Glue paint

Lately I've felt like Pinterest is holding me back.

I used to come up with creative things on my own but now I just go look at what I've got pinned.

I kinda wonder why should I try and come up with my own ideas because people seriously think of everything.

But I miss the satisfaction of knowing that my brain does work and I can do awesome things by myself.

So I'm trying to spend less time on there and use my mind some more and I'm proud to say this I came up with on my own.

I'm sure someone has already thought of it but I haven't seen it.

So today was rainy and kinda dreary.

On days like this my kids really like to paint

but we were out of paint and I wasn't going to the store.

One thing that I do have a lot of is glue.

When it's back to school time I have a little issue with buying a ridiculous amount of school supplies.

It comes in handy sometimes though.

So instead of painting with paint we used glue.

We poured the glue into cupcake liners.

I have some that are made out of aluminum foil so they are a little more sturdy but I was thinking the Styrofoam egg cartons would work really well for this.

Then you just add some food coloring to the glue and paint like normal.

We also tried making some flowers pieces of cardboard.

Take your nice little piece of cardboard and roll it up like this.

Put a rubber band around it to help hold it in place and then you can use it like a stamp.

And then you have a cute little flower.

I think this would probably work better with actual paint but the kids still thought it was super cool.

Braeden kept saying it makes a perfect flower every time!

You could try it with different thicknesses of cardboard for different looks too.

Painting with glue is pretty awesome.

Besides it saving my butt when I didn't have paint

it drys glossy which Ava thinks is amazing.

So it you're ever in a jam and have a lot of glue give it a try.

Pretzel Art

Whew has life been crazy lately.

Braeden's out of school

Baseball and Soccer are in full swing

and Mason decided to start crawling and pulling himself to stand in the same day!

I really should have babyproofed ahead of time.

But today we are trying to get into a new summer routine.

I'm going to try and do some kind of craft with the kids every day.

This craft is also a snack so awesome double duty!

I started by making pretzel dough in the bread maker.

But then I left the room to put Mason in bed

and came back to this...

So tip number one would be to not leave the flour on the table! lol

So after we had our pretzel dough ready we rolled it out into strips.

And then I let the kids get creative making the pretzels into any shape they wanted.

We ended up with snakes and flowers and balls and butterflies and so much more!

 They actually asked to make more dough when we finally ran out.

Now that's success.

Just brush with egg whites and water and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake then enjoy.

Takin' Craft Time Outside

We have finally had a few nice days around here.

Sunny and Hot

A perfect turnaround from the gloominess we've had.

When it's nice outside my kids play ALL day.

I can hardly get them to come inside to eat or even pee.

So to throw off their routine a little bit I surprised them with a craft to do at their picnic table.

So what's the perfect craft to do outside?

Nature Collages

I gave them a basket to collect all their pieces of nature.

 Then they sat down at the table and glued them on cardstock.

 Even Mason explored Nature trying to eat the grass. lol

Super easy and cheap supplies.

Just make sure you let them know of any flowers you want off limits.

You don't want them picking all your pretty flowers.

Hope the weathers nice where you are so you can take craft time outside!

Happenings

Ok so this week is 

Teacher Appreciation Week

As much as I love Braeden's teachers we are not showing our appreciation just yet.

Don't worry, I will.

His last day of school is in two weeks so I'm just going to combine the two.

We did go ahead and make the card for his gift and if you're looking for a 

super easy

free

oh crap I forgot 

kinda card.  I'm here for you.

(Try to ignore the messy tablecloth)

It's a simple handprint flower. 

If you want to do a little more with it you could make a painted handprint.

I think it makes it a little more special if you let your kids do it completely on their own.

Then on the back we wrote

Thanks for having a HAND in my life.

I guess you could use this as a mother's day card too.

Now to change directions.

I just want to show you some pictures of my cute family I've taken lately.

I'm really working on my photography so if you know anything about photography and want to give me some pointers I would LOVE that.

I bought this tablecloth at Walmart today for $1.20!  It's actually folded in half and I think I'm going to go get another one.  Check out the Easter isle if you want one.

 It was really sunny and he kept covering up his face with his shirt. 

Now take a look at these yummy, chubby hands.  Ahh I love it!

Creative Little Minds

We like to to crafts around here.

I like to do big girl crafts 

and the kids like little kid crafts.

But either way you go Arts and Crafts are a big part of our lives.

Most of the time I come up with something for the kids to make

and they make it and it's great.

But I have a friend who has a blog about Art for kids

Art For Little Hands

The other day she was talking about Art Placement.

I had no idea what this was so I was glad she explained.

Basically you place some art related supplies on the table and let them discover on their own.

I thought it would be interesting to see what my kids came up with and it sure was.

These were the supplies I gave them.

Tongue Depressers

Googly Eyes

Glue

Markers/Colored pencils

And this was the outcome.

 These are Braeden's creations.

And these are gardens he drew for me.

These are Ava's.

She said they are Mr. Wiggles.

It's so amazing what's going on in those little brains.

Give it a try and see what your little ones can create.

Bean and Bean Art

Today we made a mess in the kitchen.

The good thing is it wasn't too hard to clean up.

We have bags and bags of beans and we don't really eat them.

So I thought today we would have some fun with them.

All you need are lots of beans

(we also used jelly beans to get in the Easter spirit)

Cardstock or Cardboard

and Glue (make sure it's not too hard to squeeze
or your hand will hurt when you're done)

Then you just draw your picture with glue and stick on the beans.
So easy!

 This is Ava with Easter eggs all around her.

Braeden did more drawing than beaning but that's not a big surprise.
I'm not really sure what all is in there. 
I know there is a tree, the wind, a bird and himself hiding Easter eggs.
The kids spent forever making these and I had a little fun with it too.

I told you I am sooo artistic...not.

Happy beaning!

Spring Bouquet

Today the kids and I made some 

handprint flowers.

These are perfect for Spring and would also make a cute 

Mother's Day gift for the grandma's.

(We gave some to my grandma last year and she still has them sitting out)

So lets get started!

Supplies
Paper
Fingerpaint
Straws
Tape
Scissors

You're going to start by letting you kids make a gazillion painted handprints on the paper.

If you want a faster less messy way of making these you

could just trace the handprints on spring colored paper but of course playing in paint 

is sooo much more fun.

Now go put your feet up, open up a magazine and just RELAX while you wait for the paint to dry.

Oh you have paint all over your table...

and floor...

and the walls to the bathroom sink.

Yeah me too.

I guess you could clean that up while you wait.

Ok so the paint 's dry now.

Next you're going to cut out the handprints.

Now you're going to curl the fingers with a pencil.

Wrap the finger around the pencil TOWARDS the painted part.

Yeah I did it wrong the first time.  

Do as I say not as I do!

Yep that's me doing it wrong.

When all the fingers are done it will look like this.

Now you are going to tape the sides of the hand together.

Make sure that you leave a big enough hole to put the straw through.

 Then put the straw through the flower and tape it to the straw.

After you get them all made put them in a vase or jar and admire their cuteness.