Easy Watercolor Painting

After watching me make a project using stencils and paint, Parker has been asking to paint, too.  It's been a little chilly though, for finger painting outside so I wanted something non-messy they could make at the table.

I saw a cool idea for kids' watercolor painting but we didn't actually have watercolors. However, when I took time to read through the directions, the author said she used water with a few drops of food coloring mixed in. Food coloring is something I had plenty of!

All we needed was watercolor paper, a white crayon, an ice cube tray filled with water  (and a few drops of coloring in each hole) and paint brushes.

I sat the kids down and put a towel in front of each of them to catch the drips from the papers. I have no idea how one little person can spill so much water from a single ice cube tray, but Elise's towel was soaked right through when she was done.

Anyway, I cut the paper into small pieces and used the white crayon to draw hearts on some, the kids' names on a couple, and then I tried to write out a couple Bible verses they've been learning on the last two. They couldn't see the crayon shapes, but when they dipped their brushes into the 'paint' and started coloring the paper the hearts and letters magically appeared--so fun! Parker was excited to see what was on his papers. Elise went through her papers quickly and then was happy to just keep dipping her brush into the water until every hole on her side had turned a nice, murky brown.  :)

Afterwards we left them on the towels to dry for a while. The yellow paint dried really light and made it hard to read all the words, but the other colors turned out pretty well!

The kids were excited about their paintings and Parker started pulling out a few to send to Grandpa and Grandma. Such an easy way for them to make art! Not much to prep or clean up, either... we'll definitely be trying this again!

Fuzzy Caterpillars

No, not real ones! I would probably have a heart attack if I started seeing big fuzzy caterpillars in my home. Nope, these are cute homemade ones.
Elise was reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar recently and I had the bright idea to make caterpillars with the kids. All it took was a handful of large pompoms and a few googly eyes.
Parker and Elise chose some pompoms and handed them to me in the order they wanted. I hot-glued them together and added a couple eyes and they were ready to play with!   :)
Super quick and easy and they're still being played with two weeks later. Here are the caterpillars we made (Yes, I made one, too!).

Birdhouses

My sister-in-law and her kids paint mini birdhouses every year and hang them in their backyard. It's a super cute tradition and it's fun seeing the kids' creations. So I stole her idea.  :)


Joann's and Michaels have all kind of little birdhouses for $1 each. When the kids and I were out one day we picked up four of them and a pack of paintbrushes. Parker couldn't wait to get out the paint and get to work! I prepared a couple small paint trays--one for the guys to use and one for Elise and me. Parker did a good job of covering his house. I like how the paint blended to make a pretty, marbled look.

Elise was having a good time, too. I tried to show her how to brush the paint onto the wood but I think she was more interested in dipping her brush into one paint color after another. Which meant I had to work fast on my own house before the paint all ended up as a muddy mess.  :)



We set them outside to dry for a few hours in the sun--it was really hot that day so it didn't take long. Later Kyle hung them up in one of our trees. And now we wait to see if any birds move in!
I love the touch of color they add to our yard!

Stick Puzzles

I'm always on the lookout for simple art projects I can do with Parker. Given his love for puzzles, I knew this would be a hit! I even had all the supplies for it! Granted, we only needed popsicle sticks and pencil crayons, but still...   :)

First we taped 8 sticks side by side so they would stay together. Then we turned them over and drew pictures on the front. As you can see I'm pretty limited artistically, but Parker thought they were great. His drawings were a bit more abstract--I guess he wanted more of a challenge when putting them together later!   ;)

Once our drawings were done we took off the tape and mixed up the pieces so he could put them back together. I think I'll put a couple of these in our diaper bag so he has something to do next time we're sitting in a waiting room. 

December

I had good intentions of posting earlier this month. Every time I sat down, though, I would either forget what I wanted to say or realize the pictures I wanted were still on the camera and unaccessible at the moment. And now here we are at the end of December already! Just so I at least get one post written this month, here's a quick summary of what we've been up to the past few weeks...

