Cigar Box Collage

My daughter is home from college and we had some fun doing this project together. I have a collection of cigar boxes left over from a project we did with some foster children in our community. Each child decorated his own cigar box using magazine clippings applied with a glue stick. I then took the boxes outside and sprayed on some gloss fixative. A wonderful art teacher, Ms Bobbie, suggested this way of working. It was a lot easier and neater than using Mod Podge, our usual way of doing collage, and a sticky mess!


I loved seeing how differently my daughter and I approached the project. I decided to work abstractly, cutting and tearing primary colored shapes.

This is the inside of the box below. I had so much fun playing with these shapes and colors that I decided I will keep doing this all summer when I won't be able to go to the studio. I can easily work on this while my boy is busy in the pool! It's a great portable project. Wheeeeeee!

My daughter is a masterful collage artist. Look at the way she combines cool colors with charcoal gray, and the interesting juxtaposition of angles and curves below. The interest continues on the edges with beautiful combinations of patterns and color.

This project is appropriate for all ages, but shoo the children away when using the fixative, which should be applied outside by an adult. Have fun!