Cultural Diversity Day

Weaving our community together
on the World Day for Cultural Diversity!

World Culture Day takes place every year on May 21st. It was established in 2002 by UNESCO and aims to raise awareness and understanding around the world on many cultural topics such as cultural development, sustainable cultural government, cultural exchange, and human rights.

It is a day to celebrate cultural diversity on a global scale, but also on a local scale. The communities in San Jose and the larger Bay Area are made up of a huge diversity of cultures from countless nations. For this year’s celebration, the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles has prepared this activity so you can weave together the colors of the flags that represent the cultural heritage of your community!

While you're working on this project, try to find information about the colors. What counties have them in their flag and what do you know about these countries? What meanings do these colors have? Are those meanings the same across different flags?

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¡Tejamos nuestra comunidad para el Día Mundial
de la Diversidad Cultural!

El Día Mundial de la Diversidad Cultural tiene lugar cada año en el 21 de mayo. Fue establecido por UNESCO para aumentar concienciación y entendimiento sobre temas como desarrollo e intercambio cultural, gobierno cultural sostenible y derechos humanos.

Es un día para celebrar la diversidad cultural en una escala mundial, pero también local. Las comunidades de San José y el Bay Area en general se componen de una diversidad cultural inmensa desde innumerables naciones. Este año, para celebrar el Día Mundial de la Diversidad Cultural el Museo de Edredones y Textiles de San José ha preparado esta caja para que pueda tejer los colores de las banderas que representan la herencia cultural de nuestra comunidad.

Mientras trabaja en este proyecto de arte, intente encontrar información sobre los colores. ¿Qué países los tienen en su bandera y qué sabe sobre estos países? ¿Cuáles significados tienen los colores de estas banderas? ¿Es el significado de cada color lo mismo en cada bandera?

• PDF Instructions | Instrucciones

Earth Day

The History Behind Earth Day
On April 22, 1970, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed a national environmental education forum that would raise climate concerns to the public eye. Denis Hayes, an environmental activist appointed as the national coordinator for this event, brought together 20 million Americans to protest environmental ignorance.

This day would come to be known as Earth Day. In 1990, Denis Hayes spread Earth Day globally and has since organized multiple events in over 100 countries. This year marks the 51st anniversary. This event has helped push positive changes such as the formation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Paris Agreement signed by over 120 countries in 2016 to slow the effects of climate change.

Why Plastic Bags?
Did you know that in the U.S. alone, over 100 billion plastic bags are used in a year? Plastic has already polluted our food chain and is slowly being spread due to bio-accumulation. This craft aims to divert some of that waste by making sturdy woven bags and mats in less than ten simple steps.

Aztec New Year

Calpulli Tonalehqueh, the School of Arts & Culture at MHP, and the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles invite you to make art inspired by Aztec culture to celebrate the Aztec New Year!

The Aztec New Year takes place every 12th of March. The holiday, also known as Yancuic Xihuitl, goes back to pre-Columbian times, but is still celebrated now by many people in Mexico and around the world. To celebrate this holiday, dancers wear colorful costumes to perform traditional dances to ceremonial music. People also commonly burn ocote (pitch-pine) candles, and as of more recent history, set off fireworks.

Our first project is based on Aztec stone masks. These masks were made out of precious stones like jade or turquoise and assembled very carefully by skilled artisans. In Aztec culture, masks were used for many different purposes such as religious ceremonies, as a death mask, or as ornamentation. They were incredibly valued and were often passed down from generation to generation.

Our second project is about Quetzalcóatl, or the feathered serpent. He is one of the major deities in Aztec mythology, associated with the creation of the world, the wind and breath of life, birth and renewal, and the invention of writing and art. He can appear in either a human-like form or a more snake-like form. You can also see a sculpture of Quetzalcóatl for yourself in San Jose! It was created by Robert Graham in 1994 and is located in the Plaza de César Chávez.

