POTATO MAN?

Em was busy drawing all morning.  When I went to see what she was drawing, I found these.  I asked her what they were and she said, "It's a Potato Man!"  My favorite part are the "shoes".

"CONFETTI" GREETING CARDS

Em and I made these fun, and super easy to make confetti-inspired cards.

 
I carved out (with an exacto knife) tiny geometric shapes from a stamp carving block...but these work really great too.

For Em's "kid-friendly" stamps I cut out tiny shapes from a styrofoam take out container and used two-sided tape to adhere the shape onto a wooden peg.  Tape works great because you can easily peel off and tape on a completely different shape-- then you'll only need one wooden peg.

If I were to do it over again, I would use something thicker for Em's stamps...like fun foam to eliminate those rings around the image.  I'm okay with the imperfectness though, and had to work with what I had.  Still, I think they came out pretty cute...

Reminds me of this pretty soap:

(from a slice of delight)

I also came across an inspiring post with "confetti" images at my life as a magazine.  A blog I've been love, love, loving lately!

DIY MINI ZINES TUTORIAL

Make Mommy and Me Mini Zines!

Em and I had lots of fun this weekend making little fashion mini magazines.  Making a mini zine is super easy to do, which makes it a perfect activity for kids. 

Except for the part where your toddler decides to dig all of the glue out of the gluestick and smear it on the table. And after telling her to use the glue correctly, or not at all says-- "mommy why are you scolding me, why?".  Sound like I'm speaking from experience? Oh, yes.

Other than that little bump in the road though, the rest was smooth sailing.  And tons of fun. It's amazing how therapeutic simple cutting and pasting can be for an adult.

MATERIALS:

• 2 sheets of copy paper-- one for mommy, one for child
• old magazines
• glue
• scissors
• pens for doodling
• color copier
• other collage items (optional)

How to make a Mini Zine




When your zines are folded, it's time for the fun part.  Cut out images you are drawn to or that match the theme of your zine.  Zines can be about anything.  We did a fashion-ish one, but you could do dinosaurs, cars, animals, recipes, poetry, all pictures, or all written word, things to do in your town-- anything goes.
All of our images came from an old (2008) issue of Sweet Magazine from Japan. 

Em picked out all her images, I helped her with the cutting.  Then I let her go at it with the glue.

After you complete your little book, open it up and let it dry.

When completely dry, run it through a color copier and fold the copy into a mini zine for a clean, smooth version of your book. Make lots of copies, and give them away. Leave them in random places for people to find!

Em Jay's pages...

Mommy's pages...

FOIL COLLAGE

it's been quite awhile since I've done an art project with em jay. we finally spent some artsy time together.

MATERIALS:

• thin cardboard (I used a cereal box)
• aluminum foil
• tape
• various collage items (tissue paper, sequins, yarn, string, ribbon, glitter, etc.)
• elmer's glue
• water
• paintbrush

prepare/gather collage materials.  fold foil over thin cardboard (for a sturdier surface) and tape down.  mix elmer's glue with water to create a very thin consistency.  paint thinned glue onto the foil surface.  add tissue paper pieces.  paint more glue.  add more tissue.  keep adding glue over each layer.  add sequins, ribbon, and other items.  after a final coat of glue.  finish with glitter.

PAPER PLATE ELMO

MATERIALS:

• paper plate
• red tempera paint
• 2 large white paper circles (eyes)
• 2 smaller black paper circles (pupils)
• 1 black paper half circle (mouth)
• 1 orange paper oval (nose)
• paint roller or large paint brush
• glue

step one: prepare facial features ahead of time

step two: have your child paint the entire (backside) paper plate red with brush or roller

step twp: glue on features to the paper plate (I helped guide the eyes), making sure to point out each feature on their own body too.

DONE! VERY EASY!!

It would be fun to make cookie monster and oscar too!

PLAYING AROUND ON THE EASEL

ART CLASS

I usually take em jay every week to her gymboree play and learn class.  she loves it, and sings, and climbs, and loves parachute time!  last week she was sick with a fever so we skipped class and scheduled for a make up at one of their art classes.

we went today, and what a great class! very cute and well organized. the theme was bugs.  they made bugs out of paper bowls, played with dirt in the tactile table (which she totally loves), read "a very hungry caterpillar", and painted butterfly stencils.  I wish we could afford to do both classes!  highly recommended.

(stenciled butterflies on the left, collage bug on the right)

here's a pic of em jay during lunch today.  she has officially hit her terrible twos.  my usually good-natured child, has suddenly become a "no! monster" -- no to this, no to that... she sure is testing our limits as you can see by this rascal little photo:

I once thought I wanted a feisty, spirited child.  I've realized that what I really want is for her to be confident, and have opinions, but not feisty and bossy.  I am determined as ever to raise a considerate, polite, and most importantly good-hearted human-being...

to be continued...

MAGIC CRYSTAL PAINT...NOT SO MAGIC

I've been wanting to make "magic crystal paint" for awhile now after seeing the recipe in this book.

I tried 1/2 cup hot water, 1/2 cup epsom salt, stirred, and added food coloring.

em jay painted away,

then we set it on the side to dry.  and a few hours later...

pretty, but not what I thought it would be like.  I've seen other pictures of paintings using kid's crystal paint and they are totally crystallized with salt.

so I pretty much failed at making magic crystal paint, but the main thing is--em had fun.

HELP! does anyone know how to do this???

ST. PATRICK'S DAY PROJECT

Saw this cute project HERE

To make it more "toddler friendly", I cut out green scraps from magazines and scrapbook paper and had Em stick them onto clear laminating sheets. (Just like her previous collage project.)

Because the laminating sheets are so thick. I also found it better to sandwich the laminated collage between the white sheet with your shamrock cut out and another white sheet of paper.

She kept saying "ticky, ticky..." the whole time! (translation: "sticky")

FUN ON A SATURDAY

Had fun playing around with these:

 

  

And Em had fun playing with these:

 

Scented Coffee filter flowers:  Color filters with washable markers (Scented Mr. Sketch), wet with a sponge so that colors bleed (Em's favorite part!).  Scrunch into a "flower" shape.

 

 

 Then we went shopping.  Em was so tired by the afternoon that it ending up being a grumpy evening-- for her, and for me! Put her to bed at 7:30-- Gymboree tomorrow, means we need her in a happy, happy mood!  Can't wait until husband comes home form his Vegas trip! Sigh.

SUNDAY PROJECT

Salt Clay Ornaments

inspired by this...



seen HERE

SALT CLAY RECIPE

(got it from THIS BOOK)

1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
1/2 c. water

use rolling pin to flatten 1/4" thick. cut out shapes with cookie cutters. use a straw to make holes. bake at 250 degrees for about 2 hours. paint with tempera (for child) or acrylic (for you) paints. use sparkle mod podge for glittery finish.









Of course I had to make some too! Notice the "Johnny Depp" magnet in the bottom right. Pretty funny.

So sorry for the terrible photos (and glare). Took them at night with horrible lighting--couldn't wait until daylight.

PLAY DOUGH

3 CUPS FLOUR + 1/3 CUP SALT + 1 CUP WATER + THIS:



makes...



PLAY DOUGH

my first time making play dough...made a mess, it was worth it to see this:

APPLE

the other night, emily pointed to her drawing and said, "apple". I guess it does kind of look like an apple...


TWILIGHT

her favorite thing seems to be "apples" these days...she carried one around the house all day yesterday...so of course we had to take a "twilight" inspired photo!

collage

collage made with paper scraps and clear laminating sheets.

valentine

em jay's first painting

made at 15 mos.