Stained Glass Art Suncatcher

I have to admit, I have a little bit of a sun catcher addiction. They look so beautiful as the sun hits each color and when they are made by the people I love that makes them even more of a reason to love.

Materials Needed
black fabric (puffy) paint
contact paper
assorted glitter glues and/or *colored glues

I started this project out myself. I always love when I get to have some artistic fun with these projects as well. This step could easily been done by an older child as well.

1. Cut your contact paper about the size you want your sun catcher to be. Peel off the sticker side and lay onto a surface where it can be removed easily like a kitchen table or counter. Then get to work on your masterpiece using the fabric paint. I did a stained glass mosaic style house.
This needs to dry over night.

 2. When completely dry your child can start filling in the spaces with glitter glue and colored glue. Once all the holes are filled in, this again needs to dry overnight.

3. When it is completely dry you can peel the contact paper up and cut around your art. This will stick right to the window and look beautifully as it catches the sun.

I think this would make a wonderful Mother's Day gift.

*To make colored glue just add a few drops of food coloring or paint to a bottle of Elmer's glue. Stir with a chopstick or skewer and give a good shake.

Simple Art - Aluminum Foil and Paint

 Here is some simple art for this beautiful Sunday morning. By adding a little dish soap to liquid water colors (probably any paint would work well) it creates a sticky paint that is perfect for aluminum foil to be the canvas. My children love to paint in new ways with different materials. The paint on the foil looks shiny and pretty. I think I will add some glitter to the mix for some extra sparkle next time. Enjoy and Happy Sunday!
xo

Bird Nest Helper

Teaching children to love and respect all living things will result in more compassionate men and women.
I believe this with all my heart. As a child, my mom would allow us to bring home any stray animal we came across. She helped me to bottle-feed ten tiny rat babies when my pet rat Samantha unexpectedly became a mother. She has taught me responsibility and love for each living creature that came our way.
I hope to pass this on to my children. I hope that they will stop for a lost dog, adopt a stray kitten or cry like I do every time that Sarah McLachlan animal cruelty commercial comes on. Being taught this kind of love as a child not only made me the person I am today, but extends to the kind of mother I have become.
You do not need to have a house full of orphan dogs to get this point across.
Something I like to do with each season changing is an offering for animals around us. Last winter, we left nuts and seeds out for the squirrels to collect. The year before we made a warm bed on our porch for a neighborhood cat. This spring, we made a nest helper to help the birds collect for their homes and to also encourage nests to be built close to our home. This way we will also benefit from being able to watch these beautiful birds in action.

Check out the rest of my article and tips to make a bird nest helper over at Family Sponge. 

Artterro Art Journal Kit review

 My wonderful and creative friends over at Artterro introduced me to their beautiful Art Journal Kits. I just love this company. They make open ended high quality children's art products and that is hard to come by.
Although I think this journal would be such a great tool for Emma to use as a creative board, I decided to try out the journal for myself. My desk is usually covered in little post-it notes and scrap pieces of paper with ideas that have come to me while out and about. A journal is just what I needed. I never thought of keeping an art journal, but it makes perfect sense.

 For the past three weeks I have carried the journal with me jotting down notes at any given moment my creative light bulb goes on. I use it for my art store shopping list and even just to doodle while I am on the phone or sipping tea while the kids are asleep. It has organized me in an artistic sort of way, but also is a wonderful creative outlet for me. I seemed to have left journaling behind when growing up and I don't know why. It makes me happy.
Emma has asked me for her own art journal like mine and that makes me even more happy. What a great way to show children to be creative, expressive and use their ideas.

The Artterro Art Journal Kit Includes: Spiral-bound (6.5 x 8) journal with solid book board cover to personalize, 14 inspiring project pages, 5 pages of beautiful handmade decorative papers, 6 solid colored papers, artist-quality drawing paper, and pocket folder to store pictures, scraps and found images. All for just under $13.
(I love the pockets, it allows me to save fabric samples and inspiring pictures that I come across.)

I think this journal is a wonderful thing that can be used in so many different ways. I need a entire journal dedicated to decorating ideas for our new home. I would have loved to have one while planning my wedding or babies nursery, but my first art journal is a collection of art I will be doing with my two sweet loves.
To get your your own art journal and more creative kits click here Artterro!

Toddler Art and Fun

It is so interesting to see what keeps a toddler interested and engaged. Grayson likes to feel like he has a job to do and something to figure out. My friend Laura taught me this one when Emma was a little one like this. Now Grayson is a big fan of jars and lids as well. It's that simple.

Could painting get more fun? Yes. With pudding, painting is a toddler dream! Surprisingly he actually painted more than he ate. This was a fun and messy morning, especially after I added some sprinkles to the mix!

 

Empty milk jug and some small figurines, marbles, beans or anything that can fit into the jug will go a long way. When toys were not cutting it one evening during dinner prep I handed this over to my busy boy. I think something new and different will always grab the attention of a toddler looking for some action.

 We save our empty yogurt cups to use in many different ways. Paint cups, snack cups, to stock the shelves of our pretend market.....but, on this day they were simply to stack.

Earth Day Recycled Cap Necklace

Happy Earth Day! Join us in making a necklace out of recycled goods that shows our love and commitment to keeping the planet a beautiful place to live.

Material's Needed:

drill (and helpful husband helps too)

blue bottle caps (you could always paint them blue first)

green and red acrylic paint

paint brush or q-tip

yarn in color of your choice, cut to length for necklace

1. Drill your hole. My very sweet husband drilled a hole at the top of each bottle cap for us. 

2. Get started painting the green earth patches. Let dry and if you'd like you can add a red heart in the center to complete your charm.

3. Once dry, thread onto yarn, tie and wear proudly as we celebrate our beautiful planet!

Happy Earth Day!

Art Recycle Box

Earth Day is a great time to teach children the responsibility they have to our planet. They are the future and the future starts with us. Let’s get ready to explore some trash to treasure ideas with our kids. I have been talking with Emma and Grayson about ways to recycle and why we recycle. In our house, we have five recycling bins: paper, plastic, glass, compost and art. Yes….art. This is where we recycle anything we think we may use for art in the future.

Start your own ART recycling bin:

1. Use a box that is an accessible size for children. This box should be kept in a place where children can add and take from very easily.
2. Decorate the box as a family and talk about different things you could start to save for art projects.
3. Lead by example. I added the first few items to our box, before I knew it Emma was thinking of all sorts of the things to add. I also pull items out and start creating without directing her in anyway. I just let her watch and eventually she is creating on her own. These are always the best creations in my opinion, no direction, no right, no wrong. Just art from the mind of a child.

Things to save:

Paper rolls, berry baskets, jars, caps, broken crayons, egg cartons, milk jugs, fabric and yarn scraps.
Think outside the box. I promise your child will find an innovative way to use most anything.

Talk to your children about recycling

You want your children to grow into earth-responsible adults who are making a difference in the world. But, you don’t want them to hear the negative effects of not caring for the earth at this point. I think it is a lot to put on a little child’s shoulders, and you don’t want to create a hopeless feeling in these early years. So when you talk about recycling and taking care of our planet, do it in a positive way.  You want your child to see the impact they can create with the small daily things they do each day. You want them to feel like they have the power to keep this world a beautiful place, as they do.