The first week of December we went to a dinner party in Salinas. Kyle's company has a nice Christmas dinner each year and it's always in a different location. They take the employees (and spouses) out to dinner and then put them up at a nice hotel for the night. I haven't been able to go for the past three years because we either had a new baby or had nobody to watch Parker. But this time both kids were old enough to leave with a sitter and Kyle couldn't stay overnight because he had to work the next morning. So I could finally go!! I was excited to get dressed up and have an evening without the kids. Maybe next time I'll remember to get a picture of us on the way out...

And we've been making some holiday craft projects! I found gingerbread man kits similar to the ones we made last year. Here are the finished men (and woman). I'll let you figure out who made which one...  :)

We made penguins, too. Six little ones came in the package, and the pieces were stickers so they only took a few minutes to assemble.






Next we all made a gingerbread house. I've been wanting to make one and Parker is old enough this year to help stick the candy on. I considered making one from scratch so it would actually taste good but I didn't know if I wanted to spend the day measuring and baking huge pieces so I cheated and bought a pre made one. The downside is that all the large pieces were broken. So when I assembled the house it had icing 'glue' all over the sides to hold the pieces together. But by the time we finished decorating it you couldn't really tell. I had set out two trays of candy and Parker didn't stop decorating until every last piece was used! He had so much fun and it turned out pretty cute!

Aside from gingerbread and penguins I also decorated Christmas cookies this year. I don't typically spend a lot of time on them but I wanted to make some pretty ones. When the kids were napping last Saturday I made a batch of royal icing and began decorating several dozen cookies. They took a while to finish, but I enjoyed being more creative this year. I packaged most of them in small bags and gave them to friends at church the next morning. Kyle enjoyed the leftovers. :)

I had signed up to bring cookies for Christmas dinner as well, so I made another batch. I didn't want to spend all of Christmas eve decorating these ones, though, so I used soft butter icing and sprinkles. But they weren't just any cookies, they were a cookie Christmas tree!

Isn't it great?! Everyone thought it was cool...and everyone wanted to be the last person in line so they got the huge cookies on the bottom.  :)

Christmas is so much fun with little kids! Over the two weeks leading up to the big day he asked me at least once a day if it was Christmas yet and if we could open our presents. I finally showed him on the calendar how many more days it was and we began counting the number of sleeps left.

On Christmas Eve, it's our tradition to open our stockings and one gift (a new pair of pajamas). Among other goodies, we each get a movie in our stocking so we end the evening by watching a new movie. However, this year we had company for dinner, so we were a little late opening things and we skipped the movie. Then we get up Christmas morning and, after breakfast, open the rest of the gifts.

Parker was so excited! We try and take turns opening gifts so we can see what everyone got and the fun lasts longer. But after tearing open a couple gifts, Parker came over to the tree and started looking through the gifts, asking which ones he could open next. He just couldn't sit still!











Elise, on the other hand, couldn't care less. We tried to help her open some but she kept walking away. She would pick up a bow or something that was already open and go walking out of the room with it. We finally gave up and left hers in a pile for later. It's been almost a week and there are still a couple she hasn't opened. We'll just wait until she's grumpy and needing something new to play with.  :)

 Seems like we were in and out every day last week! Monday and Tuesday we saw Kyle's parents and a sister who was in town visiting, then we had Christmas in Manteca with Kyle's family, we were able to see friends that had moved and were back in town for the holidays, we brought our nephews home for a couple days, and we had friends over Friday morning for lunch and to play games. It's been a crazy, busy week!

Thankfully this week is a bit slower. No big plans for New Year's Eve. Staying in our warm house, watching a movie, eating ice cream and snuggling under a big fuzzy blanket sounds like the perfect ending to our year.
We're so thankful for all the ways God has blessed us this year, and are looking forward to seeing what 2014 will bring for our family.

