3D Optical Illusion Halloween Drawings

Have you seen those 3D hand drawings? They're amazing.  Awhile back I became really intrigued with them and made these 3D Optical Illusion Hearts using the same drawing technique.  Now that fall is in the air, I realized that this technique could be applied to Halloween too!  So here's a super easy Halloween activity to try out with your kids after school.  Doodle these 3D optical illusion pumpkins and kitties!

How to Draw 3D Optical Illusion Pumpkins and Cats

Pretty Zentangle Flower Art

Spring has finally sprung in our neck of the woods.  Flowers are blooming and everything looks bright and beautiful. Wheeee!  Inspired by the gorgeous weather and an amazing wave art project that I saw on IG, today I'm sharing a pretty, flower-themed kids art project.  These zentangle flowers were very relaxing to doodle and the bright colors make the final results stunning! 

Pretty Zentangle Flower Art

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Mystery Grid Art Challenge

Howdy! Today I'm sharing a STEAM activity that combines art and math.   Put on your creative hats and grab your favorite color pencils.  We're trying our hand at the Mystery Grid Art Challenge!

Think you can conquer the Mystery Grid Challenge?

(Well, read on and find out!)

Giant Chinese New Year Dragon Collaborative Art

This past weekend we celebrated Lunar New Year with several friends.  There were tons of yummy snacks and (of course) several Chinese New Year crafts and activities!   One of my favorites was this giant, collaborative Dragon painting, so I thought I'd share it here today.

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Have you tried the Creative Circle Art Challenge?

One set of empty circles.
Multiple creative minds.
What ideas will they come up with?

I know what you're thinking-- What?  Two posts back-to-back?  This is so strange!

Well, my family liked doing this creative, open-ended art activity so much that I had to post it now before I forgot.

We challenge you to take the....

Creative Circle Challenge!

3D Optical Illusion Heart Drawing Craft

Whoa!  Is this heart popping out of the page, or what?

Have you ever seen those 3D hand drawings?  You know,  the ones that seem to pop out at you?  Well, I was really amazed at how those drawings worked.  But I wanted to give the art project a Valentine's Day craft twist! This past weekend my son and I drew a ton of these 3D hearts.  The results are pretty neat (and the process is extremely addictive!)

How to Draw 3D Optical Illusion Heart Art

How Does Your Brain Work? An activity inspired by Temple Grandin

I recently received a copy of the picture book  The Girl Who Thought In Pictures.  It's a kids book about one of my heroes- Dr. Temple Grandin.  She's a professor of animal science who also happens to be on the autistic spectrum.  She's funny, brave, persistent, and full of insights.  And I love how she reminds us to value those who see the world in a different way.

Inspired by her story, my son and I tried to explore how our brains work with this simple art activity.

How Does Your Brain Work?  

An Art Activity Inspired by Dr. Temple Grandin

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of money for any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for your support.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Christmas Word Doodle Art Challenges! (Free Printable included!)

The countdown to Christmas is on!  I love this season and usually share tons of easy Christmas activities and crafts.  But this year it's been tough getting into the Christmas spirit.  With all the wildfires in California, we've been more somber and going slightly stir-crazy staying inside.  (The smoke is pretty bad.)  So today I'm sharing an activity that we recently did.  This fun, no-prep, and creative Christmas activity helped us to pass the time while stuck indoors.

Free Christmas Word Art Challenges!

Easy Zentangle Pumpkins for Kids and Adults!

Recently I saw this super gorgeous and easy to draw zentangle spiderweb idea....  and I was so inspired, that we drew our own versions- zentangle pumpkins!   The process was so fun that I thought I'd sharing the idea here.

Easy Zentangle Pumpkins- Great Kids and Adult art activity!

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Easy and Colorful Sheet Music Art

Do your children enjoy listening to music?  Well, great!  Here's an easy way to combine music and art into an easy and colorful activity!

My boys loooooove holding dance parties at home.  While listening to one of their favorite songs (on repeat--- oh boy, do we love Moana, Trolls, and 80s music), I thought of trying out this fun activity.  Tada!  Today we're making sheet music art!  

Make Sheet Music Art with Kids

Clothespin People and Doodles

I needed a few clothespins for some crafts... but ended up acquiring a whole bunch more than necessary.  They were just lying around, so I fiddled around  and came up with a really fun, open-ended art project:  Clothespin Doodles!

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here

Amazing 3D Paper Christmas Star Ornaments

What?  Thanksgiving isn't even here and we're already talking about Christmas Crafts?  Ok, you've got me.  I'm jumping the gun with this super neat folded Christmas star ornament.  But, I had to share because this week we'll be launching our new STEAM KIDS Christmas books.  Woot woot!  I'll be sharing more about those books later on this week.  Today I'm giving you a sneak peak of one of cool projects included.  These 3D paper stars are super fun to color in and such a neat way to craft this holiday season!

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Dancer Paper Snowflakes

Does your child love to dance?  Then these dancer snowflakes are just the paper craft for you.  Dainty, fluttery, and lovely, they are sure to amaze children of all ages!

How to Cut Paper Dancer Snowflakes

Rainbow Snowflake Cutouts

Bet you read the title and thought... what?  Rainbow snowflakes?  Well, I had a tough time figuring what to name this rainbow craft.  Is it a snowflake craft?  Is it considered kirigami?  I'm not sure. All I know is that it's a cute and fun paper cutting craft for rainbow-loving kids to try out.

Let's Cut Rainbow Snowflakes

This post contains affiliate links. This means I make a tiny bit of grocery money from each purchase made.  Thank you for your support!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Design a Paper Glider (Free printable included!)

