Showing posts with label watercolors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watercolors. Show all posts

Friday, October 30, 2015

7 Adorable Paper Plate Crafts

Do you love making paper plate crafts with kids?  Well friend, then today's post is for you.  Today I'm sharing a great collection of 7 adorable paper plate crafts, guaranteed to bring smiles to everyone's faces!

7 Adorable Paper Plate Crafts

  
7 adorable paper plate crafts- easy, cute, and fun paper plate crafts to make with the kids!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Easy and Colorful Paper Plate Snakes

Sometimes the easy and classic preschool crafts are the best.  Today I'm sharing a super easy paper plate craft for all reptile-loving kids.  We're crafting some beautiful paper plate snakes!

Watercolor Paper Plate Snakes


Paper Plate Snakes - Easy Preschool art and craft activity
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Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Gorgeous Accordion Fold Fall Paper Leaf Banner

Today we're continuing with the theme of easy fall crafts.  Couple of days ago I shared this really beautiful Sewn Leaf Art project that I made with my preschooler.  Today I just wanted to share this gorgeous folded paper leaf banner.


How to make a gorgeous accordion folded paper leaf banner with kids


I came up with the idea after reading some fall-themed books with my son.   Seeing all the beautiful colored leaves in the books made me miss the fall leaves back on the East coast.  And then it hit me- why not make our own?  Bring a bit of fall to our forever-summer state.   And so, my son and I got to making and painting together.  The results came out so beautiful that he insisted we hang the banner up in his room to spruce it up.


Thursday, September 17, 2015

Make Monster Sculptures with kids!

Looking for a fun Halloween activity for preschoolers?  

Why not set up a monster-making factory in your dining room?  Yup.  This fun art and craft activity is a great way for kids to be creative and gear up for the upcoming holidays.  (Hooray Halloween!  Woo-hoo!)

let's make monster sculptures with kids- easy and fun Halloween Fall Activity
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Living in Southern California, I have a tough time appreciating seasons.  I mean, we’re still in the 70s-80s here.  The leaves are green…. I'm still wearing shorts and sandals.  It just doesn’t quite feel like fall.  So this monster-making activity really helped us get into the fall spirit.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

How to Make Colorful and fun paper plate dragons! (And our 10+ Favorite Dragon Books)

Have you seen our paper plate dragons?    My preschooler is currently on a dragon kick and we've been reading dragon books, watching dragon movies, and making dragon crafts... of course!

If you have a dragon lover at home, then you'll love this craft too.  I've even included a template so that you can easily make these paper plate dragons with your little ones too!  

Let's get making!

Make these Colorful and fun paper plate dragons!

Easy Kids art project- make dragons and paint them (from paper plates!)
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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Gorgeous Fluttering Paper Plate Butterflies

Last week I shared these beautiful hyper colorful painted paper plate flowers. Since y'all seemed to enjoy them so much, today I'm continuing with the paper plate craft theme and sharing these lovely paper plate butterflies as well!

Gorgeous Fluttering Paper Plate Butterflies!


How to make beautiful, colorful paper plate butterflies with kids!

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Friday, August 7, 2015

Hyper Colorful Painted Paper Plate Flowers!

Lately I've been enamored with paper plate crafts.  We always have a ton of cheap, white paper plates lying around and they're the perfect canvas.  A couple of days ago my son was sick and we stayed home all day.  Fortunately, we kept ourselves busy with Lego, lots of book reading, and two paper plate crafts.  We had such fun painting, I thought I'd share our crafts here.  Here's our first paper plate craft-


Hyper Colorful Painted Paper Plate Flowers

how to make beautiful, hyper-colorful flowers from paper plates- great kids art project for all ages!
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So what do you think?  I'm in LOVE with how these flowers turned out.  Really, really, gorgeous.  And, (even better), they're really easy to make and paint too!  

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Make Colorful Watercolor Peg Doll and Beaded Necklaces

I recently purchased a box of Liquid Watercolors (affiliate link) to try out.  I'd seen so many beautiful projects by other fellow Rockin' Art Moms  that we just had to try them out too.

And guess what?  These paints totally lived up to the hype.

Here's why liquid watercolor rock- The colors are beautiful and vibrant.  These watercolor paints are also SO MUCH EASIER to use than the typical pan watercolors.  My preschooler doesn't typically enjoy painting with me because he struggles with getting enough color on his paint brush.  I think he really enjoyed today's project because it was easy and the colors came out looking fabulous!

So here's our first liquid watercolor project- Tada!  We used our liquid watercolors to dye some wooden beads and peg dolls to make these lovely, family necklaces!

Let's Make Colorful Watercolor-Dyed Peg Doll Necklaces!