Happy New Year! 

Parker's Dog Kennel

As I may have mentioned, Parker has a thing for dogs (puppies, as he calls them). At last count he has eight small stuffed dogs that he carries--or leaves--all over the house. I was wondering how to keep them all in one place, partly so they are picked up, but also so he knows where they are if he wants them. He needed a dog kennel! :)

I was wanting to make something anyway, so I figured this might be fun. And when I mentioned it to Parker he thought it was a great idea. So off we went to Joann's! I already had decided I would make it similar to Daisy's (our real dog) kennel. Which meant it would have mesh sides so Parker could see the dogs inside, it would need a big door on the front, and a handle so he could carry it around. 

I bought a few large sheets of plastic canvas for the sides. I knew Parker would want green yarn on the edges so I basically just gave him a choice between various shades of green. And of course, he picked the brightest one. Nice!  :)  The only thing I wasn't able to find was a handle. Joann's used to sell handles for making purses but they no longer had them in stock. So the next best thing was a large 'D' ring--it would be plenty big for Parker's little hands. I grabbed a couple yarn needles and we were on our way home. Even though he knew I was making it, I didn't want him to see it until it was done so I waited until the kids were napping before starting it. 

I didn't have a specific size in mind, so I just cut the canvas sheets in half for the sides. But I thought that might be too big for a little guy to carry around, so I cut it down a couple times until it seemed like a good size--big enough for his dogs, but small enough for him to carry.  I cut out the two end pieces and a door and started stitching them together at the edges with the bright green yarn. I wasn't quite finished by dinner so I put it away and finished it after they were in bed for the night. Here it is after stitching it together. 

The next morning while he was at breakfast I put one of his dog blankets and two puppies inside and took it out to show him. Seems like he was pretty happy with it!

Parker carried it around all that day! He brought it from room to room and sometimes would go set it down next to Daisy's kennel for a while (pardon the mess--Daisy just had a bath!).

I still need to figure out some kind of 'lock' for the door so it will stay closed. But, as Kyle pointed out, stuffed dogs aren't going anywhere. So I guess there's no hurry.  :)

Suncatchers - Part 2

Last time I went to Joann's I was waiting in line to pay and saw more suncatcher kits in the dollar section. Parker liked the making the stars so much I went ahead and picked up a few more. These ones were made differently, though. Rather than painting the image, we would fill the small frame with tiny, colored plastic pellets and then bake it.

There weren't many images to choose from, so Parker picked out a monkey and a lion. We got a second lion for Kyle, in case he had some free time to play with us.

When Elise went down for her nap one afternoon last week, I got out the kits. I lined a cookie sheet with foil, set the frames on top and then we began filling them in. Parker started with the monkey while I made a lion. Kyle wasn't feeling well so I opened the third kit for Parker and he was happy to make that one, too.

He was very focused on filling the little sections....sometimes a little too focused on certain areas and I had to remind him to fill in the entire thing or parts of it would stay empty. So he kept adding more and more plastic pellets. And then some more, until his poor little monkey looked more like a mini mountain--all heaped up in the middle. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was too much, so I just hoped that it would all melt and even out in the oven. And it did!  :)

They had to bake for about 20 minutes. Another couple minutes to cool and then they were ready to come off the pan. They turned out great!  I hung them in the window next to our stars and called Parker out to see them. He was super excited to see more of his art hung up!

These are the best art kits for a toddler! They're cheap but include everything you need and they don't require any prep or cleanup. So I get to spend time with Parker making projects that he loves and is so proud of, but I don't have to worry about a big mess later. What more could a mom want?!  :)

Craft Kits

I stopped at Dollar Tree last week to pick up a couple things and I found some great little craft kits! They're super easy to put together but for Parker's age and attention span they're perfect. One kit was paper plate animals and the other was foam dinosaur magnets. Each kit made three animals.