• Instructions in English

• Instrucciones en Español

In the images from left to right: 1) A detail of the serpent made from wood covered in turquoise mosaic, spondylus (red) and conch (white) shell. 2) Mask from Teotihuacan, made in stone, turquoise, obsidian and shell. 3) Mask made of cedro wood and covered in turquoise mosaic with scattered turquoise cabochons. The pierced elliptical eyes worked in mother-of-pearl and the teeth are made of conch shell, although two are modern synthetic replacements.

Miniature Wardrobe

This miniature clothing craft is inspired by the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textile’s Inside Out: Seeing Through Clothing online exhibition. This craft brings together the themes of exploring the ways our clothing interacts with our internal selves, our physical bodies, and the greater world outside of us. The attached templates are meant to be used with parchment, patterned, or printer paper. However, if you would like to use fabric, simply cut at the fold lines and stitch the pieces together. Use small pieces of memorabilia such as scrap trimmings from an old blanket, or printed images of places you’ve visited to decorate and personalize your miniature wardrobe.

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is a holiday signifying the beginning of the new year on the lunar or lunisolar calendar. It is celebrated in many parts of the world including Eastern and Southeastern Asia. It is also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, Seollal in Korea, T ế t nguyên Đán in Vietnam, Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia, Losar in Tibet, and so on.

Each year is represented by one of the twelve zodiac animals, with 2021 being the year of the ox. One version of the zodiac story is that the Jade Emperor invited the 12 animals to a banquet. The ox agreed to give the rat a ride across the river on the way to the palace, but at the last minute the rat jumped off ahead of the ox. This is how the rat became the first on the zodiac calendar, with the ox coming in second. The animals who followed after were the tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.

The exact date of Lunar New Year changes every year because it follows the lunar calendar in which each month begins during the new moon. In 2021 it will begin on February 12th.

Download our PDF instructions to learn more about this holiday and create some beautiful traditional decorations!

• Chinese knots

• Peach tree

Eco-friendly Gift Wrapping: Origami and Furoshiki

Origami and furoshiki are both folding and wrapping techniques that originated in Japan. Origami, literally meaning “to fold paper,” was historically used in ceremonial and religious purposes. Paper was expensive at the time, so it was reserved for religious leaders and those that were rich. It eventually became more common for recreational use as centuries went by. Furoshiki, literally meaning “bath spread,” was used to hold clothes together at public baths so people’s clothing wouldn’t get mixed up. It was then used by merchants to transport and gift wrap items. The general idea of both was to create solid folds without using cuts or adhesives.

Today, origami and furoshiki are still used for a variety of purposes from practical to decorative. Origami has been used for mathematical purposes to inspire inventions like airbags and spacecraft mechanisms. Meanwhile, furoshiki has become a large part of the wrapping culture in Japan, evolving its use for items from large boxes to bottles. It is popular for its eco-friendliness as the cloth itself can be reused for other purposes as well. Beginners can quickly pick up these techniques as they only require one material to create beautiful decorations. Follow our tutorial video and downloadable instructions to learn a few techniques for all your future gift wrapping needs!

Sashiko

Sashiko is a form of embroidery that originated in Japan around 200 years ago. It was used to repair and bulk up clothing, blankets, and other textiles for the cold weather as many regions of the country experienced frigid winters. As such, the focus was less on what the work looked like, and more on how quickly it could be made.

Today, Sashiko has become a form of decorative embroidery enjoyed by many people around the world. Traditional patterns are still practiced among modern ones. However, the root of Sashiko remains the same: it doesn’t have to be perfect as long as you enjoy doing it.

Día de Muertos

The Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and around the world. It was first celebrated by the Aztec, Toltec, and other indigenous groups from central Mexico. With a history of more than 3,000 years, many of its traditions have changed over the years.

The holiday today is a mix of pre-Hispanic and Christian religious practices. It is celebrated every year on the 1st and 2nd of November, influenced by All Saints Day and All Souls Day from Catholic tradition. Not to be confused with Halloween, it is a time filled with delicious foods and colorful decorations made and arranged on an ofrenda (altar) in honor of loved ones that have passed away.