 How to dye wooden beads and peg dolls with liquid watercolors and turn them into a beautiful, family necklace!
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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Fizzy and Fun Ice Painting

Are you looking for fun process oriented art activities for kids?  As a craft lover, I'm definitely biased.  I tend to pin images of kids crafts.  I can't help it.  There are always cute smiles and googly eyes on everything.  (Happy sigh.)  Yup.  That's my happy place.

But lately, I worry that I'm boxing Chuck in too much.  He isn't always keen to make crafts with me. So I'm trying to let him just explore art materials more... without stressing about what the end product will look like.  (It's hard...but I think it's an important process for both of us.)

Today I'm joining with 34 other kid bloggers to share some fun, process oriented art activities that children will enjoy!  It's a series all about fun and messy exploration.  So check the bottom of the post for a link to all 35 ideas!

Here's my process oriented activity that Chuck and I recently completed together:

Fizzy and Fun Ice Painting 

fizzy ice-painting- a fun, fizzy, and colorful activity that will keep your child entertained!
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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

5 Ways to Write Secret Messages

As a kid, I loved the idea of being a detective or a secret spy.  They got to wear cool clothes, go on adventures, and solve mysteries.  A couple of weeks ago I tried playing a detective game with Chuck.  I hid his favorite stuffed pig and then left 5 clues for him to follow.  The clues were all written as secret messages.  We had to do something to the paper to revel the hidden words.

5 Ways to Write Secret Messages


Pretend to be a Detective and write secret messages 5 different ways

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Chuck was onboard with the game.   We've recently been gobbling up Nate the Great books from the library, so he really enjoyed being a detective and solving the case.


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Make a Folding Popsicle Stick Fan

So our move is currently underway!  Eeek.  The movers just took away our boxes and we're doing some "urban camping" in our apartment (aka sleeping on air mattresses and living without a tv and toys) for the next week. While this is happening, Chuck and I are still trying to find moments to create.  Today I'm going to share with you a super easy tutorial for a folding popsicle stick fan that we recently made.  Yes.  It really folds.  Pretty neat, right?

Make a Folding Popsicle Stick Fan


Make a folding popsicle stick fan!

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The idea came to me after watching a tv show explaining how women make traditional folding fans in Asia. After the episode ended I knew I had to adapt the steps for a kids' craft.  This fan doesn't open as smoothly as its real counterpart.  But it's still a neat kids' craft because it highlights a traditional art form.   Now let's get making!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Game

Our epic move still looms overhead.  The movers are coming next week and then we fly off to California a week after that.  I keep trying to explain what's happening to Chuck, but I'm not sure he gets it yet.  So I came up with this easy craft and activity to help him out.  It's a DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Activity where you move different types of transportation across county using magnets!

DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Game



DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Game
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Chuck really enjoyed helping me to color in the map and different types of transportation using watercolors.  He also REALLY enjoyed moving everything around using magnets.  It was a bit of trial and error to put this toy together, but at the end we came up with a craft that's easy to make, fun to use, and *hopefully* helpful for Chuck.

Let's get making!


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Melted Crayon and Watercolor Frames (Kid made gift)

Do you ever feel like life is moving at a super fast speed and you are just being pulled along for a ride?  That's what I've felt these past two weeks.  We battled an illness, hosted a good friend for a couple of days, and celebrated my sister's graduation.  Oh yeah.  We've also been preparing for our move to California later this summer.  Ahhh!  (More on that later.)  So today's kid-made crayon and watercolor frame was actually made quite a few weeks ago.  I'm excited to finally be posting it today.  I love how easy the it was to make and how lovely it turned out.  (This would definitely be a great kid-made Father's Day gift!)  But, I can't take full credit for the idea.  I originally spotted the idea on fellow Rockin' Art Mom Twodaloo's Crayon Resist Photo Display post.  And she was originally inspired by Artful Parent's Melted Crayon on Wooden Blocks post.  (These two ladies are super creative, so definitely check their blogs out!)


Kid Made Gifts- Melted Crayon and Watercolor Frames



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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Watercolor and Crayon Resist Notebooks

Even though I don't like clutter, I'm also a secret horder of two things.  One is cardboard.  (Happy sigh.)  The other is Chuck's artwork.... which is a growing problem because we keep painting and I never know what to do with the art that I like.  I hang some up in his room.  I turn other pieces into new artwork.  I also use some for cards and stationary (see here , here, and here for some of my favorites)  Goodness, I even turned one into a magnetic fishing game!  Well recently I began turning his artwork into lovely little handmade notebooks.  

