ReadyMade: Instructions for everyday life

Issue 46
The Food Issue
Make a meal to die for
Make wine crate cabinets
Learn to screen print
Check out the RM Photo Gallery

Holiday Cards to Make With Kids: Collage Snowman

by Shawn Hazen

Photos by Shawn and Finn Hazen

“I love artifacts. I like making things with scraps of consumer detritus—I rip stuff off of every piece of packaging I find because I think the corporate industrial look of grid lines, bits, pieces, and typography is cool. When I started my career as a designer, I also started doing different kinds of collage projects on the side. I eventually branched out into other crafty side projects. My son, Finn, helped me design a series of T-shirts with robots on them. A lot of the robots are eating ice cream. That was Finn’s idea. He’s 4. Finn loves making stuff. He already uses the computer so much, so I want him to know that it’s fun to make things by hand too. He sees me doing my collages and has started collecting little scraps of paper and taping them to his drawings. He’s kind of my art director: He helps me edit ideas down and simplify them. If I’m designing a logo, it needs to immediately make sense. I say, ‘Finn, what is this?’ If a 4-year-old can interpret it, then that means it translates visually. And if he can get excited about it, well, my feeling is that it must be a pretty good idea.” —as told to Anna Jane Grossman

WHO
Shawn and Finn Hazen
MAKERS OF
Graphic design, T-shirts, collages, and big messes
WHERE
Chicago
SITE
shawnhazen.com

    1. Take the paper ephemera and use Scotch tape to tape pieces together into one big sheet. Make sure you tape down all the edges, so pieces don’t become detached when you cut them out later. Tape the whole sheet down onto your work surface over a cutting mat with white tape. Make it smooth and taut.




    2. Mix up some white acrylic paint with water (a little less than one part water to one part paint). Do a “wash” of white over all the paper sheets. You want to see the ephemera peeking through, but it should appear whitewashed. Adjust the paint to water ratio if necessary. Finn and I painted at the same time so it ended up looking nice and patchy—he felt the need to paint over some of my areas.
    3. Wait for the paint to fully dry which could take an entire afternoon, or overnight.




    4. Then, using the circle cutter, cut out a mess of circles! Make them in three descending sizes for the parts of the snowman. Ours were, in diameter about 2 5/8 inches (big one, or “butt”), 2¼ inches (middle, or “belly”), and 1 5/8 inches (top, or “head”). The circle cutter can be a bit tricky—the key is to not push hard and attempt to make it all the way through in one pass. This tool is dangerous, so “grown-ups only,” though Finn helped select the areas I trimmed out.




    5. Put a little square of foam mounting tape (for extra depth) or glue stick or double-sided tape on the back, and have the kid stick ’em on to the front of your cards. Chances are they already know what it should look like!

Collage Snowman Card

$15

ingredients

    • 4.25 × 6.25-inch blank greeting cards (size when folded)
    • A-6 size envelopes
    • Old paper ephemera like vintage catalogs, illustrated books, charts, advertisements, etc.
    • White acrylic paint
    • Clear, matte Scotch tape
    • White artist’s tape or masking tape
    • Foam mounting tape, double-sided tape, or a glue stick

tools

    • Paint brush
    • Cutting mat (or scrap cardboard)
    • Circle cutter ($11, dickblick.com)