One of these famous decorations is papel picado (cut paper). It originally came from San Salvador Huixcolotla, where trade goods from Asia passed through the town hundreds of years ago on the way to Spain. One of those products was a colorful tissue paper made from silk, which artisans turned into papel picado. By the early 1900s, it began to spread in popularity all over Mexico.

With just a few basic craft supplies and our templates, make your own papel picado garland and join the celebration of life!

• Printable Instructions

• Video Instructions

Food Fibers

Lasercut banana leather by Aya Kusumoto.
Image description: dehydrated banana "leather" with a honeycomb pattern lasercut onto it. The bananas were originally taken from a Safeway that was throwing them out because they were unfit to be displayed on the shelves.

What exactly is a biomaterial?

In the scope of the Food Fibers activity, “biomaterials” is an umbrella term for materials composed of multiple elements that mimic or improve upon already existing tools. Fruit peels can be turned into materials mimicking plastics or leather, and eggshells can be turned into brick-like building mediums. As a more sustainable alternative to synthetic materials like polyester fibers and plastic packaging, biomaterials such as compostable mushroom leather and corn husk fibers are biodegradable, environmentally-friendly, and easy to make at home.

The origins of biomaterials go back to early medicinal tools. For example, archaeologists have found that early Egyptians used animal sinew for sutures¹. Now other industries are picking up on using biomaterials as sustainable alternatives to items such as textiles or packaging. This idea of using materials that can be reused over and over while benefiting the environment on a commercial-scale is relatively new in the fashion industry. However, companies around the world are developing their own methods to create textile replacements from waste or renewable energy sources. Silk can be made out of orange juice production waste², and fabric can be made out of algae³.

Food Fiber’s recipes are simplified so you can make it easily at home with just a few ingredients.

These biomaterials are intended to be used for recreational and artistic purposes. It fosters thinking around how we can create materials that fall into a closed loop cycle. Everything we produce should create no waste, and benefit new growth after it rather than destroying life after it is discarded. 

• Printable Food Fiber’s recipes (Part 1)

• Printable Food Fiber’s recipes (Part 2)

These biomaterials are intended to be used for recreational and artistic purposes.

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<sup>1. Abdessalem, Faten Debbai, Hanen Jedda, Saber Elmarzougui and Sofiene Mokhtar, 2009. Tensile and knot performance of polyester braided sutures. Textile Research Journal. 79(3): 247-252.
2. http://orangefiber.it/en/
3. https://www.algiknit.com/</sup>

National Sewing Month

Image Description: embroidery needle and three assorted color sewing threads.
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels.

National Sewing Month celebrates sewing as a unique and creative form of textile art. September is a great time to renew your interest in sewing, share ideas, be inspired, expand your knowledge, and express your creativity!

Hand sewing is considered one of the oldest forms of textile art. The origins of sewing can be traced back more than 25,000 years ago, when people made clothes out of fur and leather. Using needles made from bone or ivory, or natural needles from plants and trees, people must have spent many hours hand sewing clothes for their families.

Before ready-to-wear clothes became widely available, generations of women learned how to sew for home and hearth from a very young age. Sewing tools improved over time, but very slowly. The sewing machine is a fairly recent invention, less than 200 years old. For thousands of years, all sewing was done by hand!

Today, sewing is a lot simpler and more fun with all the technology and materials available to us.

To learn or practice sewing skills, we prepared this simple toy sewing project. Get out your needle and thread, and master a few stitches. Happy sewing!

• Video tutorial

• Printable tutorial

Women's Suffrage Centennial

Working Women’s March.
Photo: Harris & Ewing, from Library of Congress. Color: Post Emily.

Let’s learn about the 100th anniversary of the women’s suffrage* movement!  Celebrate the centennial by making the flower in the iconic suffrage colors. You can also turn it into a brooch!

Throughout the American Suffrage Movement, the combination of purple, white, and gold was used as an important symbol. Pins, badges, ribbons, and sashes of these colors were worn as a sign of support for suffrage. The National Woman’s Party in the United States described the meaning of these colors: “Purple is the color of loyalty, constancy to purpose... White, the emblem of purity, symbolizes the quality of our purpose; and gold, the color of light and life, is as the torch that guides our purpose...”

