May 18, 2015

Ribbon and Bead Necklace for First Birthday Invites

I saw a child wearing a ribbon necklace with large, multi-faceted crystal looking beads. It was beautiful, and I wanted to replicate the look.

I was able to make the necklace for under five dollars and maybe ten minutes of my time. The beads are from Hobby Lobby (use a coupon or wait for a sale) and the ribbon I already had on hand.

I had my daughter wear the necklace while I snapped some photos to use on her first birthday invites. here's an outtake. Gotta love the drool!

and here's the invite



April 29, 2015

How to Draw a Pineapple: A Step by Step Guide for Kids

We recently discovered step by step drawing guide books for children. The books illustrate how to draw simple objects in a series of three to six sequential boxes or steps. I wasn't sure my barely five year old was old enough, but I was wrong. She LOVES them!

The step by step boxes really help her identify shapes within a picture by breaking down a drawing project into small manageable steps. In the later steps, its also good for detail recognition and noticing change. If she gets stuck I ask, what's different between this box and the last?

Our most recent art club venture was a mother's day gift involving a sharpie drawn pineapple and tissue paper paint. All the how-to-draw books we own depict animals or cartoon characters, so I've begun attempting my own versions for the inanimate objects we draw. 

How to Draw a Pineapple: A Step by Step Guide for Kids
(Our project was a mothers day gift, but you could easily omit the text in the final step.)

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Here are the kids' results. Both artists are five years old. 



Stay tuned to see what we did with the pineapples next!

March 29, 2015

Fun with Foamies


A few weekends ago, my daughter and I sat side by side in our newly established art room each working on our own creative pursuits. It was awesome. For my 4.5 year old, it was a fun with foamies sort of day. She completed two activities with the peel and stick foam shapes, and was engaged for a long time as I worked on my own projects.

The first activity was filling a rectangle grid labeled with the numbers 1-8 with the corresponding number of foam shapes. Count, peel, stick. Easy peasy.



For the second activity, I drew six curved rainbow lines and asked my daughter to place matching colored foamies on top of the rainbow lines. I was surprised by how long she stayed engaged with this craft. She loved it! She put a great amount of effort making her picture just right.

November 17, 2014

Tire Swing Meets Rocking Horse

 


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We visited a different pumpkin patch than usual this year and they had the coolest tire swings! The tire swings were formed into the shape of a horse. All the kids (and even some of the adults) had a blast rocking and riding the tire swing horses.

I did a quick google search and discovered that the horse shaped tire swings can be DIY'ed from a single tire, cut and turned inside out. All you need is an old tire, some sharp shears and a lot of strength. Here is a link to one of the DIY Pony Tire Swing Tutorials I found online.

Now, who wants to make me one? :-)