Does your child love the idea of flying?  Is he or she infatuated with planes, space shuttles, helicopters, or gliders?   Well, today's post is for you!  We're designing and making gliders!  (And bonus- I've even included a printable for you to do the activity too!)   This is a great STEAM Activity that allows kids to be creative, get artsy, and explore the idea of flight too!

Let's Design a Paper Glider!

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support! For my full disclosure policy, click here. 

Magazine doodles- Fun open-ended art activity!

Recently I've been auditing a basic art class at our local university.  It's been awhile since I've attended college (*cough cough* over a decade), and it's been even longer since I took art classes (I think middle school?)  But I'm really enjoying the experience.  The other students are friendly, the professor is an excellent teacher, and I enjoy the opportunity to let go and use the right-side of my brain.


My art course got me thinking about trying to do more bite-sized art activities on the blog. Whaddya think?   I hope to share some fun art activities that our professor had us do in the future.  Today's art activity is one that I came up with after seeing so many inspiring IG feeds where artists incorporate everyday items into a drawing.   Have you ever tried making magazine doodles?

Magazine Doodles- Just add doodles!

FREE Valentine Printables

Today I'm continuing the funny Valentine Day Series with these 2 free Valentine Printables!  To see the other funny Valentine's day crafts in this series, check out the links below!

• #1- You "Rock my World" Rocks
• #2 - "Set my heart aflutter" butterfly notebooks
• #3- Send "High Fives" To your Valentine!

Funny Valentine's Day activity #4:  2 FREE Valentine Printables!

Free Christmas Coloring Sheets

I've been seeing lots of  beautiful Christmas coloring sheets online lately.  I love doodling and wanted to make one for the blog....but things got pretty busy during the holidays.  (Our Aussie family is visiting us AND I'm making paper Moravian stars for a friend's wedding!)  So I didn't have a chance to doodle some coloring sheets till now.

Free Christmas Coloring Sheets

These 2 coloring sheets contain ornaments (or gift labels)  that the kids can color and then hang onto the tree.  

#2redfruitloops (and why social media stresses me out)

What should I give up for Lent?

This year for Lent I thought long and hard about what to give up.  Midnight snacking?  *Jiggles belly fat*  Yeah... that would probably be good.  Television?  Yeah, that would probably be a good choice too. 
But then I heard a bloggy friend saying that she was giving up social media and I thought... oooh, now we're onto something.

On wanting to be a kid blogger... and that pesky thief named Comparison

Last January I participated in something called #riskrejection, where a couple of bloggers and I shared how we were daring to take scary risks even if it meant getting rejected by others. That weekly challenge has now become a monthly one.  (If you'd like to participate in this month's, you can link your risks here.)

For my first risk, I shared my (now not-so-secret) desire to somehow make a career as a kids' craft blogger.  Since then, I dove into the huge social media ocean and

• reorganized the kid craft section of my Pinterest page
• pumped up my Instagram feed
• uploaded more posts onto Facebook
• started reading up on SEO.... (blech)
• joined two blogging support groups (Kid Blogger Network and Rockin' Art Moms.)  

Yurp.  It's been great and I've learned a lot... but it's also been pretty overwhelming.

Both groups are made up of super talented, super hardworking, super social media saavy moms and I am  in awe of them...and honestly, supremely intimidated by them. 

I know I shouldn't compare, but it's hard not to.  Every time I look at my newsfeed or check my email I see how hard they've been working, how much they've created, and how many shares or likes their posts received... and  I get stressed out.

Blogging definitely becomes less fun when those pesky "What ifs" "Maybe I shoulds" or "Why am I nots" pop into my head.

Stepping back from Facebook and Page views

So for this month, I'm stepping back from social media, specifically Facebook.  I'm trying not to check every feed, comment, like, or update... and I'm also really trying hard to not worry about stats or pageviews.

It's going to be a battle till Easter, but boundaries are good right? 

#2redfruitloops

Instead of obsessing, I'm going to try trusting that God somehow has a plan and a place for all of us... and I'm going to do something that makes me happy.... draw red fruit loop doodles!  I love seeing all the artists on Instagram who doodle scenes around real objects.  So I've challenged myself to draw doodles that include 2 red fruit loops in them. (Why red fruit loops?  Because they're yummy and they make me happy.)  So if you want to follow my red fruit loop journey, you can just find it on Instagram using #2redfruitloops.

 Here's my first doodle:

(I feel like that's me... always trying to see what the future holds...)

Whoa.  I've been reading for an hour... just how long is this post anyway?

Way too long, apparently.  Wow.  You're still here? High five.  I'm sorry for this long, long personal post, but I needed to take this risk, share what was on my heart, and let everything out.

Let's be brave and hopeful together friends, shall we?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that posting has been a bit sporadic this week.  I've been feeling a bit down, so I just haven't had the heart to make cute stuff.  But not to worry though!  We're going to hang out with family this week, so hopefully things will perk up.

In the meantime, happy thanksgiving!  I know that I have a lot to be thankful for.... and one of those things is definitely you.  If you're reading this post right now, thank you.  Thank you for visiting and supporting this little corner of the internet.  You make blogging even more fun. :)   

On a side note, my friend Lisa from About Proximity posted some cute photos of kids showing things that they were thankful for.  (You can see her posts here and here.)  I asked Chuck to draw something that he was thankful for, and he drew this photo:

I then asked him what he drew and was surprised by his answer.  Instead of saying "Cars," or "Lightening McQueen" (which are the topics of most of our conversations nowadays), he said, "Mommy, me, daddy."  What?  Our kid was thankful for us?  That really warmed my heart.

And lastly, here's a short poem that I wrote last year.  Rereading it now, the same sentiments apply.

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'll see you on Monday (hopefully a couple of pounds heavier, yum!)

Poem Book by Leslie