Watercolor and Crayon Resist Notebooks


watercolor and crayon resist notebooks

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These were made from from some old watercolor and crayon resist artwork... and I love them.  They're personal, lovely, and practical.  I use them to jot down all my bloggy and crafty ideas throughout the day.  And oh yeah, they're super easy to make too!  So let's get crafting!


Monday, March 24, 2014

DIY Magnetic Fishing Game

Currently, one of Chuck's favorite books is 10 Little Fish by Audrey and Bruce Wood.  It's a cute book about subtraction.  Kids count colorful fish on each page as they leave one by one.  And (my favorite part), it has a fishy romance at the end (What can I say?  I'm a closet romantic... tee heee hee.)  To accompany his love for fish, we recently made this DIY Magnetic Fishing Game

DIY Magnetic Fishing Game


Make Easy DIY Fishing Game
It's cute and colorful and really fun to make and easy to play.  Want to make your own fishing game?  Keep reading to see how we made ours! 


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Homemade Gluten free Puffy Paint Recipe and free Lincoln Coloring Page

Recently I found this great recipe for homemade puffy paint from  Happy Hooligans.  It was a simple recipe and called for only four ingredients, one of them being self-rising flour.  Since Chuck's allergic to wheat, we only have gluten free baking mix at home.  I was curious whether we could obtain the same results.  Well, after messing around in the kitchen we painted Mr. Lincoln's beard and hair with our very own homemade brown puffy paint.

Four score and seven years, our puffy haired fathers....
Homemade gluten free puffy paint and LIncoln coloring page

Would you like to see how we made our own homemade gluten free puffy paint?  Keep reading to find out!

Monday, February 17, 2014

Two George Washington Cotton Ball Wig Crafts

Happy Presidents Day!  In honor of the holiday, I'm posting kid-friendly president-themed crafts today and tomorrow on the blog.  Today I'm sharing two George Washington Cotton Ball Wig Crafts.  Here's the first craft-- a real cotton ball wig!

DIY George Washington Cotton Ball wig

Come on, you wanna see how I made this thing.... so keep reading to find out!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Two Chinese New Year Dragon Crafts


Ready for a fun Chinese New Year Craft?  Chinese New Year is one of those really fun holidays that I enjoyed celebrating as a kid.  Yummy food, wearing new clothes, red envelopes filled with money, and watching cool dragon and lion dancing?  Come on, what's not to love?  Since the holiday is just around the corner, I showed Chuck some lion dancing videos (Youtube to the rescue!) and then thought it'd be fun if we did some dragon crafts together:

Two Chinese New Year Dragon Crafts

Chinese New Year Dragon Crafts


Little background about me- Growing up I always felt like a "twinkie."  Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.  You see, I looked Asian, but I didn't always feel that way.  Now that Chuck's getting a bit older, hubby and I are trying to figure out how two twinkies like us pass down their cultural traditions. (Ehh... it's a work in progress....)

This craft is one way that we're trying to pass down our tradition.  And, in the interest of full disclosure, Chuck really enjoyed making the handprint dragon.... but he wasn't too keen on coloring my paper bag dragon pieces.  However, once I colored and glued everything down for him, he enjoyed playing with it like a puppet.

So, do you wanna see how we made these two dragons?  (I've got templates too!  Ooh la la!)  Keep on reading!

(And if you like this craft, definitely check out this dancing Chinese Dragon Puppet.  It actually dances and is made from recycled materials!)


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Homemade watercolor paints

Yesterday it rained a whooole lot.

Luckily, my homemade watercolor paints finally set (after two days of waiting), so Chuck and I spent the morning painting.

Overall, the directions I used were pretty good, but I made two changes:
1.  I only used half of the materials recommended... and I still had plenty of water color paints.
2.  I added drops of food coloring to each of the ice cube trays.  (Looking back, maybe I should have compensated for the extra liquid by adding a bit more cornstarch to shorten my drying time.)





As you can see, Chuck enjoyed painting.  He also enjoyed repeatedly dipping the Q-tips into the water... and sneakily trying to drink the dirty water.  (Ick.)  I probably had more fun painting than he did because I was so delighted that the paints actually worked.

Here are our two joint paintings:

The paints weren't chalky when they dried.  We'll probably cut up the cards to make a birthday card for a niece.  Right now the leftover paints are sitting in the fridge.  We'll keep using them throughout the week because I'm curious how long they'll last.    

UPDATE:  5/24- I pulled the paints out of the fridge yesterday and they were rock hard.  I was worried, but after I didn't need to be.  After adding a couple drops of water into each well, they became paints again.  The colors didn't seem as vibrant as before, so Chuck and I ditched the q-tips and just used our fingers to paint. We got some lovely results.  Now they're back in the fridge again, and I'll pull them out in another couple of weeks to see if they last.

Have you ever tried to make homemade watercolors before?