Tu B'Shevat Tissue Paper Tree Art

If you think that you shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree, you should see the beautiful results of this surprisingly simple Tu b'Shevat art activity! I saw the idea first on the Pinterested Parent. I tried it out myself before introducing it to the boys and decided it would make a perfect project for Rosh Chodesh Shevat, welcoming the new Jewish month of Shevat. The finished work truly looks like it took hours of labor and love, but really this project is easy to prepare and complete in just minutes--a huge plus if your artists (young or old) have a shorter attention span.

You will need:

• thick white paper-I used watercolor paper as it is more conducive to soaking up both water and the color, but card stock worked well, too
• color bleed tissue paper -- regular tissue paper will not necessarily work here, so you do need to get specifically the type that is labeled as color bleeding tissue. It is available in most craft supply stores and, of course, on Amazon. 
• black permanent marker
• spray bottle with water

Before you begin you (or your artists) will want to draw a black tree trunk with branches in the center of your page (or wherever you wish to place it--you could even draw multiple trees). I cut a few strips of tissue paper down to small rectangles. Little artists can help with this as well. You'll want to make sure everyone's hands are dry because any amount of moisture will cause the colors to bleed! 

I like to wet the paper beforehand and had the boys do the same. Y was especially excited to discover he can work a spray bottle now and wash his own glasses. This should come in handy...

Next, lay your tissue paper squares down as you like them. They can be scrunched, flat, layered... When everyone felt they had their tissue paper squares in the position they wanted, we sprayed more water over top. S is rather an overzealous sprayer with a spray bottle--a quality that often washes his project colors away, but comes in rather handy with this one. The more water, the more the colors will spread and mix. It's pretty impossible to go wrong here, and I like that in an art project!

Next, it's time to get everyone away from the wet and colorful artwork and let the situation dry for a bit. Once everything is dry, you can easily remove the tissue paper squares and dispose of them (although they are still so pretty, even with the colors mixed now that I kind of wanted to save them and use it for collage...)

Your artwork will be revealed on the paper and is ready to send on display or as a greeting in the mail or to gift to a friend or family member. 

I think they all came out so great, don't you? Color bleed tissue paper art is a great medium for working with artists of all ages. One friend of mine contacted me for directions to do this with a group of children and senior citizens she runs--what a great idea! You could tailor the colors of your trees to be seasonally specific or use the same concept to draw and add color to another subject of art. We will be back with a really fun collaborative process art project for Tu b'Shevat in the days to come. Until then...

Happy Playing!