Thursday, November 12, 2009

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...

Thursday, November 5, 2009

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!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

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.