been known to have been found from over 40,000 years ago. This is a very long time and if you are to find such beauty in a good condition then it could mean a very good future for yourself and can make others very happy indeed. Another form of art would be  canvas artwork which is also very popular to a lot of people which also dates back to a few hundred years ago.

A brilliant human find to do with art would be the oldest piece of art which was found and it is over 75,000 years old, the art is of a series of tiny drilled shells which was discovered in a south African cave. That would have been an amazing find and has truly added to the creating side we have and just goes to show that it’s not just these modern materials we have to hand these days but it comes down to imagination and talent to.

Works of art can be very elusive as the art is always created for one purpose but then can also be looked at in another way and used for a different purpose in another one’s mind. This would explain the shire brilliance and can show you what an art piece can be, even if it’s something made from  canvas or if it’s a painting or a sculpture or even if some form of pottery. That is the beauty of art and it’s why it will always be a part of who we are and what we do as we will always continue to create these wonders to for fill our need to express our feelings and to show off out talents.

If I had to give someone a gift then you can never go wrong with giving them some art. I would personally give a painting or a print of a painting but if you have a bit of spare money that you don’t mind using up then would look into getting a piece of art weather that be a strange object or a painting or sculpture I think giving someone something that has history to it will be absolutely fabulous and the outcome will be breath taking.

Now that you have a little idea as to how long ago art has been around then why not let your friends know of the importance art has in our lives and yours. Are has know to become very trendy in our modern homes so it can also be looked at as a fashion icon as the art we all enjoy in any shape or form has something in common either way.

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When you walk into an art supply store or shop online for pastels, you may be amazed at the large array of products you can choose from. They come in a variety of sizes and are made from a variety of materials. Before you can fully appreciate what pastels can do for you, you need a firm grasp of the different kinds, as well as products that look like pastels but behave very differently. So that you can make an informed choice and understand what you find on the pastel aisle, this article breaks down Chalk pastels you may find.

Chalk pastels are known for their luminous colors and light-scattering surfaces. They’re one of the most versatile media because they’re essentially sticks of pigment. They allow broad experimentation and can look like drawings, oil paintings, or even watercolors.

Chalk pastels come in two basic forms: hard and soft.

All chalk pastels are made of pigment, kaolin clay or chalk, and a gum binder such as gum arabic, gum tragacanth, or methylcellulose. Chalk pastels’ classification as hard or soft depends on the amount of clay in the mixture.

You don’t have to choose one type of pastel over the other, however. Hard pastels are an economical choice, so we recommend that you use both hard and soft pastels in tandem, saving the soft pastels for areas where you want brighter, richer color.

Many painters focus the projects and discussions on chalk pastels. You can use chalk pastels for a wide range of techniques and drawing styles, unlike oil pastels, which can be difficult for beginners to handle and limited in their versatility.

The basic concept or idea behind painting a kids room is to make it more lively and a cozy place for the children to spend their time in. The paintings should be such that they entertain the children as well as provide them information about their surroundings.

Specialty paints for kid’s rooms:

• Chalkboard paint – great to use on one of the walls. Kids can write on the wall with chalk and then wipe it off.

• Glow in the dark paint – the latest craze among older children and teenagers. You can create pictures of our solar system, dinosaurs, favorite characters, and more by using glow in the dark paint!

• Magnetic paint – great to use on one wall or just part of the wall. It is fun way to hang up posters, kid’s artwork or memos.

• Glitter paint – fun non traditional way to make your kids walls shine. Try for princess room theme and winter room theme.

Choosing color
A great idea is to ask your child what their favorite color is and work around that, using different shades to incorporate that color into the scheme.

a. Pastels       : Kids rooms look great when you use a variety of pastel colors.
b. Plain           : You can keep the wall paint neutral by using white, cream or gray but create a feature wall.
c. Bold colors : Using blues, reds and pinks depending on whether your child is a boy or girl.

