family mural
July 29, 2020  by

Family Mural Project

Our family has toyed with the idea of painting a mural on our fence for years. We love the idea of adding playful art to the neighborhood but never took the time to actually make it happen.

Until, of course, a global pandemic hit and we were suddenly shut in at home wondering what to do with our kids during our makeshift homeschool hours. Before their schools started distance learning we made a calendar and the four of us decided to each teach a homeschool class. Karuna taught Ora singing, Ora taught me and Karuna gymnastics, Aaron held a writing workshop for the girls, and I decided to lead a family mural class.

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in Art Projects / Creative Projects / Garden / Homeschool / Outdoor Creative Spaces 0 comments
September 24, 2019  by

New Take on The Family Canvas Challenge

*I wrote this post 3 months ago and am just now getting it up. My resurgence of creative energy at that time was short-lived, but I’ve been getting stronger and it’s coming back more and more*

June 24th 2019: After 6 months of illness and recovery, I’m finally having a resurgence of creative energy! I still don’t have a ton of physical energy, but I wanted to get back in the studio with my girls and try to finish our canvases we started in November.

Whenever I run the Family Canvas Challenge, I encourage families to collaborate on a shared canvas, but working individually can be just as great. Because we’ve made 3 family canvases together, we often try something new each time to keep it interesting.

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January 8, 2019  by

New Years Manifestation Boards With Kids

Happy 2019! I hope you and your family enjoyed a wonderful holiday season together and are starting off the new year feeling really good.

I’ve been moving slowly the past few months, hibernating a bit more and working on a book that has been on my mind for a few years. I’m excited to share more about it with you soon.

Manifestation Boards

To jump start the new year with clear values and intentions moving forward, my family and I made “manifestation boards” (otherwise known as vision boards). The girls love this activity and have displayed their boards on their bedside tables so they can see them every day.

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August 20, 2018  by

Invitations To Create: New Videos & Prompts!

Are you familiar with Invitations To Create?

Invitations To Create are open-ended art prompts set up for kids to encourage creative exploration of materials. I first learned about these types of art prompts when I was a Reggio-Inspired preschool teacher and have since used them with my own kids for the past 9 years.

Invitations To Create have been the one tool I go back to again and again to keep my kids engaged with their art supplies and to learn new skills.

I’ve been working on a few new projects that involve Invitations To Create and I’m so excited to share them with you today!

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January 2, 2018  by

5 Tips to Get Your Kid’s Art Space Started

Happy New Year! Every new year I get the urge to do a little re-decorating and get organized in our home. Do you feel the same way?  If you do and you’re thinking of re-working your kid’s art space or setting one up for the first time, I’ve put together my top 5 tips to help you get started.

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December 4, 2017  by

Easy, Artsy, Ornaments & The Coolest Kid-Made Wrapping Paper

Every holiday season, our family loves to spend time together making playful decorations and gifts for loved ones. With young kids, I always try to make these crafting activities fun, simple, and process-based, so kids can truly enjoy the experience.

(This post is sponsored by Walmart (thank you Walmart!), all opinions expressed are my own)

5 Artful & Kid-Friendly Holiday Projects

This year, I am so excited to partner with Walmart.com to share 5 of our favorite artful and kid-friendly projects for the holiday season. We had a blast making these colorful tree ornaments and the coolest kid-made wrapping paper you’ll ever see!

I love these projects not only because they are super budget-friendly, but even more so because they bring us together as a family to have fun, get crafty, and make gifts for others. Isn’t this what the holidays are all about?

Here’s a peek at my new favorite printing technique for kids- It’s easier than you think!

How To Make Your Own

In addition to the mini canvas ornaments and the wrapping paper, I’m sharing 5 super fun and easy holiday projects that the whole family will love over on Walmart.com.

Click here to head over to Walmart’s blog and see all of the steps and supplies for each project.

What’s your favorite kid-friendly, Holiday project? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

in Art Projects / Creative Projects / Holiday / Party Ideas 0 comments
November 2, 2017  by

Join The Family Canvas Challenge!

Two years ago, I was inspired by an Art Pantry reader, Emily, and her family advent tradition of working on one canvas for each day of the Advent calendar. I loved the idea of layering different materials each day on a collaborative canvas and turning it into a fun game that we could do together as a family.

We adapted this idea and worked on our canvas about twice a week for a month. Each time we worked on it, I would bring out a new material, hide it in a bag, and set it out on the canvas for my girls to discover. They loved the anticipation of not knowing what the next material would be!

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September 5, 2017  by

Episode 10: Kids’ Art Spaces

This is a mini solo podcast episode, where I share the inspiration behind my business, The Art Pantry. I talk about why I view kids’ art spaces as workshops and what kids learn in them that goes way beyond art. I also share about my online course, Design Camp, and have a free download for you with art prompts for kids that are based on the skills I discuss in this episode.

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in Art Projects / Art Spaces / Creative Learning / Creative Projects / Home / Homeschool / Indoor Creative Spaces / Podcast 0 comments
September 5, 2017  by

It’s Not About Art: Skill-building in the studio

The other day I was going through photos of our art space over the years and it hit me how much my girls have learned from having a dedicated art space in our home.

I always say that having an art space is about so much more than just having a place to do art. But I realized that maybe I take this for granted and maybe other people don’t know what happens in an art space over time.

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in Art Projects / Art Spaces / Creative Learning / Creative Projects / Home / Homeschool / Indoor Creative Spaces 1 comments