Moving In

No pictures with this post--I am not sure where the camera is! This has been a very busy week. We have moved into our new home after more than 2 months in a hotel. We still have lots of unpacking and organizing ahead of us. I keep eyeing the boxes labeled "art", but I am trying to stay focused on things like towels and dishes. It won't be long though, I just cannot take it! I have way too many projects on my "want to do" list. Holiday projects, curtains, murals, preschool art group...not to mention rediscovering the materials that have been in storage for 3 months. I have actually been losing sleep (in a good way) thinking of all the creating I plan to do in the coming months.

Be on the lookout for some snowflake crafts this weekend...

Best Use for Halloween Candy

There is really only so much candy a 4-year-old can (or should) eat. Why not make some art with all of those pretty little colors and shapes? I rinsed out a little carton of cream and painted it white (actually Hollin painted it). We used acrylic, but tempera would work well too. While the paint dries, open up lots and lots of colorful candy--everything that does not get used gets tossed, so open more than you think you need :)

Then let them glue away with some white glue. You have to do one side at a time to allow the glue to dry. I think this would be fun for older kids to do after reading Hansel and Gretel, or somehow tied in with a game of Candyland. We kept it simple, but you don't have to!

Happy Halloween!

We had so much fun decorating and making costumes for Halloween. I love that Hollin is old enough to really get into it. She was so enthusiastic--essentially going crazy with joy--while we decorated the hotel room, carved pumpkins and planned costumes. Waylon picked up on the excitement too.



Here is Hollin decorating her trick-or-treat bag. She wanted a pink plastic princess pumpkin that we saw at the grocery store...we made our own princess bag instead. I drew a picture of her favorite princess on a piece of fabric and she painted it. Then, I sewed it to a pre-made reusable grocery bag. Sadly, we left it at home for the big night of trick-or-treating, it just never made it into the bag of costumes, mittens and goodies. We ended up borrowing a pumpkin bag from a friend and did not miss our mermaid bag at all (now we have a very cute shopping bag). We did make Ariel leaning on a jack-o-lantern--if you look closely you can see the face. Pop-up cards for the family!

Hollin really wanted me to wear a costume, so I made this funny looking jack-o-lantern from an orange sheet. She painted the face for me. I made it nice and big so that it would fit over my coat. Every year I wish for something festive to wear for Halloween--now I am all set!

We had so much fun decorating our hotel room window. A friend gave Hollin the orange pumpkins, I cut our ghosts and bats and she made faces and stuck them to the window. The entire family got into the monster making. This will hardly put us on the cover of a decorating magazine, but that is not the point!

Hollin wanted to be Dorothy and we thought Waylon would make a cute cowardly lion. I can take no credit for his costume, other than finding it for $5 at a consignment store. I made her little jumper--which she is still wearing today, the day after Halloween.

Last week I realized that there would be no way she would be able to wear her Dorothy costume trick-or-treating in Alaska. She would need boots, snow pants, a jacket and hat--all of which would cover up her cute little outfit. So we thought and thought about what costume she could wear over her snow gear. The ice-cream cone was her idea. It was very warm--good thing because it was about 8 degrees!

I just love the faces she made on the clementine "pumpkins" below!

Time for a piece of candy.

Pumpkin + Markers

Who would have thought something so simple could occupy these two for so long! Markers, wipes and a pumpkin. And we can still paint it later as planned.

Glue Batik

I have been having a lot of fun with this easy batik technique. A friend of mine read about this in Family Fun magazine and passed it along. Hollin and I did some experimenting at home, then we got together with some friends to make some pumpkins. I have pictures of various projects at different stages along the way. I am sure you will have no problem following along.

To do this you will need:

• white cotton fabric (jersey knit (old t-shirt) works best)


• white glue


• acrylic paint mixed with water (this is not washable)


• brushes
  

1. Cut some white fabric to desired size. We used an old cotton sheet for some and a cut up t-shirt for some others. We found that the t-shirt absorbed the color better and the results were more vibrant.

2. "Draw" your design with glue on the fabric and allow it to dry. We made this a 2-day project so that the glue could dry undisturbed over night.

I made the dump truck and helped with the rainbow and flowers below. But the kids had no problem making the pumpkin designs--they really came out cute.

3. After the glue dries it is time to paint. I mixed a squirt of acrylic paint with a small amount of water (1/8-1/4 cup). Mix it up and adjust until you have the color intensity that you want. You want a liquid color with no thick clumps. Paint the fabric. Paint right over the glue, it will resist the paint leaving white lines.

4. Allow it to dry, then rinse off the glue. The best way to do that is to soak it in warm water then rub the glue out. When it no longer feels slimy, it is finished and ready to dry.

I think this so pretty and has lots of potential. After we made the pumpkins we thought we should try it with blue, purple and black paint on orange cloth. If I do it I will post pictures.

Leaf Rubbing Gift Wrap

I had not intended to create a post about this, but I love it so I thought I would share. We had a little gift to wrap yesterday and we used a leaf rubbing for the papper and a leaf for the card. So simple.

Paper Pumpkins

These 3-dimensional paper pumpkins are very cute and very fun to make--especially if you are 4. My daughter has wanted to do little else the last few days. We are growing quite a pumpkin patch. To make a pumpkin you need:

• 4 strips of orange construction paper. You can make your pumpkins any size. We used 12" x 1/2"


• a small square of orange paper for a base (if your pumpkin is wobbly, you can add a piece of cardboard to the bottom).


• a green rectangle (about 3" x4")


• about 2-4 thin strips of green paper for vines and a pencil for wrapping them around to make them curl


• scissors


• white glue

Start by gluing the center of an orange strip to the little orange square (base). Then continue gluing the center of the orange strips making a star shape. While the glue sets for a few minutes, cut small slits along the long side of the green rectangle, then, roll it into a stem so that the slits are on the bottom. Glue the side of the stem together. Hold it tight for a few minutes so that it does not come undone. Sing a song, count to 100, say the alphabet 3 times--then it should be dry enough to stay put. This is also a good time to curl your vines by wrapping the green strips around a pencil.

Starting with the bottom strip, start to glue the ends of the orange strips together making the round shape of the pumpkin. You might need to hold the newly glued pieces and count or sing again. Next, glue the vines on the top of the pumpkin. Fold back the little tabs you cut along the bottom of the stem and add glue to each tab. Carefully glue the stem to your pumpkin.

So cute! We plan to add some faces later. Hope this works for you!