Summer Painting with Kids

It's officially summer, and one of the best ways to entertain my kids is with creativity. Making sure we have the necessary kid's painting supplies on hand makes painting activities that much easier. I also have a fun activity to spark your imagination with ways to use these supplies.

Let's start with decent paper. These may not be fully artist quality, but they will hold up to wet paint better than your typical copy paper or construction paper and they won't break the bank. The Paint Pad and Watercolor Pad are great options. Assorted paint brushes are a must as well. The bigger the variety the better!

Paints and more paints!! Again, keep a variety of styles and colors on hand. Liquid watercolors are amazing in intensity and flexibility. A little goes a long way, and diluting them with a few drops of water can stretch them even further. Have your child experiment with the effect diluting the paint has on the intensity of the color. Creatology Metallic and Glitter Paint are great for kids who like a little sparkle and shine. Anything neon is a hit around here too, so these paint palettes left over from Avery's 7th Neon Watercolor Painting Party come in handy. 

Paint pallets make a great avenue for painting, diluting, and mixing.   

Interested in exploring watercolors with a bit less mess? Try watercolor pencils. Color your image, then add water to blend and create watercolor effects. 

I shared this pineapple activity the other day on Instagram. By restricting the color palette and subject matter, we explored creating unique textures and patterns. A few supplies we used in addition to the paints above included dot markers and gel sticks. 

Need a story to stimulate creative conversation? Try Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg. These words encourage flexibility and how to handle the inevitable smudges and smears that occur while playing with paint. 

So, how will you encourage creativity with your kids this summer? Share your favorite ideas!!

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Book Review: Pretty Prudent Home

I'm guessing you are familiar with Jacinda and Jaime of Pretty Prudent. Their website is laden with inspiration and DIY. It seems they do it all, from food and parties, to style and home decor. Now, they have packed a bit of their creativity in the form of a book with over 70 project ideas. Today, I have the privilege of taking you on a little tour and review of Pretty Prudent Home: Your Ultimate Guide to Creating a Beautiful Family Home.

 

The photograph that greats you when you first open the book might be my very favorite. Before kiddos, I loved to labor over pretty packaging. This certainly makes me want to get back in that mode!

Here's a little overview of what you will find inside.

The "prudent" aspect of the book speaks to me. I love how the authors demonstrate creative ways to achieve a decorating style. You don't have to hire an expensive decorator, buy all new items, or break a budget!!

There is even a game/test to determine your decorating style, or as they state "an exercise in decorating self-awareness". It's unscientific and includes a nap as part of the instructions, so enjoy the whimsy of it all. I landed at a tie between "thrifter" and "maker". No surprise there, but I rarely do any making for my home.

Can we pause just a moment to fully admire this cute sewing machine entry piece!?! I think the mod paint and hardware make this such an eclectic piece. 

The book features many handy tips gathered in one place.

When it comes to the projects, there are more than a few that caught my eye.

Talk about making a statement right from the beginning! Don't you just want to continue and peek behind the door!?!

This isn't your grandmother's sewing sample either!

Of course, the party and entertaining ideas drew me in as well. The wood trivet would make a great gift.

If you are looking for various stylists tips, a few DIY ideas, a little practical life advice, and glimpses into beautifully styled yet practical homes, Pretty Prudent Home is a fresh take on all of those things!

 I received the book, Pretty Prudent Home, for free. All opinions provided are my own. I will only recommend products that I would use personally and are good for my readers.

Handy Sewing Desk Tool

I was at Walmart the other day picking up some thread when I spotted a little display of washi tape. I started snatching up a few rolls at 97 cents each. Can you believe it? You just can’t beat that! My favorite way to use washi tape is for party décor. This particular measuring tape-tape is perfect for sewing parties, construction parties, and Mary Poppins parties (hint-hint). Yep, it’s practically perfect in every way!

I checked to make sure it was actually an accurate measure, then decided it would make a handy tool attached to the edge of my sewing table. Now, I won’t have to dig through my drawer for a ruler when I need a quick measure. I also don’t have to worry about it hurting the table if I decide I need to remove it. Sometimes it’s the small things that make me so happy.

