Since this week our new kid’s course Great Artists! launched, and week 1 of the course is all about Frida Kahlo, we have dubbed this week FRIDA WEEK! Frida Kahlo is a long-time inspiration of mine. With her bold colors, flower headpieces, and strong-hold on her unique art style – Frida is a major The House That Lars Built inspiration.
When I visited Mexico City a couple of years ago, I had the chance to tour Frida’s home Casa Azul. The deep cobalt blue and the sunshine yellow that fill every corner are stunning, and I just soaked it up. Her home is part of what inspired this post about what a Lars Girl would wear to Mexico City.
In fact, we are so inspired by the colors that filled Frida Kahlo’s life and art, that later this week we will release the next post in our In The Mood For series, so you can learn how to recreate interior design inspired by her iconic style!
But for today we are re-visiting some of our favorite DIYs from Lars days past, inspired by Frida Kahlo herself!
Week 1 of our Great Artists! course covers Frida Kahlo
The projects in week 1 of our Great Artists! course were made exclusively for the curriculum. They are just as fun to complete as the DIYs below, but have never been seen before! Each project tutorial in the course was added for a specific learning objective, which you can read more about in our FAQ section here. We started the course off with Frida Kahlo because her background is unique and her culture is the inspiration for so much folk art we love. And in my mind, she is a classic icon in the art world!
If you haven’t accessed your own course yet, but want to get in on the fun, start here! The projects and activities below will give you and your kids a taste for how learning by creating is the most fun way!
Projects you can do now inspired by Frida Kahlo
DIY head vase
To make the head:
Materials:
- Styrofoam head
- x-acto knife
- glass cup
- newspaper (optional)
- white high gloss spray paint
- acrylic paint
- paintbrushes
Instructions:
1. I chose to paper mache my head because I didn’t want to see the styrofoam texture. I used newspaper to paper mache it and used a flour mixture for the paste. This recipe helped (and I boiled it so it would be smoother)
2. If you don’t want to paper mache, that’s completely fine. Use your white spray paint to coat it a few times. Let it dry completely.
3. Trace around a glass cup to create the right size hole for your vase.
4. Use your x-acto or knife to cut the circle. I found a smaller knife was easier than a large knife. It’s like cutting the top of a pumpkin.
5. Take out the excess of the top of the head. Place the cup in the hole. This will be where you place your flowers or plants so it doesn’t make contact with the styrofoam and mold.
6. Paint on a face with acrylic paint. Paint a unibrow (essential!), red lips, and lots of rouge.
To make the hair:
Materials:
Instructions:
- Cut the crepe paper into small strips about 3′ long
- Braid the strips into one braid
- Glue the braid onto the head.
- Paint the back of the head black. Paint another layer if necessary
You can find the original tutorial, along with step photos here.
Recreate Frida’s painting Las Dos Fridas
To give you a bit of background, this particular painting depicts Frida in the midst of her divorce from Diego Rivera. She left the two hearts exposed showing one broken and the other hole, the one that Diego loved. She depicted surgical pincers to show that she was cutting off the emotional ties. The background on important art pieces like Las Dos Fridas is taught in our Great Artists! course in a kid-friendly way.
I think one of the most fun ways (ever) to learn about art is to BECOME IT! Put yourself right in Frida Kahlo’s world by recreating this painting.
Here’s how to get the look:
- Mexican dress
- Embroidered skirt
- Yellow floral top
- Bright tights
- Clogs
- Monkey
- Yarn
- Floral head piece (see tutorial here)
- Embroidered anatomical heart (see tutorial here)
Makeup tutorial inspired by Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo Print from the Lars Print Shop
You can find this print by Merrilee Liddiard here!
If you want to dive deeper into your Frida Kahlo knowledge and find more projects your family can do that are inspired by her work, you can access our Great Artists! course here!