Pictures
There are many ideas that one can choose from for painting a kids room. Pictures have a great impact on kids and they learn much more through pictorial forms rather than more words.

a. Animals : Parents can use these pictures to teach the children about animals. The pictures of wild animals depict some kind of motion or movement. It helps create a lively atmosphere. Kids are fond of such pictures and enjoy having them in their rooms.

b. Plants and Flowers : To draw a flower is very easy, and a layman can draw a basic flower shape without much difficulty. One need not be an artist to draw simple structures or parts of a flower like the petals, leaves and stem. Drawing can be made simple with the help of tools and accessories easily available in the house itself. Plates could be used to draw circles.

c. Planets : Designing a kids room with the planets of our solar system is a good idea. Any new idea or concept introduced to children acts as a trigger for a ‘chain reaction’ to follow; which means that the kids ask a lot of questions related to the new things they see. It can be termed as a process of building up curiosity in them to guide them to learn new things, and in short makes them think a lot.

d. Quotes and Poems : Painting the room with poems and nursery rhymes help children in reciting them easily and also develops their interest in further reading. One can write their own quotes which describe or are associated with their children. It helps develop a sense of belonging in children for their rooms.

e. Blue Sky : A perfect blue sky is an interesting concept that can be implemented for painting a kids room. The blue color has a soothing or calming effect on the mind. Painting the room blue with clouds, a rainbow and birds would create a pleasant atmosphere in a kids room, and is one of the best kids bedroom painting ideas.

Themes
There are so many great painting themes you can use for children’s rooms, all you need is some artistic flare and a little drawing skills. At your local craft shop you can purchase some stencils in various shapes and designs to help

a. Transport       : Paint cars, buses and trains traveling over hills and city roads.

b. Stars               : Paint stars around the walls and ceiling using templates. You can use a plain color for the wall and paint the stars in silver and gold.

c. Underwater world: Paint dolphins and whales, starfish and other sea creatures on the featured design wall.

d. Alphabet        : Use letters of the alphabet to create a room surrounded by letters and words.

Implement Unique Designs
These designs could include an assortment of stripes, checkerboard designs, different colored polka dots and even incorporating a large assortment of different sized diamonds on the walls.

Personalize with Letter Stencils
You can purchase letter stencils and number stencils in order to place poems and/or nursery rhymes on a wall. You may even elect to incorporate a poem that your child has written in order to create a high level of customization into the room.

Art Wall
Basically, this involves incorporating large sections of drawing paper and hanging it on a wall in the room. You and your child, your child, or your child and their friends may color, draw, and paint on the paper. When your child is tired of one scene, you can remove the paper and place a new sheet up and create a whole new scene. Read more Interior Design Guide and Ideas

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Who doesn’t like drawing with chalk on a sidewalk? Why not learn to make homemade sidewalk chalk?Homemade sidewalk chalk can be used by children and adults alike. Children use it for hopscotch and other games. Adults make elaborate sidewalk chalk drawings at events or just scribble like kids.

Economical

Sidewalk chalk drawings are far from permanent. The first rain washes them away. That makes it important to conserve money by making homemade sidewalk chalk. What better way to save money than to make it yourself?

The Homemade Factor

Fans of my writing know I’m a huge proponent ofhomemade things. There’s just something about do it yourself that makes things more interesting. It’s also nice to know what goes into the things we use on a daily basis.

Yes You Can

It really is possible to make homemade sidewalk chalk using just a few simple ingredients available at craftstores. Isn’t it surprising? I know the first time I heard about it, I was skeptical. After making sidewalk chalk for myself the store bought version just doesn’t work right.

Color Variety

One of the best things about making sidewalk chalk at home is the variety of color combinations. All you need are primary colors to come up with endless variations. I recommend starting with just a few until you get the hang of things.

Supplies

To make homemade sidewalk chalk you will need cardboard toilet paper rolls so start saving these now. Masking tape and wax paper are on the list as well. Powdered tempera paint color and plaster of paris are found at thecraft store. Separate disposable containers and some stir sticks will be needed for each color. 

