art

beauty in the act of creating art 

(not just the final product)

In the beginning God created...
Genesis 1:1

corks

We seem to know a lot of folks who are getting engaged right now.

And of course, we want to celebrate with them!

So there have been some champagne corks laying around our house and leave it to the kids to find them.  (Matt delights in popping them off, but not necessarily in picking them up.)

Peter discovered one and asked if we could paint with it like we did before.
(sidenote, how does this kid remember an art project we did once last Fall?)

This afternoon, Abigail was taking a long nap.
So out came all the paint, corks (I'd saved for the past year), smocks, paper and creativity.
And the kids set to work

 

   

Hannah really got creative this time around with cork painting.

Her serious art/mommy is taking lots of pictures face.

Our dining room table is now covered in drying works of art.

Anyone want one?
(Hannah loves to share.)

fall art

Today is a sick day for mommy.
Which means we stay around the house and do quiet activities.


I'd been wanting to try these Fall tree painting projects I saw on Pinterest
and today was the perfect opportunity!

Peter used wine corks (perfect for chubby little fingers)



and stamped leaves all over his tree.

Hannah used Q-Tips and gently dotted her leaves on the tree.

My two artists at work.

the color palette

 

Peter's finished project

Hannah's finished project

valentines

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.
And of course, I remembered at 4:30pm this afternoon that Hannah could bring Valentines for her whole class of 24 tomorrow when she goes to school.  Eeeks!  I was out of town all weekend on a fabulous girls' getaway (more to come on that later), have a sick hubby who is at work and a rambunctious 1 1/2 year old who is definitely not going to let any art fun pass by him.  So what to do?

One thing I have discovered about myself as a parent is that I am extremely practical.  (Sometimes a little too much so.)  As I walked the aisles of the Nugget grocery store I thought about and discarded all crafty, expensive or candy related ideas for something simple that Hannah could participate in and give out with joy tomorrow.  And really, what parent is not going to be excited to see among the paper and candy an orange for their child to enjoy?

So this is what we did.

I bought a bag of "Cuties" with just enough for each student to have one.



I got out a sheet of white address labels and let Hannah color them pink to her heart's delight.

Then, I wrote "love, Hannah" on each one.

Cut them down a bit.

And she (who absolutely loves stickers) - stuck them on and put them in a bag.

We made a couple on large oranges with big heart cutouts for her teachers.

Some of them apparently deserved a little kiss.

And we are done in 20 minutes and it only cost $5!

I look forward to her excitement in getting to pass them out tomorrow and I'm glad I didn't give up and wait until next year to do Valentine's for school.

(if you are feeling a bit behind and short on time like me, feel free to use this idea!)

my budding artist

Hannah loves to paint!

At school, it is the one area that she goes to every day.

At home, we finally have a good setup for her to paint - paints that don't spill, a water cup that can't be knocked over and a huge tablecloth to protect the table.  (I must admit that this setup is probably most delightful to me, as she was not at all dissuaded from painting by spills or splattered paint.)

And we have a place now to hang her artwork in her room.  She takes a lot of pride in her art and loves to see it up around the house.  The refrigerator ran out of space long ago and even though I try to rotate what's up there I could not keep up with her art.  

She says that she likes looking from her bed at her art as she falls asleep.
Aahhh....

little artists

Hannah loves to paint.
It's one of those things as a mom (and previously as a teacher) that I cringe when asked to do because of the inevitable mess it makes.  But kids love it and so I do it anyway.
(And I'm coming to embrace the creative splatters and all.)



Last week I showed her how to use watercolors with a brush but she decided they were better used with fingers.

Yesterday we went back to some homemade finger paints.  

And of course what big sister does little brother wants to do. 

So I got creative and gave him some berry yogurt to finger paint with.  It's edible (because there is no doubt in my mind that he'll put it in his mouth) and pretty easily contained on his tray.

He loved it!

(as I write this I notice that he is definitely wearing his sister's flower bib, sorry Peter)

my two little artists at work.

if you want to make your own finger paint here is a great tutorial: http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/06/squeezable-homemade-finger-paint/

or of course, you can just use yogurt! :)