Tin Foil Tiffany Lamps

I had this post all ready to go yesterday but for whatever reason could not publish it. Yesterday was that kind of day, it seemed. I blame my three-day weekend, which was so fabulous that my normally super fun blessing of a job is just paling in comparison. Home improvement, dining out, visits from family, yard sales, and the full first season of Downton Abbey do a wonderful weekend make. (Ohhhhmagoodness totally hooked on Downton, by the by. I might have start a new blog dedicated to my newfound love for it. Keep your eyes peeled for that mess.)

But alas, here we are, and I do have a great new project to share! I first found the idea here on ArtMuse67, a sweet blog to which you should probably devote your planning period (or evening... whilst watching Downton... duh).

We did our lamps a little differently, as I didn't have myself a stack of acetate. Instead, I raided my pantry for tin foil, on which my husband recently stocked up because he's an amateur extreme couponer and got it for 19 cents a roll. I love him.

To begin, kiddos studied photos of Tiffany lamps, pointing out their similarities and characteristics. Some of the boys did the "this is girly" boy-whine, but were quickly schooled on the fact that Louis Comfort Tiffany was a man, and a very successful and wealthy man at that!

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Then, everyone cut a symmetrical lampshade-ish shape from a piece of oak tag. Sharp and pointed edges were to be avoided as much as possible to prevent the soon-to-be-added foil from ripping. For the rest of class, kiddos worked on sketching a design for their shade.

On the second day, everyone covered their shade with glue stick glue, followed by foil, which was wrapped around the edges and secured on the back with masking tape.

Then came Sharpie Palooza 2013! After designs were re-drawn on the foil shades with black Sharpie, students were allowed to choose up to four colors to use for filling in the blanks.

When the shade was complete, it was time to cut a bilaterally symmetrical black lampstand. A few kiddos even added a little pull chain! Some kids finished this in three 45-minute classes, while others needed some extra time. But the wait was worth it--check these out!

As students finished up, I showed this clip from "Antiques Roadshow:"

How precious are those ladies! God bless 'em. I hope my mama has a Tiffany lamp hidden from me somewhere.

Anyway, my super student teacher taught this project from start to finish and I was completely jealous the entire time. I may or may not have made multiple examples while the kids worked 'cause it's just that much fun! Judging by the results, I think the fourth graders agreed:

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some fictional WW1-era characters to think about projects to grade.