See that stack of pretties on my desk? Can’t wait to play with those cuts of Field Day fabrics!

Bathroom Update

I really wished I hadn’t previewed this little project on the blog, since I’m now realizing the results don’t pack much of a wow factor. But I did fill you in on the inspiration here and the shower hooks here. I better give you the rest of the story.

Again, this is a rental house, so we didn’t do anything drastic or expensive, but it is certainly an improvement for us. The dated lighting really needed an upgrade.

The peeling wallpaper only tempted Tandy to help it along, so a little teamwork and a few too many hours later we had a clean slate.

We used the same color as our sewing/playroom on the walls. It is Wheat Bread by Behr. The spray paint for the accents is Rustoleum Lagoon.

I added a few of my vintage New York City collectibles.

Here are those painted shower curtain rings. I found the shower curtain a while back at TJMaxx.

The lighting is an inexpensive imporvement. Not ideal, but great for us. There is a similar ceiling mounted fixture above. You can find the fixtures here.

We’re are so glad to have this little project behind us now. On to better things!

Spray Painting Difficult Shapes

I decided to work some teal accents into our bathroom update by spray painting our existing shower curtain rings and mirror. No, this isn’t an advertisment for Papa John’s pizza; this box just happened to be perfect for the task. I wanted the faces of these shower curtain rings painted, but I didn’t want to paint the hooked part since it would rub along the curtain rod. To protect the hooks from paint, I punched holes in my cardboard box with an ice pick. Then slid the hooked ends down inside.

To make sure the paint would get to the edges of the ring faces, I stuffed a tiny wad of paper towel underneath. This lifts the surface to be painted just enough to get those side edges covered.

Then I layered on two coats of spray paint.

They are ready to hang with the hooks clear of paint.

Next up was this rounded mirror.  First I lined the edge with painters tape.

Then I went around again taping down a trash bag to cover the surface.

Now, it’s ready to paint.

The mirror and shower curtain are now hung, but I’m struggling to figure out what to hang on the walls. I guess you’ll have to stay tuned for the final result.

Linking up to Knock Our Socks Off.

Bathroom Update Inspiration

I’ve been playing around with The Ispiration Board again. We’ve been painting and planning a little update on our downstairs bathroom. It won’t be anything dramatic since we are renting, but here’s my scheme so far.

Avery’s Art Space

Avery’s activity of choice is usually to color or craft. To encourage her creative outlet we’ve given her a space of her own in our office/sewing/playroom. We’ve done some rearranging, so some of my sewing supplies will remain, but I’m loving that she has this spot of her own.

I picked up the drawer cabinet the other day to house supplies and coloring books. It needs some cute drawer pulls; don’t you think?

I’ve got to brag on Todd a bit. He crafted this easel starting with an old Ikea shelf we had sitting in the basement. Avery’s not quite into free form drawing yet, but I still see this getting lots of use.

We’ve got a great spot for a bit more décor too! I love the vintage flour sifter turned marker holder.

I have a couple mini projects I still want to tackle for this space. I hope to replace my vintage chicken feeder ribbon holder with something like this. I also need to get better at planning a few craft activities a week, but that would require a bit more organization on my part.

Heaven's Sewing Room

So, I just started following this blog yesterday. It must have been meant to be, because today she revealed this.

Source: shoprubyjean.com via Courtney on Pinterest

You really must click on the image and view her dreamland of a sewing room. Seriously if heaven has a sewing room, it must look like this! If I had a room like this, I would NEVER leave it. Sorry, gotta go drool over her photos some more.

Moroccan Elephant Nursery

Are you ready for the full nursery tour? Thankfully, I have Brooke’s beautiful photos to highlight the details. You’ve seen a lot of the process as the pieces of Tandy’s nursery came together, but here it is all assembled. It's a bright, colorful, and fun place that I hope the girls will enjoy!

 We enjoy having company visit (especially my family from Texas) so this room has to double as a guest room. Thankfully we had plenty of room for the crib and extra bed. Check back to these previous posts for the before and afters.