As you work on this craft with your family & friends, ask these questions: why was it important for women to be able to vote?  Were there any women left out of this process? (For women of color, the 1920 victory did not guarantee voting rights. Despite their fervent participation in the suffrage act, their voting rights were secured only with the 1965 Voting Rights Act.) What about the native americans? Take this time to learn about Zitkala-Sa, a member of the Yankton Dakota Sioux. “Americanize the first American!” she urged in 1921. Only in 1962, decades after her death, did Native Americans gain the right to vote from every state legislature.

• Printable instructions

Knitting

Knitting is the process of making fabric through a series of interconnected loops of yarn using two or more needles. Just like weaving, it creates a two-dimensional fabric. The difference, however, is that threads run straight or parallel in woven cloth, whereas yarn follows a meandering path in knit fabric, making knit fabric more elastic and stretchy than woven fabric.

People have known how to make textiles similar to knitting since ancient times. However, we do not know when knitting was developed for certain. The main problem with dating the origin of any textile art is their fragility, since natural fibers decay and decompose easily.

The oldest existing knitted object is from Egypt, – these are socks from about the 11th century CE. Created using white and indigo cotton, its complexity in design suggests that knitting is older than the archeological record can prove. It is clear that, by then, the Egyptians had attained a high understanding of the craft and were producing elaborate and complex work.

A fragment of knitting, possibly remains of a sock, in blue and white cotton.
Victorian & Albert Museum, ca. 1100 – 1300 CE.

In the Middle Ages, knitted fabrics and clothes were produced by guilds, which operated across Europe. These guilds were composed of men who had refined this ancient craft and were producing exquisite fabrics from silk and cotton for the nobility of the day. The world of knitting eventually developed and expanded as a trade.

In 1589 the first knitting machine was invented. Later, with the improvement of steam-powered machines, knitting moved to factories to accommodate the larger devices. As all this was happening, hand knitting was declining as part of the industry, but it was getting quite well-liked as a hobby and as a form of art.

If you don’t have knitting needles on hand, but are eager to try knitting, we suggest starting with finger knitting. And no worries if you don’t have yarn, we will show you how to make plarn (PLAstic yARN) from plastic bags and packaging!

This finger knitted snake is a good project to start with.

• Printable instructions

Once you get beyond the initial learning curve, the repetitive action of knitting can induce a relaxed state like that associated with meditation and yoga!

Macramé

Macramé is the art of tying knots to create beautifully patterned textiles with a lace-like effect.

Do you see or use knots in everyday life? 

Pretty much all of us know how to tie a simple knot. We tie our shoes and knot ribbons onto gifts, but there are so many different types of knots and their uses! Knotting has been an important adjunct to the everyday life of people from the earliest days.

The Incas and other ancient cultures used knots to record and communicate information before the invention of writing. Their Quipu (also spelled khipu) method used a wide variety of colored strings and sometimes several hundred knots, all tied at various heights, and could record dates, statistics, and even episodes from folk tales.

One of the earliest recorded uses of macramé-style knots as decoration appeared in the carvings of the Babylonians and Assyrians, where fringe-like plaiting and braiding ornamented the costumes.

It is believed that the modern art of decorating with knots originated with 13th-century Arab weavers. They knotted the excess thread and yam along the edges of hand-woven fabrics into decorative fringes. The meaning of the Arabic term migramah, from which the word macramé (Spanish) is derived, is variously rendered as "striped towel," "ornamental fringe," or "embroidered veil." The technique traveled to Spain with the Moorish conquest, and from there it spread eventually throughout Europe.

European sailors are credited with spreading knot knowledge around the world, with the beginning of international trade through sailing ships. Knots had many practical uses aboard their ships and knot tying was an essential skill while sailing. However, sailors made macramé objects in off-hours during long voyages. They often bartered knowledge of one knot for instructions on how to complete another, or barter their knotted goods such as hammocks, belts and hats at ports.

