Where did your ancestors live?

What continent(s) did they come from?

What food did they eat?

What did they wear?

Let’s find out!

My ancestors are from all over the place.  I am a Canadian, but I was born and raised in the Philippines…. but my ancestors are from Spain, Ireland,and England …. and the United States, as well. (Yup, you may call me a mutt.)

First, I searched old books and magazines to cut.  I also searched the web for images.  I simply googled “Images of Philippines”.  I copied and pasted the pictures on an empty Word document page.

Then, I cut them up. The next step is to glue them on a piece of cardboard or canvas.

But, WAIT!

My teaching buddy thought of gluing them on a piece of wood to symbolize the birthplace of the children in our class.  Most of our students were born in British Columbia, a province famous for its abundance of forests and lumber. So I went on a hunt.

I found a really cool lumber sheet at Home Depot and asked a kind salesman to cut it into 32 pieces. Their cutting machine was truly awesome!

Cool texture, huh.

Before I glued the pictures on the wood slab, I arranged the pictures to create a striking layout.

Then, I glued them on, using contact cement…. It worked well… but it was quite stinky. Phew!

So I let my students use a gel medium…. so we could breathe better.

1. Apply glue/gel medium on the wood
2. Slap the paper on.
3. Apply glue/gel medium (again) on top of the picture. That will seal and protect it.

This is how my collage looks.

Like it?

Here are more beautiful collages made by my students:

Now, you have a grand idea of where your ancestors lived, what they ate, the clothes they wore, and the flag the flew.

And you get to show it off to the world!