Art On the Go

I the pursuit of organization and the encouragement of creativity, I put together these "On the Go Art Totes" for the girls. They are on the shelf directly above O(5)'s art shelf, and they are filled with art supplies that won't fit on her shelf (or that I don't want the baby to have easy access to...paint!). However, they are within sight, so E(2) can easily see and ask for them when she is in a painting mood!

We recently gotten a larger child sized table for our screened porch, and we have been doing a lot of art out there (as well as eating all of our meals out there...it's wonderful!). These totes make doing art projects much easier because instead of me hunting through an art supply drawer for paint and paintbrushes and then a different drawer for paper, it's all right there, ready for us to grab and go!

The first tote is filled with dot painters, a stamp pad, and paper.


The second tote is filled with lots of different paints and paintbrushes. This tote sees the most action.


The third tote is a collage tote, and it's pretty empty right now. Maybe I'll fill it today...

Art Shelf Organizer

O(5) has a pretty cool organzier on her art shelf that I made more than 2 years ago. A couple of months ago a friend asked me why in the world I'd never put pics of it on the blog, so now I am :)

To make this organizer I bought new, empty paint cans from Home Depot (I don't remember the exact size, but they are small...you can see that in the pics). I decoupaged the cans with scrapbook paper. I bought 2 magnetic bars (from IKEA) and attached them to the wall at the back of the art shelf. The cans stay on the magnetic bars most of the time (leaving the shelf clear for making art), but if the girls want to use the art supplies at the table or outside, they can easily take them with them.



The only problem is that the cans sometimes get too heavy and fall off the bars. That usually only happens with the container of scissors.




So, there you go, Becca! This post is for you! :)

A Twist on Crayon Art

I saw this Melted Crayon Art post on A Bit of This and That and knew we had to try it! Thanks, Jo!

For this art project you need crayons, double sided tape, canvas, and a hair dryer. We had everything except the hair dryer (No, we do not own a hair dryer. I know that shocks most people, but it is what it is.) Luckily, my mom did not mind us borrowing her hair dryer :)

First, we had to remove the paper from the crayons. In the past, this has been a tedious and painful job...until I read about soaking the crayons in hot water. The hot water makes the paper just fall right off. Unfortunately, I was impatient and decided to microwave the water...big mistake! The paper came off, but the crayons immediately started melting in the water. I was hurriedly trying to fish them out before they turned into crayon mush. I got enough out for our project, but I'm pretty sure that my glass measuring cup is ruined.

Then, we put a piece of double sided tape across the top of the canvas. E(2) helped me push the crayons onto the tape. They kept falling off, so this was a little tricky. The girls and I took turns holding the hair dryer and aiming it at the crayons. We had it on low because the force of the wind (when it was on high) knocked the crayons off the tape. However, it really wasn't hot enough (on low) to melt the crayons. *sigh* We didn't give up (although, O lost interest and started her own science experiment involving melted crayons and water).

Eventually, the crayons were melted enough to stay on the canvas, and we put the hair dryer on high. They melted quickly once I turned it on high. O(5) came back to help, and E had fun holding the hair dryer. I think I was the most impressed with watching how the crayons turned to liquid and dripped down the canvas. We eventually had a beautiful piece of artwork, and 2 proud little girls.

"Decorate Your Own Cupcakes" Activity

We celebrated E(2)'s 2nd birthday this weekend, and the "decorate your own cupcake" activity was a HUGE hit again!

Here are the blank canvases!

And here are some of the cupcake masterpieces!









I felt a little bad about providing such terribly unhealthy, sugar laden, artifically colored snacks at my children's birthday parties until I realized that the majority of the children only eat one bite of the cupcakes. A few will eat the candy off the top (O did!)and lick a little icing, but most of them leave the cupcakes virtually untouched. It's all about the creative process! (However, I do want to make this activity a little healthier, but still a lot of fun...maybe I can find cake decorations and candy at Trader Jo's next time we are near one).

Painting Her Dream

E(1) woke up last Wednesday morning at 5am talking about a lion. She talked and talked and talked. I told her it was just a dream, and she went back to sleep. Meanwhile, I got up to go to work (at 5:45am), and my mom said E woke up at 8:30 still talking about lions.

They read books about lions, and E found a lion puzzle piece and said "There's lion! It matches my dream!" She also insisted that she wanted to paint a lion on a canvas, so on Friday she painted her lion.

She was very intent and focused while painting. She knew exactly which colors she wanted to use, and she told us what she was painting as she did it. When she was painting with blue paint, she said "that's his eyes." When she was painting with orange paint, she said "that's tiger!" This girl amazes me every day!

This is her finished lion and tiger painting. I love it, and she is so proud!

Painting Birthday Party Wrapping Paper

The girls had a great time painting wrapping paper for a friend's birthday this weekend!

O(5) loves to cover herself in paint, so she was super excited to see the fingerpaints!

The birthday boy liked his unique wrapping paper, but the best part was the frozen look of indecision on his uncle's face when he was gathering all of the paper to throw it away. He didn't know whether to throw it away with the rest of the paper or save it, and O was watching his every move!

A Seashell Fish Collage

The girls and I had fun making seashell fish collages while we were at the beach this summer. The girls excitedly filled a bucket with tiny shells while exclaiming "we hit the tiny shell jack pot!" When we got back to our beach house, I drew a fish with glue on a piece of cardboard (I spray painted the cardboard blue before our trip in anticipation of this project).

The girls had fun pouring the shells onto the glue fish.




We poured off the excess shells after the glue dried to make a fun fishy shell collage! The girls are very proud of their fish!

Beach Sand Candles

The girls, my mom, and I had fun making beach sand candles a few weeks ago.

First, we melted the wax on the stove. Then we went to the beach and dug holes for the sand molds. We used a Kleen Kanteen to make the right shape. We put the wick down in the hole, and I held it in place while my mom poured the hot wax into the hole.

We had to hold the wicks in place for a while until the wax hardened a little. We let O(5) one of the wicks after the wax cooled a little.

After about an hour or so, the girls dug the candles up from the beach. They were SO excited!


The girls were very pleased with the candles, but I was a little disappointed (but I didn't tell the kids that I was disappointed!). I was hoping that more sand would stick to the sides of the candles. Also, they are a little lopsided :) We plan to make crushed ice candles next!