Knots were considered “common property,” and grew into a worldly folk tradition. In many cultures knots symbolize unbreakable pledges. Actual knots have been used in marriage ceremonies for some time, including the tradition of tying the wrists of the bride and groom with twine. 

Macramé was widespread in the Victorian era. It was used to make household items such as tablecloths, bedspreads and curtains. Many Victorian women used knotting to create “inexpensive lace.”

Macramé regained popularity during the 1970s. It played a huge part in counterculture fashion by providing fun, fringy, and unique ways to express one’s individuality. With minimal supplies required it’s becoming hip again.

Master the basic macramé knots to create your own masterpiece. We prepared these step-by-step guides to help you get started!

Macramé bottle holder

• Video instructions

• Printable instructions

Macramé bookmark

• Video instructions

• Printable instructions

Quilting

A quilt is a cloth “sandwich.” It is a multi-layered textile with a top, which is usually the decorated part, a middle layer of filling like batting or wadding, and a layer of fabric for the back. These three layers are sewn together - and those stitches are called quilting.

What do you think was the original purpose of quilts?

The quilt had originally a strictly utilitarian purpose. People have been making quilts for a long time. It can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt. A carved ivory figure of an Egyptian pharaoh dated from 3400 B.C. displays the earliest known quilted clothing. Medieval knights wore quilted garments under their armor for comfort, warmth, and further protection. In early days in America, quilts were made to provide warmth at night and to cover doors and windows to help reduce cold. 

Traditional quilting is a communal activity; made in quilting circles or “bees.” For centuries, American women have quilted in formal and informal groups. Quilters came together for mutual support and education, to work on quilts together and to enjoy socializing. It could be a rather lengthy process, as before the development of the sewing machine, quilting was done by hand.

Quilts carry memories, moments, and lives. Quilts were often made to celebrate events in a woman’s life like a wedding, or the birth of a child. Quilts also offered women an outlet for astonishing creativity and invention. The finest quilts are works of great beauty; striking design, extraordinary handwork, spectacular piecing. Quilts can be appreciated simply for their aesthetic value. 

Assembling a quilt requires systematic organization. First, a quilter selects a pattern and then cuts pieces of fabric. Usually, smaller pieces of material are sewn together into larger blocks or design units, such as a square, diamond, or hexagon. Then those blocks are stitched together to form an overall design of the top layer of the quilt. Once the top layer is ready, it's joined together with the padding and the bottom layer.

Experiment with a paper quilt, using different colors, arrangements, and sizes of the paper pieces.
Get inspired by quilts from our permanent collection or create your own design! 

• Printable instructions

Basket Weaving

Basket weaving or basketry is a very unique ancient craft as it allows to create sculptural objects. 

Traditionally baskets were woven by hand from natural fibers, similar to the weaving of textiles. A wide variety of natural materials have been used to create baskets, for example bark, willow rods, grass, leaves, etc.

Baskets are part of the heritage of many indigenous people.

What do you think baskets could be used for?

Baskets were commonly used to gather, store, cook, and serve food; or as water containers when lined with clay to create waterproof bowls. Actually, baskets were used as molds for some of the earliest pots. Openwork baskets were used as filters, sieves, and strainers. 

Building a basket is a small engineering project that requires measurements, creation of appropriate shapes and adhering to certain well-established patterns.

The principles of basket weaving are pretty much the same despite materials used. The simplest method of weaving a basket is called randing or plain weave. It is made of spokes/stakes and weavers. The spokes or stakes are the foundation of a basket; they are usually strong and stiff. The weavers are the basket strands that weave through the spokes or stakes, going over and under them; they are lighter, thinner and more flexible than the spokes, to enable them to be woven easily.

Basketry provides extensive possibilities for artistic expressions through a variety of patterns that you can create by changing the size, color or texture of weave, and it allows a variety of constructing possibilities.

It is a joy to harvest your own materials for basket making. If you want a more authentic experience walk around in nature and gather some reeds, or willow, or other local materials to weave with. Note that you would need to soak them in water before working with them to make them more flexible.

However, for these projects you will need easy to access fibers like paper.

