Leaf Printing

Last month, the boys and I went on the leaf hunt with some friends. We met at a park and collected as many different types of leaves as possible. 

The next day, we gathered our supplies together for printing:

-various leaves

- white paper

- fall colored crayon colors

-something hard to work on {we used a plastic plate}

Place a leaf under the paper and lightly color the paper so that the leaf lines show up

We found that the pine tree needles didn't really show up, but the prints should look something like this...

But if you have a toddler, it'll look more like this:

We did learn a few tree species like oak, gum and Japanese maple! So it'd say it was a success! ;)

Rise & Shine {Pallet Art}

Mmmmkay, so I know how I mentioned here that I was working on a piece?! Way back in MARCH?! So, that piece. I didn't really love it. It took up the dining table for way too long since I just couldn't get to finishing it. I was forced to move it into the garage where it was abandoned. Until last week. 

Leave it to crafty inspiration or whatever, I lugged my big pallet canvas back into the house one night and just got to work. I actually already had some words stenciled on it so I had to work around those and cover them as I went. I was inspired by this google image...

{source}

With some frog tape, sponge brush and craft paint, I just went for it. Most of it was free hand and I worked pretty quickly through it. No lolly-gagging this time. I just wanted to create something and finish it. Well most of it.

I used the cricut machine to make stencils for the "Rise & Shine" then painted those on a few days later.

 W hung it up with some screws, wire and a heavy weight picture hook.

Ta-da!

This is what it was meant to be...right?! It's such a fun bright piece that lightens up our downstairs!

It looked a little lonely up there so I added something else. Excited with my version of the "pallet art madness" trend!

Rise and shine and give God the glory!

Random Bits of Everything

I'm in the throngs of toddler-hood this week. Fun? Not so much. To top it off, our internet is not working. Pinterest? Blogging? Not so much. Let me tell you though, our dishes are clean and our laundry is folded; all at alarming rates. I'm currently using W's computer for a quick second to post and crossing fingers that AT&T can fix whatever the problem is tomorrow. :/

The weekend was great. Full of lots of "re-charging" moments: solo trip to Target, movie night with some girlfriends, an afternoon nap, and a hot date with William to a new eatery {just the two of us!!!}. It was so good and so needed. 

We did a cute little hand print art yesterday.

The house is no longer red, but now green instead. Especially our mantle. We're ready for spring around here! Speaking of green...

This was the aftermath of our cute little project. How he got it perfectly applied across his lips, I'll never know. But I was smart this time and covered our table with newspaper so he was the only one covered in paint. :)

Today marks 50 days down, 50 more to go for tax season. Half way!! Just a happy reminder to get yours in soon. ;) Our Papa Chain is looking much better now that it's lost some weight.

Ezra's also been completely dry these days. He even told me today once that he had to go. Little successes.

So that's that. Time to sleep and re-charge. Need to be at the top of my game for whatever comes my way tomorrow! If not, there's always this AMAZING Trader Joe find I just discovered! 

Five seconds in the microwave and you've got yourself a camp favorite slice of heaven.

Bathtime Painting

I've been really gung ho with the activities for E lately. Maybe it's because we have such ample time together and don't want it to go to waste. Or maybe I fear he'll get into mischief if he's not occupied with something that allows him to explore. Or I'll go crazy without something to do. Maybe it's all of the above. :)

Here's yet another one we tried out during a mid-day bath. It was a 'post-rainy day excursion' wash down so it was the perfect time to try out the bathtub painting idea I found here {via my awesome mom who keeps her eyes out for fun activities! Thanks, Mom!}.

Supplies

muffin tin

large paint brush

shaving cream {I used the classic barbasol's}

food coloring

What you do:

Spray some shaving cream into each of the six holes. 

Add food coloring. 

Mix {I used a fork}. 

Let the painting begin.

Verdict?

Another amazingly simple activity that he LOVES. Minimal prep work and clean up. My cup of tea.