Prepare the Molds

Start by preparing the toilet paper rolls to use as molds for the sidewalk chalk. Cover one end with masking tape and line the homemade sidewalk chalk molds with waxed paper. This is so the sidewalk chalk doesn’t stick to the mold. Stand the rolls open end up.

Mix it Up

Mix together 1 ½ cups of plaster of paris and ¾ cup of water. This is the base for the homemade chalk. Use a disposable container such as an old milk carton for this job. Pour the mixed sidewalk chalk base into 3 separate disposable containers for coloring. This is a great way to use all those containers you’ve been saving.

Add Color

Add up to 3 tablespoons tempera paint color to each container. Colors may be combined to make interesting combinations. For instance, if making orange chalk use 2 tablespoons yellow and 1 tablespoon red. Swirled chalk is made by only partially mixing in color.

Pour into Molds

Now it’s time to pour the homemade sidewalk chalk mix into the molds. Fill the molds up and tap lightly on the edge to remove air bubbles. It takes a bit of time for the sidewalk chalk to dry. Average dry time is 2-3 days. Once the chalk is dry it should slide easily from the molds. 

Just add Kids

The last ingredient needed is some fun loving kids. Armed with a couple pieces of homemade chalk each, this will keep them busy for hours. What if there are no sidewalks where you live? That’s OK, this sidewalk chalk can be used on blackboards too. 

Other Uses

Another nice idea is to package homemade sidewalk chalk as a gift. Put a few sticks in a bundle and tie with string. How about making and donating sidewalk chalk to children’s charities? What a fun way to give back to the community.

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But how exactly should you go about getting started?

* Get Serious. If you want to start a craft business in your home, the first thing that you need to do is just to decide that you want to do it and that you are committed to it. Your crafting hobby is going to have to become more than just a hobby to you. This doesn’t mean that you can’t or won’t enjoy crafting; rather, it means that you are making a connection in your heart and your mind between crafting and making money. If you want to continue to craft as a hobby only, you will need to give up the idea of a crafting business and find some other home-based business.

* Choose a market to sell your crafts. Craft fairs and street fairs are great local places to sell. In some places you may be able to set up a craft booth at a Bazaar or charity function. Depending on the type of craft you choose to make, you might have some success advertising or even selling them on the Internet, as well.

* Do a Market Analysis. You’ve chosen a market to sell your crafts, now you need to know more about that market. You want to make sure that you will have somewhere to sell the crafts that you make. You need to do some market research. Are crafts similar to yours selling well in your local area? Are they selling well on the Internet? You might find, for example, that woven crafts are selling very well locally, but that you can’t seem to find anyone making any money on them online. A market analysis will also tell you how much you can charge for a particular item.

* Do A Cost Analysis. You will also need to figure out what crafting projects you can offer that will make the most money. After doing your market analysis you know how much you can sell a given craft for; now, you will need to be figuring out how much money you put into various crafts. The good news here is that, because you are working at home, the expenses will not be as high as they would be if your craft business was based outside of your home. Still, if a craft costs you in materials and two hours of labor, you need to understand that selling the craft for probably isn’t going to, in the long run, be truly profitable. Also, don’t forget to add in those hidden costs, such as sewing machine repairs, knitting needles, craft paints, or whatever sorts of craft materials you use.

* Be Comfortable with Profit. Don’t be afraid to charge whatever it is that the market will bear; while your materials may not cost much, your labor is very valuable. You are working at this not to give away your crafts, but to make money at your in-home crafts business. If you make something with in materials but it takes you six hours, it is all right if someone wants to pay you for the item.

* Be Ready to Grow! Once your in-home crafts business is going, you’ll want to keep on top of things. Try to get repeat customers. Make sure that your products are unique, and something that people want. Work on your business management skills. Be open to new ideas about what sorts of crafts you can sell, as well as ideas about how to sell them. Before you know it, you may have your own successful at-home craft business.

You can learn more by reading Crafts to Make and Sell or Craft, Inc. at Amazon.com.