• Basket from paper strips 

  • Printable instructions

  • Video instructions

• Basket from newspaper straws 

  • Printable instructions

  • Video instructions

When you get a grasp of the technique, think about various three-dimensional objects you can make. Just take a look at these examples!

Hand Embroidery

The art of embroidery involves stitching designs on fabric or other surfaces, using threads and needles, sometimes including materials such as metals, sequins, and beads.

While embroidery is practiced across the world, it has been traced to the 5th-3rd century BCE. Depending on the time and location, embroidery could be the domain of a few experts or a widespread, popular technique. For example, in the Middle Ages, professional workshops and guilds elaborately embroidered clothing, religious objects, and household items, making embroidery a mark of wealth and status.

Hand embroidery has many techniques for stitching designs. Just like in drawing, you can find a variety of ways to create images with a thread. And embroidery doesn’t stop at fabric — you can stitch on a variety of materials: paper or printed photos, felt, etc.

If you have never tried embroidery before, these embroidery projects are a good start!

• Sun Embroidery

  • Printable instructions

• Hand Embroidery on Paper

  • Printable instructions

  • Video instructions

Papermaking At Home

Paper is plant fiber, or cellulose, that has been retted or cooked to remove the glues (lignins) that bind fibers, then hand or machine beaten into a pulp. The pulp is added to a vat of water through which a sieve is pulled to collect fibers in the form of a sheet. The water and cellulose fibers join through hydrogen bonds made stronger by the pressing and drying process. While the most common concept of paper is in its flat form - for printing, drawing, writing, flushing - it also can be used to make woven and waterproofed textiles, as well as sculptural forms, where the strength of the paper fibers is demonstrated in its ability to torque its underlying armature in the drying process. 

Compared to fabrics, paper is more like felt. It is made not by weaving or knitting, but by pressing fibers together.

What do you think people used to write their messages before the invention of paper?

Before the invention of paper, people wrote on clay tablets. Paper precursors such as papyrus (made from the pith of the papyrus plant by hammering it into a single sheet) and amate (made from tree bark by pounding it by hand with a special stone) existed in Egypt and prehispanic Mesoamerica, respectively.

The invention of paper as we know it happened around 105 CE. Historical sources credit it to Ts’ai (Cai) Lun, a Chinese court official, who thought of combining natural materials like tree bark with fibers separated from old rags and fishing nets. The process involved beating the materials into a pulp that could be made to hold together in paper sheets.

The secret of papermaking has been kept for centuries. However, the knowledge slowly traveled, in the 7th century to Japan, in the 8th century to Central Asia and then to the Islamic world, where the earliest paper mills were utilized to make the process more efficient. It wasn’t until the 11th century that papermaking arrived in Europe.

The process of making paper remained essentially unchanged up until the 19th century, when a new method for manufacturing paper from wood pulp was developed along with industrialization of the process. Prior to the invention of the paper machine, paper was made one sheet at a time by dipping a frame or mold with a screened bottom into a vat of pulp. The size of a single sheet was limited to the size of the frame.

Over the centuries, paper has made an enormous contribution to progress, raising levels of knowledge and education. Until a few decades ago, paper was the basic medium for written communication and the dissemination of information.

Make your own paper by recycling just about any paper scraps that you can find at home. Follow these two methods which are similar to the original paper making process invented centuries ago.

• Truly handmade paper - no special tools needed

• Homemade paper with simple tools

Use your handmade paper for notecards, bookmarks or ornaments, bookbinding or simply frame it as artwork.

Fourth of July

When you think of the Fourth of July, you undoubtedly think of the red, white and blue of the American flag.

What do these colors mean to you?

The three colors did not have official meaning when the flag was adopted in 1777. However, in regards to the Great Seal of the United States, as the book “Our Flag” states, “The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red represents hardiness and valor, and Blue symbolizes vigilance, perseverance & justice.”

Vocabulary 

• Purity​ - ​freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc.

• Innocence - freedom from moral or any other kind of wrong.

• Hardiness - ​the ability to endure difficult conditions.

• Valor​ - ​great courage in the face of danger.

• Vigilance​ - a condition or quality of being alert and attentive; watchfulness.

