Watercolor Leaves

One of the most memorizing aspects of fall are the beautiful colors nature creates.  It's amazing to see how once alive, green leaves, in autumn, will change to the most spectacular colors as they die and fall to the ground.  

Those beautiful fall leaves are what inspired a DIY version in watercolor form.  You could even say, they are a nature knockoff. 

To make some of your own watercolor leaves, start by cutting leaves out of cardstock.  Our leaves were cut out of white, yellow and pink cardstock, yellow being my favorite.

For each leaf, you'll want to start by painting it with water...yes water.  Paint the entire leaf with a coat of water.

Then, slowly begin to add some watercolor paint to your wet leaf.  

As the wet watercolor hits the wet leaf, the paint will spread and swirl and take on a life of its own.  Continue adding color until you achieve the look you want.  If you find your leaf is too wet, simply dab it with a paper towel.  

 Set your finished painted leaves to the side and allow time for them to dry. 

These nature inspired watercolor leaves look great simply as they are...

Or, like we are doing, you could use them to display the things you are grateful for. 

Play dates, family and bedtime stories...those are a few of the things are are thankful for.

Jumbo Craft Stick Animals

Who knew you could have so much fun with jumbo craft sticks?  Parents.com, that's who. 

As soon as Grace spotted this craft, she immediately wanted to make her own set of animals out of jumbo craft sticks.  We got started by painting the craft sticks but as we waited for them to dry, I got distracted with things like dinner or laundry.

Mr. While Wearing Heels stepped in and with Grace's help, they made an adorable pig...

A rooster, with a baby belle cheese wrapper comb {the mister's use of non-traditional craft supplies impressed me}...

And a tiger, with heart shaped spots.

I am not sure who was more proud of the finished product...

 Grace or the mister.

Crafting With Kids - Masterpieces

When crafting with kids begins, you never know when it will result in a masterpiece being made.  That's the great thing about crafting with kids, they typically don't fret over the details.  Kids don't worry if it's perfect.  Kids simply create.

And, creating is exactly what Grace has been doing. 

On painted canvas, I drew a heart shape and filled it in with glue and stepped back to let the artist create her masterpiece.  Grace dug through our button jar and filled the heart in with pretty buttons.   What makes this a masterpiece, in my eyes, 'love' spelled out by the artist.

 

Grace would prefer creating while keeping her hands clean.  A masterpiece, to me, is seeing this little girl get her hands dirty.

Especially when she makes hand print crafts.

On painted canvas, the artist left her signature in the form of her 5 year old hand print.

If you liked these masterpieces, make sure to check out some of the other art created and currently on display like this watercolor silhouette.

Or block printing art.

Whatever your child creates, I am sure it will be a masterpiece in your eyes.

Block Printing Wall Art

Children's art projects, I am learning, can quickly pile up in stacks leaving you with the great debate; do I keep this or slyly throw it away. 

I'll admit, I am guilty of slyly throwing away some of Grace's art...though, if ever she discovers something in the recycle bin, I throw the blame on Mr. While Wearing Heels.  'I have no idea how that got in there, your dad must have accidentally thrown it away'. 

This block printing project, though, is one that was not destined for the recycle bin, instead, it became prominently featured and framed.

Block printing is so easy.  So, go grab some yarn and a block of wood and your own little artist.  Wrap the yarn around the block and, from the back, tape the yarn into place.

 

Pour some paint, in whatever color you like, onto some scrap paper.  Have your little artist dip the block of wood into the paint.

Then let them get creative and stamp an entire piece of card stock paper in whatever pattern or design that inspires them.

When it's done, I am sure you'd agree, it's worthy of being put on display. 

What do you do with your children's artwork? 

Winter Fun - Snow Painting

Winter is still very much upon us in the Midwest.  We have enjoyed our share of making snowmen, snow angels and sledding but sometimes, I'd rather enjoy winter fun in the comfort of my warm house.  My solution, INDOOR snow painting.

What you'll need:  SNOW!  A container for the snow.  Water and food coloring {for the "paint"}.  A paint brush AND...

An artist.

What better way to enjoy the snow and, yet, still be inside and warm.

Snow painting.

And, yes, this often ends with a nibble.

Pretty *cool*, don't you think?

JOY Burlap Sign

Joy to my front porch...oh yes, and to the world.

 My JOY started like this, a $1.99 Goodwill frame.

I took apart my frame, grabbed some left over burlap I had and some Easy Tack adhesive.

I sprayed the back of the board from the frame and attached the burlap.

I drew the letters out on paper, traced them in pencil onto the burlap

and hand painted JOY in red acrylic paint.

When it dried, I put it back in the frame and put it outside for all my neighbors to admire :)

JOY.

 

Update:  Since last year, and because of our growing barn wood collection, the woodaholic made a beautiful custom barn wood frame for the JOY sign. 

 

 

 

Long before Pinterest

I am the first to admit, the idea of stamping with fruit or vegetables is not a new concept.  My mom claims that when I was in school, I actually made these as well.  And, let me tell you, that was LONG before pinterest and blogs.

Though the idea isn't original, it still is fun and...

for this little girl it is still an original idea.

So we stamped with the rind of celery...

A lemon...

And an apple.  My personal favorite because we glued the apple seeds onto our apple prints.

When we were done stamping, we used our scraps and fixed a snack. 

Ants on a log, another idea that has been around longer than pinterest that continues to be a novelty for each new generation introduced to them.

Painting.

I've been busy painting.

I thought I had worked out a good system. I paint a coat, run errands for a few hours, return and paint a second coat.

The one thing my system did not account for was Riley.

Fortunately, there was only a small trail of prints to follow and it led to Riley.

When I questioned her, she said, 'Who me?  I'm an angel.  How could you ever accuse me of such a thing?'

Though, there was no denying it in the end because I caught her red handed...

or white pawed :)