Contact Paper Stenciled Tees Stay Gold

I’ve been wanting to make Gigi a Stay Gold tee ever since a friend commented on the pic below that she looks like she’s about to be in a revised version of The Outsiders.  I thought it was such a funny comment and this picture totally captures Gigi’s personality.  I wasn’t sure how to do it until my friend Lauren (big shout out!) suggested contact paper.  What an easy way to make stencils.  I wanted the font to look like it was carved into a bathroom stall in a high school somewhere, so I used a box cutter to make the stencil.  I’m really happy with the way it came out.  I ended up making one for D too.

Here’s how you do it.  Tape a piece of contact paper to cardboard, or a cutting mat.  Cut out the stencil you want with a knife or box cutter.  Cut a box around the stencil so you can fit it on the tee or whatever you’re stenciling.  Place a piece of cardboard inside the tee so the paint doesn’t seep through.  Paint inside the stencil.  I used Tulip Gold Glitter Fabric Paint for mine.  You have to wait 4 hours to take off the stencil and then another 72 hours before washing it.  I haven’t washed mine yet.  So we’ll see how that goes.  The paint didn’t seep through at all or bleed around the edges.  I used it twice so far and it’s still sticky.  I think I want to get some totes or bandanas to stencil on as well.  Stay Gold everybody.

Artist Laurel Burch – Inspiration for Kids

Laurel Burch is a fantastic artist to inspire kids to create.  You can read all about her here.  I did three Laurel Burch inspired projects last summer and am just getting around to posting them now.  I started by showing the kids a video about Laurel and a few examples of her work, like this.

The kids quickly were drawn into Laurel’s world and noticed a ton of  details that made her work intriguing, especially the way Laurel painted the cat’s eyes.  After our discussion we went on to do directive draw’s on canvases.  Each child had their own canvas and followed simple step by step directions to draw their cat.  Then they were let free to add whatever details they wanted with paint and then puffy paint.  They really enjoyed this process and each kid felt really successful.  Directive draws can be really great for so many kids, especially the ones who don’t feel like they are “artists.”

Since the kids were really into the whole Laurel Burch theme we stayed with it and made popsicle stick puzzles with the same design.  The kids were excited to practice the cat they had just learned to do.  They helped each other a lot with this, reminding one another of different steps.  The trick when doing a popsicle stick puzzle is to tape one side with masking tape while you draw so the pieces don’t move.

Lastly, we made sculpey cat pins.  I gave the kids a cardstock paper cutout of the cat shape that they carved out of the sculpey.  Then we added the details with different sculpey tools.  The pins were really cute.  I still have mine and love it.  Maybe we’ll do paper mache cats this summer or cat shaped pillows.  Thank you Laurel.  Your inspiration lives on.

Toddler Activity – Painting with Tape and Watercolors – Thanks to The Artful Parent

I finally got my new edition of The Artful Parent in the mail this weekend.  What a great book!  I had pre-ordered it months ago and am happy to say it was well worth the wait.  If you’re not familiar with Jean Van’t Hul and her amazing blog, definitely check it out.  Her new book is equally as amazing.  In addition to over 60 awesome projects for little ones, she dedicates a whole section to hosting toddler art groups.  I can’t wait to get one going this summer!

This project is directly from Jean’s book.  It was great for my almost two year old and I’m sure we will do it again as she gets older.  First I put a grid of washi tape on water color paper.  Then, Gigi “painted” the whole paper with water.  After, I got out the watercolors and Gigi went to town.  We set it aside to dry, which didn’t take long at all.  I hung her art on the wall at arms length to see if she would be interested in peeling the tape on her own.  She wasn’t, so I demonstrated for her and she freaked out and kept saying “no mama” over and over at the top of her lungs.  Ha, gotta love toddlers.  The next day when I got home from work I noticed she had peeled off some of the tape strips herself.  I asked her to show me but she didn’t want to pull anymore off.  So for now, it’s half taped.  The picture below is actually her putting back the tape I had peeled slightly.  Every time I pass it I have the urge to pull the tape off myself and then I say to myself “what’s wrong with you?  just leave it.”  Ha, gotta love mamas.

 

Let Them Paint – An Evolving Canvas for Toddlers

As a mom, I’m doing my best to give Gigi as much opportunity to experience art as possible.  Painting is one of her favorite art activities.  This past Friday we had 7 little ones, 3 months to 6 years, over for Shabbat.  I was so excited to get out the huge canvas I bought at an Aaron’s Brother super sale for 9 dollars.  It’s around 4×4 feet!  First I put out markers, crayons, and dot paints to start things off.  Then about 20 minutes later, we brought out the sparkle paints, a roller, pom poms, paint brushes and sponge letters and let the girls go to town.  They had a blast and the results were gorgeous.  Again, the roller was the biggest hit.

The next morning Gigi woke up saying “art, art.”  She wanted to go straight to the backyard to her canvas, which we have decided to make into an evolving canvas.  So far it’s been painted over three times.  Each time it looks totally different.  I figure we’ll keep it out the next few weeks and see what happens.  I kind of want to pour paint all over it and let D, my five month old,  roll around on it, but not sure Ev will go for that.  Hmm…we’ll see.

Gigi has pretty much abandoned the tools all together now and is just using her hands as brushes.  She seems to like washing her hands in the water buckets as much as the actual painting.  The life of a toddler.