• Perseverance​ - ​persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

• Justice - the upholding of what is fair, just, and right.

Another way of commemorating the July 4th celebration are fireworks.

The first 4th of July fireworks were set off in 1777, one year after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Because it happened in the middle of the Revolutionary War, some historians believe that fireworks were supposed to be a “morale booster,” to encourage community and raise spirits.

While fireworks may seem like a very American tradition, their origins go back centuries before the first Independence Day fireworks display. The earliest forms of such pyrotechnics can be traced to around 2,000 years ago in China. As the ingredients for gunpowder spread to the West after the Silk Road opened up trade, so did fireworks. They became a part of official celebrations in many countries.

Make your Fourth of July celebration colorful with these fun decorating ideas we have prepared for you! 

★ Paper fireworks
★ Star-spangled string
★ American flag

Exploring Natural Dyes

Natural materials have been used to color objects for thousands of years. Historians and scientists believe that prehistoric cave paintings dating back to 15,000 B.C. were made with plant pigments. Since prehistoric times, humans from across the globe have used plant pigments to enrich their lives. 

Natural dyes come from many sources including fruits and vegetables, flowers and plants, roots, bark, moss, leaves, etc.

Have you ever spilled juice on your clothes or maybe got stained from berries? Remember the colorful spots it left?

Anthropologists believe that early ways of coloring may have had their origin in accidental staining.  It seems likely that the effects of colored juices from berries, nuts, and roots were noticed by ancient people and copied.

Let’s think about what colors you can derive from fruits or vegetables in your pantry? How about flowers in your garden?

Here is a color guide for some of them:

• RED color range: raspberries, beets, red hibiscus flowers, avocado peel and pits

• ORANGE color range: carrots, orange peels, yellow onion skins

• YELLOW color range: marigolds, sunflower petals, dandelion flowers, turmeric or curry powder

• GREEN color range: spinach, parsley, peppermint leaves, artichokes

• BLUE and PURPLE color ranges: red cabbage, red onion skins, blueberries and blackberries, cornflower petals, hyacinth flowers

The colors obtained from plants are usually very soft and muted. It is not always permanent and often fades beautifully over time in fabrics.

When artificial dyes were introduced in the mid-19th century, their bright colors became commercially available, and mass production replaced the art of dyeing with plants. While natural dyes aren't quite as vibrant as man-made dyes, they greatly reduce the amount of chemicals we leave behind.

It is quite easy to start! Try to use kitchen scraps like fruit peels and vegetable skins or backyard finds like flower petals and acorns as eco-friendly, dye alternatives.

There are a number of different methods for extracting the pigments from plants. Try the following techniques:

• Sun-brewed dye with onion skins

• Stovetop dye with avocado peels and pits

Note that each color experiment is dependent on many factors: the type of fibers you are dyeing, pot and water you use, how long you soak your fibers, how concentrated your dye bath is. That's all part of the fun! Get ready to be surprised and take notes of your experiment so you can make adjustments down the road.

The Sunlight Effects

Our sun is amazing when you think about it. It provides light and warmth, which are vital for plants and animals. For centuries, different civilizations have depended on the sun and we still rely on it! 

There are many benefits to stepping outdoors during the day. But we should also remember about the other effects of this powerful star, especially when it comes to prolonged and excessive sun exposure.

What changes occur in nature in summer?

The sun gives off rays of light that can both help and harm us. The intensity of the sun's rays depends upon the time of year, as well as your location. The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are the strongest in summer.

Your clothing is the first line of defense from the UV rays. The construction of fabric, its color, fiber content, and weave all influence how well you are protected from the sun.

Have you ever noticed that some objects change color or fade when left outdoors for a long time?

The sun’s UV rays break down chemical bonds in the molecules that bring color to an object. It causes fabric, paper, or paint to fade.

We are going to use the sun’s power to create sun printing art!

While doing so, do not forget to protect yourself by staying in the shade, covering up, and applying sunscreen.

Printable instructions:

• Sun Printing on Construction Paper

• Sun Printing on Fabric