Some of the comments on the post where I got the idea said they had problems with the dye and tile grout. We don't have tile in the boys' bathroom so it wasn't a problem. In fact, it all washed off super easy with water. It also shared that they didn't put water in the tub so the child could stand up and paint. I needed to clean E and it's a bit chilly so I added some water into the tub. He sat and painted the tub walls, the water, and himself. Painting himself was a HUGE hit since he's got to keep the paint on the paper when he's painting at the table.

T was left to wonder why he wasn't able to paint too.

Painting 101

We brought out the tempera paints recently. E's painted twice before: once with friends and another time with watercolors and our sliding glass door. It's a fun easel, you should try it! But it's been awhile and he was a bit young then.

I put three globs of three different colors on a large piece of construction paper. I showed him how the dip the brush in the water. Then off he went to paint and explore.

He touched the paper. He touched the water. He touched the bristles on the brush. He touched the paint. {and maybe even tasted it a little}

Love his insatiable curiosity.

And that he's okay with me taking pictures of his serious bed-head. Just keepin' it real.

Stretchy Play Dough

Another art book activity that we gave a shot on a hot afternoon was one of the many play dough recipes. It was super simple and super quick to make. The dough is oily and felt a lot like soft bread dough. 

Here's what you need:

- 4 cups of flour

-1 cup of oil

- 1 t of food coloring

-1 c of water

-Mixing bowl and spoon

What you do:

-In mixing bowl, mix water, oil, and food coloring

-Slowly, add flour while mixing

It made a big mound for pounding, squeezing, rolling, and poking.

Then you get to PLAY!

I started E out with the paci in the hopes that he wouldn't eat the dough and it worked. He was a bit nervous about the feeling in the beginning but in the end, loved it. I pulled out a few random bits from the kitchen from him to play with.

Definitely an activity we'll do again when it's just too uncomfortable to be outside!!

Playing With Mush

One of the recent art activities that I've tried {from this book} with E is called "Clean Mush". The stuff is pretty awesome. Heck, I loved playing with it.

What You Need:

- 3 rolls of toilet paper {we used 1}

-1 bar of soap; shaved {we used 1/2 a bar}

- 1/3 c borax soap {we didn't use it this time}

-warm water

-tin pan to hold mush

Since it was the first time we were trying it, I cut the recipe by about a 3rd. I didn't know what to expect but didn't want to get too involved in case he wasn't for it.

Ezra and I unraveled the roll into the tin, added the shaved soap then mixed in the warm water. Then our hands went to work mushing it all up.

It felt so cool. Complete textile fun!! E tried to eat it a few times {since the absence of Borax} which may have deterred his fun. Seriously, when does the 'tasting' exploration stage stop?! Based on his expressions that stuff must just taste lovely. We mushed some of it into balls and did lots of squishing and squeezing....both hands and feet included.

The clean up wasn't too bad. The ground needed a good hosing off but most was contained in the tin. We'll be keeping this as an outdoor activity. I might add some food coloring next time, and since it's soap, E stayed nice and clean! 

Painting With Water

One of the more simpler and way basic activities in the art book I recently purchased was painting with water. Totally not re-inventing the wheel here, but sometimes you just need a little reminder of easy peasy things to do. During a morning of outside play, I grabbed some water and an old brush and let E go to town. And to town he did! He totally loved playing and I loved the easy prep and clean up. All I did was snap pictures. We give this activity four thumbs up!

I think E was channeling a more passionate Picasso art piece than he was a mild Monet...

Milwaukee Masterpieces

Since I took so many different pictures of the surrounding buildings, I decided to make them a separate post to share them all at once. They didn't necessarily fit anywhere, but they're too pretty to pass up. One of my favorite forms of art: architecture!

Pretty, huh?

Oh, and I did forget to share one really sweet thing about our hotel.

This is the one picture I did take at the hotel. An artist works in the lobby doing artwork and displaying it. It was very cool!! Have I mentioned we really liked Milwaukee?! ;)