Creative Hearth

A's birthday is almost here. We have a lot of fun things planned for our soon to be 4 year old. Along with these celebrations and gifts from friends and family is our gratefulness. And for this we like to personalize our thank you cards. 2 years ago we did all the invites and the thank you's. They were pretty cool. I bought silver card stock and ordered red buses, musical notes, and guitar cut outs. The theme was A's rock and roll tour bus. I also had mini photos printed of A's face and glued it all together. We put the photo of A behind the bus window as if he was driving, and wrote A's name on the front of each bus then added some musical notes around the bus. For the Thank you notes I glued the guitars onto each card stock, and printed his name in a funky font on the top. We had a lot more time on our hands then and A was still too young to participate. This year we have many time constraints and A can help out. So, I got multi colored card stock and used my letter stamps to let A stamp the letters of his name on to each card. Some are a bit neater then others, but they are all hand made by me and A. I think they are pretty cool! 

Take it outdoors, supply paint, brushes, and sponges. Watch kids have a ton of fun!! Pure free expression.

I love to find ways to incorporate the kids into the creation of growth and nurturing. I bought 2 clay pots and a basil plant with some planting soil. We each painted our own clay using acrylic paints, and the kids chose the colors. Now the basil has it's own special home to grow in.  

I love to give the boys time for free expression with art, yet I find it challenging sometimes without a space that I am not worried about destroying or having to clean up for hours. Now that the weather is permitting for more outdoor play I have found the best place for it without having to spend any money or extra time. With washable paint and chalk the kids can go wild in our backyard. Using their hands, feet, brushes; or I will also add some other materials like sponges, rolling paint brushes, crumbled paper, ice, marbles, tires off of toy trucks, etc...to add some sensory play to it as well. It is so cool to see the different transformations that take place within the art and play of it all. 

A perfect gift for Dad who loves his coffee. For Rob's birthday I usually have the kids make something for Rob, as I do for all celebrations. So this year I took the boys to a store here in Montclair called Doin' Dishes. I could have purchased similar supplies at a crafts store for a lot cheaper, but I like the atmosphere here and it is a nice outing for us to do together. They also have lots of options to choose from...tiles, piggy banks, plates, pot holders, plant holders, mugs...you name they have it. So, we chose a traveling mug for our Bday gift to Dad this year. I had Ayden choose the colors and paint the entire mug. I then took the boys hands, painted them, and made hand prints. This was a little challenging especially with a 1 year old who likes to feel the paint squish in his hand. It really doesn't matter what the final project looks like because it is all their art and that I feel is awesome!

For Earth Day I wanted to celebrate in a way where Ayden could understand what Mother Earth is and all the amazing things she creates for us. So I took a shoe box and we cut out an earth with paper and taped in on the lid. Then Ayden and I went outside and collected pieces from the earth that we are grateful for. I also allowed Ayden to take some pictures with my camera of things he can not fit into the box that he sees and appreciates. As well, I took a few myself. I am not sure yet if we will leave these mother earth creations in the box or make something else using them. Perhaps a collage, installation, or use them in our sandbox. If we do, I will be sure to post our creation from mother earth's creations. Happy Earth Day! Find the beauty in all that is around you. 

Growing up when it was a special person's Birthday in my life I always created something for that individual rather then purchasing them a material item. Usually this was a card or something small, but I always felt this was a lot more personal and meaningful on so many different levels. So, I continue this tradition within my own family. For Quinn's Birthday on Monday Ayden and I made our own cards and a special Birthday crown for the sweet little boy in our lives. For the crown I had Ayden paint with watercolors on watercolor paper and then I cut it into strips with a little cut out design on the top. I fit it to Quinn's head and stapled the sides together. I then cut out Quinn's name from a glitter sticker foam sheet. Ayden apllied the stickers and then he added red glitter stars connecting each one from one end of Quinn's name to the other. Of course Quinn had the crown on for about 2 seconds before tearing it off, but it is on our mantel now for display and I am hopefull he will wear it for a bit at his celebration

We haven't had a lot of time to do much around here between an awful stomach bug that hit me hard, and another kind of stomach bug that hit Ayden. Just as we thought we were all clear to get back on track the forecast called for MORE SNOW. My lack of energy is still not restored and this too is effecting my creative energies feeling a bit brain dead.  So in desperate need to find an outlet for myself and my kids after being stuck indoors for 3 days now I found a canvas board that I had laying around in one of my just opened moving boxes. With all the painting we have been doing around our new home we have A LOT of paint samples left over. These are not kid friendly, but I was tempted. So I layed out the canvas board and let the boys explore, play, and enjoy. We only got a little bit done before my 11 month old began to explore with his mouth. I do plan to return to this canvas when I am a little more patient and can prepare a little bit better. I am excited to see the final product incorporating the colors we have chosen to be soothing to us and the boys art that we admire so much. As well I plan to hang it up as one of our first pieces of art work, or for that matter first wall hangings in our new home. 

On a cold winer day why not make your own ice cream. We have had an ice cream machine maker sitting in storage since our wedding almost 7 years ago. WOW! When we had our flood a couple of weeks ago we had to get everything out of the wet boxes and Ayden saw this machine sitting there. Once we told him what it was we had to use it. So here we are making our very first ice cream. We started simple with vanilla. Since it was so last minute I did not leave enough time for the mixing bowl to freeze so the ingredients were a bit soupy at first. But, we were able to throw it in the freezer over night, and it ended up being quite delicious. 

In the spirit of Valentines Day I decided to create simple hearts with paper. I then brought out my box of crafty materials and this is what Ayden and I created! It was so much fun to watch this process develop between the 2 of us and our creations. I am so careful to maintain a separateness while creating art so the other individual involved has their own sense of self in their art. During this process I observed what Ayden followed and what he chose on his own. I love the watching the free spirit at work, it is so beautiful and innocent.