Mama, Take Me to Paris – Stamp and Glitter Art for Toddlers

I love Paris.  I would move there in a heart beat if we could.  Ev and I often talk about living abroad for a few years and raising the girls there.  It would be a dream come true.  In the meantime, there is neon ink, Eiffel Tower stamps and glitter.

We started by painting a piece of cardboard white and letting it dry in the sun.  Then we got out the Eiffel Tower stamp and neon pink ink pad I recently picked up at Papersource.  That place is intoxicating.  Gigi loved pressing her hands into the ink pad and putting her fingerprints on the cardboard.  I have to wash her hands every second though because she sucks her thumb in between every step!

Next, she went wild with white Elmer’s glue in preparation for the glitter.

I was a little nervous about the glitter part but it went surprisingly well.  I put a little glitter in the cap of each color and Gigi sprinkled it on.  She went bonkers over all the colors and kept saying “oooh” with each one.  It was pretty great.  More hand washing here for sure.

We let the glue dry and will hang it tomorrow.  I’m hoping Gigi wants to put this one in her room.  It’s really beautiful up close and she’s super proud of it.  Really fun project.  Maybe someday it will be hanging in her Paris bedroom.  A girl can dream…

Washi Tape Heart Stickers

I used my UPS sticker paper again to make these heart stickers.  First I covered the sticker paper with different washi tape patterns.  Then, I cut out heart shapes big and small.

We gave them out to friends and family but still have a bunch of left overs from the day…hmm…what to do with them?

Maybe we’ll tag the city with love tomorrow.

Valentine’s Day Stickers

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!  Gigi and I woke up to a whole lotta love this morning.  Little d slept through the night and all is right in the world.  Time to celebrate!  I found a stack of blank UPS stickers and cut them into different heart shapes.  I’m pretty sure these are still available for free from UPS.  If not, any sticker paper will do.  Then I stuck some washi tape over the hearts in different shapes.

After all the tape was down, Gigi and I used paint dots to cover the hearts.  If you don’t have these for your toddler, I highly recommend them.  No mess and super fun!

We covered the hearts with dots and let them dry.  It only took a few minutes.  Then, Gigi had fun peeling off the tape from the hearts.  I just started the peel for her a little.  Great for fine motor.

We stuck the hearts all over her.  And voila!  Happy Valentines.  May your day be filled with love, joy and good health.

DIY Placemats for Gifts

We’ve been churning out the placemats lately and it’s so much fun.  I talked about them here.  We gave these to Gigi’s friend, Eden, the other day.  Eden wanted to sleep with hers under her pillow! So cute.

I wrapped them in newspaper and made a washi tape bow for a special delivery.  Gigi was so excited to hand them over.  We are going to make a family one next.

Valentine’s Day for Toddlers #2 – Contact Paper Collage

 

 

I got this great idea from play create explore, a great blog with tons of ideas for little ones.  First, Gigi and I went on a nature hunt and collected some leaves and flowers, etc. When we got home I put contact paper over a piece of wood and thought she would love sticking the leaves on the board.  Yeah, she wasn’t into it at all.  So later that day I set her up with a bunch of craft supplies, determined to make this activity a success.  It looked like so much fun.  The crafts were way more successful.  I covered a tray in contact paper sticky side up.  I duct taped the back so it would stay on the tray.  I gave Gigi tons of supplies and just let her dump them and stick them all over the tray.  It wasn’t a lengthy process but she did enjoy it.

Afterwards, I covered the sticky part with another piece of contact paper, cut a heart border from construction paper and glued it onto the contact paper.  Then I just cut around it so it would take the shape of a heart.  We hung it on the back door and she loves it!  It looks really pretty through the window with the light coming in.  But then came the real fun.  While I sat admiring her artwork, Gigi discovered the glue stick and went to town.  She must have worked with the glue stick on a piece of paper for twenty minutes straight.  She loved it!  Funny, what you think will be such a hit takes all this prep and all the kid wants is a glue stick.  Well, good to know.

 

 

Match Game for Toddlers

This is a toddler version of the original match game.  I made the backs match as well as the front so Gigi can match the pictures as well as the colors.  Mine got a little crazy with all the washi tape but you can do this with any kind of card stock.  You can even use an old deck of cards and glue the pics on the back.  I used a collage of instagram pics printed 2.5 x 2.5.  I cut the card stock 3 x 3.

Full disclosure, I ended up using a paper cutter because the scissor was too time consuming, but it would work fine if you don’t have a paper cutter.

Here are the steps:

1.  Print out photos you love 2.5 x 2.5.  Two of each.  I used 16 total.

2.  Cut out card stock squares 3 x 3.  Two of each color.

3.  Decorate the card stock with washi tape.  Trim the excess off the edges with a scissor or wrap the tape on the other side.  Do the same design on the matching colors.

4.  Glue the matching pics on the matching colors.

5.  Place all the cards picture side down and have your child try to match the pictures by turning them over.  They can also match the colors and designs.

Gigi liked sorting through the pile to find the matches.  It didn’t stay organized for long.  She’s only 20 months.   But still great for sorting, color recognition and fine motor.

I will probably end up laminating these at kinkos since Gigi’s hands are constantly dirty and I want them to last.

Everyone got in on the fun.