Painting Leaves

We went out for a little nature walk yesterday and Sweet Girl gathered some leaves.  She asked to paint them, and although they were already dried, I decided to let her go ahead.  She really enjoyed it and spent quite a while painting them.  I would have never thought to paint dried leaves, but I'm so glad we did!!

I taped the stem and top half of the leaf onto the paper so it wouldn't move around.  Sweet Girl still isn't much of a fan of getting her fingers dirty so I thought that would help.



Happy Fall!!

Fall Button Tree

Sweet Girl and I made the cutest little Fall tree branch today.  I had some extra buttons lying around that were "Fall-ish" in color and she asked to make something with them!!

I cut out a branch from some brown cardstock and had her glue it onto the white paper.  Initially, she added the glue dots for the buttons, but I think she got tired of doing it, so she asked me to help. 

This simple little activity turned into quite a fun little learning experience.  Sweet Girl sorted all the colors by shades (there were some lights and darks of the same colors) and sizes. 

She was adamant about grouping all the same color "leaves" together.  And I really think she was a little disappointed when she used up all the pinks.  This would have been an all pink tree branch if she could have her way!!

Ah....the colors of Fall!

Family Thankful Board

This month my husband and I wanted to be sure to remember all of the things we are thankful for in our lives.  Originally, we had decided to just make sure we talked about what we were thankful for each day, but after seeing this gratitude board I knew I wanted to keep a running list all month long!!

I used a piece of poster board and a frame we had sitting in our basement.  I added the word "thankful" at the bottom of the frame and our pictures at the top. 

We talk daily with Sweet Girl about what it means to be thankful and ask her what she is most thankful for that day.  The first day she said "privacy"....yes, privacy....as in, "would you like some privacy (while using the bathroom).  I'm pretty sure she didn't really understand the meaning, but it was a great start to our board!!  The second day she said she was thankful for our neighbor's playground.  I think she's starting to get it!!

My husband and I are writing our own, but we are both adding in the kids comments (minus Little Man....we are just "guessing" his...mostly consists of things like Momma, Momma, pacifiers, Momma, Momma, yogurt melts, Momma).  We are also using different color of pens since I have our board is going to fill up quickly!!

December Daily 2011

I'm joining Ali Edwards this season and creating a December Daily album.  I am beyond excited and can't wait to document my most favorite time of the year.  I've actually coerced my wonderful aunt into doing this project with me and I am so excited to have someone so close to me participating too.  As soon as my fabulous kit from Studio Calico arrives at my doorstep I plan to turn on my Christmas music and start assembling my foundation pages. 

Anyone else planning on joining in the fun??? 

Recycled Crayons

One of the things we made this summer was crayon blocks from recycled crayons.  These still get lots of use at our house and I really love how "chunky" they are for little fingers.  Sweet Girl tends to gravitate towards the crayons made using a mini muffin tin rather than the ones from a regular sized muffin tin.  I guess they are just easier for her to hold and color with.  I'm adding these to my "to-make" list for Christmas gifts.  I'm hoping to pick up some cute Christmas molds that I can use!

Fall Tree Craft

I saw this idea several times during some of my peruses through Pinterest (still addicting, by the way)!  It's such a super simple and cute idea and I thought Sweet Girl would enjoy it (which she did)!

All you need is two pieces of construction paper, paint and a few leftover corks.

I cut the tree trunks out and let her glue them down.  Then I handed her the paint and the corks.

These are some "falling leaves" according to Sweet Girl!

I think they turned out so cute!

Art Box Fun

I put together an art box for Sweet Girl to play with whenever she is in a crafty mood!!  This box gets used a lot and I love that she has everything she needs to cut, paste, glue, lace, etc.

This is a tackle box from Walmart.  It was only a couple of dollars, and it's not the sturdiest, but it seems to work for us.

Most of the items in the box are either from my craft stash or the dollar store.  Here's what we have in our box:

Pipe cleaners

Googly eyes

Sticky backed jewels

Pom poms

Bells

Pony beads

Popsicle sticks

Feathers

Clothespins

Glue

Sticky backed stickers

Sweet Girl enjoys making all sorts of things from the box and I love how open-ended it is.

 

She also enjoys using the pony beads and pipe cleaners to make necklaces and bracelets.

What about you all?  Do you have an art box or an art station?