Batik Baskets

By Kathybarbro @KathyBarbro
One way to give any crayon piece of art an aged look is to crinkle it up in your hands, smooth it out, and paint over with watercolor. The paint goes in the cracks and makes a pseudo-batik look.
1. I gave students paper with the outline of a basket shape already in place so they could concentrate on the coloring. They made curved lines to divide up the basket, and then drew different patterns within each. Crayola Construction Paper Crayons were used to color all of it, pressing hard to make a very waxy covering. Regular crayons would work fine too.
2. The fun part, taking the beautiful art and crinkling it into a small ball. Smooth out and crinkle again to make lots of fine wrinkles.
3. Watercolor paint is applied over the entire page, which will help smooth it out.