Advent Calendar - craft time

Happy December! Elliott and I made an advent calendar last week, to help us countdown to Christmas.  I made the cards out of card stock I had in the house, and Elliott decorated them with glitter, stickers and buttons (again, whatever we had kicking around the house!).

 

Elliott was very proud of his work, and couldn't wait until his big sister got home from school so she could see and share in the fun.  If you are not crafty there are lots of places you can get some really beautiful pattern or ready made calendars (check out Etsy, or if you are good at sewing there are lovely patterns at Spoonflower!)

In the pockets I like to to do something a little different. Sometimes there are treats for the kids (chocolate, or stickers or a small toy...like a lego man), and sometimes it's an activity we will do that day (bake a Christmas cake!). But because Christmas is not only about getting things (something I work really hard to teach the kiddos), at least 3 times a week the message in the calendar is something they do for someone else, for example...

- Bake cookies for a neighbour

- Complement 3 people today

- Write and mail a letter to a friend to tell them how special they are

- Make a small bag of donations for the shelter

- Hug everyone in your family

etc... you get the idea ;)

 

We love Christmas here, and try to make the most of out it for the entire month.  This is just one way we like to have fun with it.  Hope you all have a happy December, and take time to enjoy it throughout all the busy time that comes with it! 

Celeste

Halloween Treats - baked goods

Halloween is always fun with little ones. Now mine are old enough to be having Halloween parties! So I had to put my baking hat on and make some cookies for the kiddos.  For those who know me, I've been forced to get in touch with my domestic side since I've had kids ;) Not doing too badly for someone who never fit this definition (just don't look at my laundry room!). 

These cookies were actually a lot of fun. Once they were baked I just thought of them as tiny artworks instead of cookies and had a blast! The kids loved them too ;)

Celeste

 

Custom Shoes - acrylic paint on shoes

Here is something I did over the summer, my aunt was visiting and wanted me to paint on a pair of runners for her.  It's not something I had ever done before, and I was nervous because they were brand new shoes and I didn't want to ruin them! But it all turned out nicely I think and it was pretty fun! I used acrylic paint so it wouldn't wash off in a puddle. I think I like the idea of painting on my shoes, and maybe this spring I will come up with a custom pair for myself!

Amelie's bedroom mural - paint

So this weekend, I finally got around to painting my 4 year old's room.  She wanted it pink, girly and all about Tinker Bell.  So here it is! 

I painted the walls light pink with one purply pink accent wall, on which I did my simplified version of the Pixie Hollow tree. The Fairies are wall stickers I got from Walmart :) The curtains are made by my very talented sister (I can sew, wish I could... but there you go).

My daughter's room has a peak in the ceiling. I painted it the dark fushia colour (picked by my little one) and added two stars, for those who know the story of Peter Pan, you will get the reference.

Below some detail photos of the bottom of the tree.

Here is something fun to do now that the kids are home for Christmas vacation! 

Stove-Top Play Dough
From the book Feed my I'm Yours

1 cup white flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
Foodcolouring (I like Club House Neon colouring)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
( I also add a few drops of peppermint oil and it smells soooo wonderful on your hands! and glitter, to make it fun and sparkly!)

Mix Flour, salt and cream of tartar in a medium-sized pot. Add water, food colouring and oil.
Cook and stir over medium heat. Mixture will look like a globby mess, and you will be sure you did something wrong, but keep stirring.  When it forms a ball in the center of the pot take it out and knead it a bit, let cool and then have some fun!

Ragdolls - felt and stuff
I made a ragdoll each for Elliott and Amelie (with removable crowns). just a quick(ish) craft.

L.M. Falcone's New Website

This morning I got a great email from Lucy Falcone, a wonderful author that I've had the pleasure and privilege to work with on a few occasions.  She has just launched her new website and it looks terrific. Hoffworks Productions did the web design using my artwork from her novel covers. Peter Riddihough, the designer, did a wonderful job, and I VERY impressed! Go check it out! And read her books, they are fun for all ages! I love then, and I can't wait for my little ones to be old enough to enjoy them too! 

Pumpkin - carved pumpkin.

Here is our pumpkin this year!

Echo Movable Paper Puppet - cardstock

Playing with our food - photos

Painted Mirrors - acrylic on wood

I had these Ikea mirrors from our previous house that I didn't know what to do with. So I painted 3 of them, and here they are, some nice wall art for a darker corner of our house.

Duck Puppet - mixed media

This is not my usual illustrated post, but my daughter and I were getting creative with crafts and came up with this puppet. It was a lot of fun to make, Amélie was in charge of all the gluing so it was a two day process, overnight for all the glue to dry ;)

Meadow Puppet - felt

Hawkeye Puppet - felt

Echo finger puppet - felt