Doodling in a shoebox

January 14, 2015  /  Lucinda Sperry A great way to spend an afternoon or day off with the kids. This project creates a family heirloom that can be enjoyed for years.

I don't know about you, but I get frustrated with all the boxes that get put in the trash. So I decided to find a way to reuse a few in a fun way. Gather the supplies listed, enlist your family of participants, grab a snack and be ready to doodle your brains out. If you don't know how to doodle I'll help you through that, too. Remember your hand must fit inside the shoebox or cardboard piece plus any other family members that are going to join in the project. You can turn hands sideways and overlap to make the design interesting.

Rip a piece of newsprint to fit your box. Mod Podge the paper to the inside of the shoebox. Tear up pieces of newspaper (black and white text is best so it doesn't interfere with your design). Mod Podge these pieces over the top to create a collage of newsprint. Paint a thin layer of Mod Podge over the top to seal the collage. Let dry 10 minutes or until dry to touch. Once the glue is dry start tracing hands with a black sharpie. Place the largest family members hand onto the paper and trace. Repeat with everyone's hand (you can overlap) until you have all of them traced. Three should be a three hand maximum for a shoebox lid. If you are looking to do a large family piece with more than three people you can use several shoe box lids or choose a posterboard to create your project. Let each person add their own heart or symbol for the center of their hand to make it meaningful.

Retrace the lines that you drew around each hand. Mistakes are OK. You can just add them into your design.

Start doodling! Using lines, circles, hearts, etc. Fill in each space of the hands. Have each person doodle in their own hand. Think about symbols that represent each person (ie: wedding ring on mommy's finger, music notes for a musician, etc) or just doodle. Fill in the hands until you have all the spaces filled.

Here are some doodling inspirations to get you started... Watercolor your design using basic watercolors. The lighter you paint the color the easier it is to see your cool doodles. Just add enough color to your hand to make it pop! Using a sharpie or wide black marker draw around the inside border of your box where the newspaper and box meet. I used a thick black marker to make the initial border and then filled in with regular sharpie. Because I was in a hurry I used black paint to paint the inside edges of the box which were originally green. I added some words and a dotted line around the border and it's all done! I hope you enjoy this afternoon project with your family or even by yourself. It's a great way to doodle up some artwork for your wall or for a gift. Enjoy! Comment below if you like this idea or if you try this project. I would love to see how your afternoon of doodling turns out. - Lucinda
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