We did the paper plate ones first. We didn't have any glue here so I tried double-stick tape and it worked great (and was mess free!). All Parker had to do was attach the eyes, ears and nose to the already prepared plate. It only took about 10 minutes to put all of them together. Pretty cute, right?  :)

He made a mouse, too.

And he said I could make the cat!
He was so excited about them and showed Kyle later that evening. Parker politely told me that I did a very good job on the cat. And that he did a very good job on his, as well.  :)




We were going to make the dinosaur magnets yesterday but I forgot we were out of glue...not sure tape would work so well with foam. I had to go to Target today anyway, so I picked up a bottle of glue and as soon as Elise went down for her nap we got out our supplies. He chose to make the green and yellow ones and said I could make the blue one. I left off the magnets, though. If he stuck them on the fridge I would be worried about Elise grabbing and eating them, so I'll just hang them up on the wall with his other projects.

 I put small dabs of glue on the pieces and let him attach them. I left the package out so he could see how the dinosaurs were supposed to look. I think his turned out cuter, though!

I love making art projects with him! Kits like this make it so easy--all the pieces are included, it only takes a few minutes to put together, and it only cost a dollar to make all three! My favorite thing, though, is seeing how proud he is of what he makes. I've been hanging his artwork on our kitchen wall so he can see it and show Kyle after work.

Suncatchers

This was something I had picked up at Joann's a few months ago. They had a bin of clearance crafts for $1 and I found these when I dug through.

 They're tiny and looked easy enough for Parker to make so I picked up three--one each for Parker, me and Kyle. We never got around to making them at the time and they ended up stashed away in his arts/crafts bin.

I wanted to make something with him this week and I remembered we had these little suncatcher kits. Perfect to hang on our big sliding door!

I brought them out yesterday and told Parker we could paint them after Elise went to bed. Once she was tucked in, I sat Parker at the table and opened a couple of the kits. He and I started painting our stars and Kyle joined us a little later.

Parker did a great job painting his little star. He started out with yellow and orange paint, but after a few minutes of dipping his brush into both containers he only had orange. Kyle and I were finished in about 5 minutes, maybe less. Parker took a little longer. And by 'a little longer' I mean he took almost an hour. To paint a tiny 2-inch tall star. It often amazes me how a toddler can drag something out sooooo long. I finally had to set a timer so he would be done by bedtime!


I think his meticulous painting paid off -- so cute!



I left them overnight to dry and they were ready to hang the next morning. Not sure how to hang string on a window but masking tape seemed to work. For now, anyway.

Aren't they pretty?  :)

No-Mess Painting

I tried another art project with Parker last week. I wanted to let him paint again but it's a little chilly outside and finger paints are too messy for in the house.


The solution?  Bag painting!  :)




Since Valentine's Day is coming up, we made hearts. I cut some hearts from card stock and placed each one inside a small ziplock bag.



Next I poured a few drops of paint into each bag, then sealed and handed them over to Parker. After I showed him how to smear the paint with his finger to 'paint' the heart, I let him take over and sat down to watch.

He was doing a good job!

When I thought he was done with a couple I picked them up to open and he got a little upset.   ...guess he thought I was going to take them away or ruin his work.

So, standing where he could see me, I cut open the bags and lifted out the hearts, being careful not to smear the paint too much. I wanted to keep as many of his little finger strokes/designs as possible!

I placed the hearts on cookie sheets and set them outside to dry.

It took a few hours for them to dry. Just before he got up from his nap I brought them all in and hung them on the wall. He noticed them when he came in later and his whole face lit up.

He was so proud of what he did and told me HE painted them and then asked if we could send some to Grandma and Papa. He was very emphatic that we needed to send TWO hearts, so he picked out the red and purple ones on the left and we put them in the mail yesterday.

So fun! I love that he enjoys making projects. Elise likes it too, apparently. Every time we put her chair in the kitchen she stares at the hearts up on the wall and smiles.