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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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.

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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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January 7, 2016  by

Layered Canvas Family Project

This layered canvas turned out to be one of my favorite art projects I have done with my kids. It started off as a holiday Advent activity and turned into something we will be doing all year long. The basic idea is to work on one canvas over many days, adding a new material every time. Because it started off as an Advent activity, each material was a surprise, hidden inside of a bag for that specific day. This quickly became a fun game where they would try to guess what the next material would be. If a material didn’t fit inside the bag (like on day 1), I would set it up like an Invitation To Create and surprise the girls that way. Although we tried to do this every day during early December, I quickly realized that it was going to have to be every other day- and sometimes we’d go a few days without working on it. This made it a much more enjoyable experience and helped me realize we could continue on indefinitely! Here is what our process looked like…

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in Art Projects / Creative Projects / Family Canvas Challenge / Holiday 9 comments
December 1, 2015  by

Holiday Family Art Prompt And Advent Activity

One of The Art Pantry readers, Emily Holzknecht, recently shared with me her family advent art tradition. I absolutely love this Advent activity! Emily creates a bag of art materials for each day of the Advent calendar. On Dec 1, each person in the family gets a canvas and they open the first bag of art materials. They use the same canvas each day and open a new bag of materials to add to their work.

This project is sort of like an invitation to create, advent calendar, & art game all in one. I love the idea of building on the same canvas with surprise materials each day.

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January 26, 2014  by

DIY Valentines from the Heart

DIY Valentines from the Heart- The Art Pantry

Encourage kids to express authentic gratitude and love this Valentines Day, by making something from the heart. Handmade Valentines are easier than you think! Just set up a Valentine crafting station with some fun supplies like blank cards, patterned paper, fancy scissors, glitter glue, markers, washi tape, stamps ,stickers, or whatever else you have around. Invite your children to make their own Valentine cards for friends and family. If they need a little inspiration, you can create a few samples ahead of time, or sit down and work along side them!

 

 

Handmade cards are filled with so much love and joy. I’ll take that over candy any day!

 

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December 12, 2013  by

What Makes The Best Kid’s Gift?

5 reasons why art supplies make the best gifts for kids

Ever since I was a little girl I have looked forward to the entire month of December. To me, this time of year is about celebration, decadence, warmth, indulgence, creating, giving, and receiving.  As I’ve grown older, I’ve become much more of a minimalist, but Christmas just doesn’t seem right without a pile of presents under the tree. 
With Hanukkah coming early this year, my girls have already begun amassing a new collection of toys and it has got me thinking about a better plan for the influx of Christmas gifts soon to come.  This plan includes sorting through and donating old toys with the girls, but it also includes being strategic in gift giving.  When it comes to holidays or birthdays, art supplies are now at the top of my list for gifts.

5 reasons why art supplies make the best gifts for kids:

1) Art supplies are consumable- they get used up and don’t contribute to toy clutter

2) They promote skills such as creative thinking, self-expression, fine motor skills, & many more!

3) They can be shared with siblings and friends

4) They can be used to make new gifts or thank you cards for others

5) Kids love them!

Nominate A Family In Need

I am so grateful and fortunate to be able to offer my kids this kind of creative enrichment and holiday abundance. If you know a child or family who does not have the means for holiday gifts, please leave a comment or e-mail me and we will send a creative gift package to a few kids in need.

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Heart Rock Valentine
February 4, 2013  by

Secret Admirer Heart Rock Valentines

Inspired by The Artful Parent’s heart rock valentine decorations, I suggested to Karuna the idea of making fabric heart rocks. We talked about what to do with the rocks once we made them. Giving them as Valentines was a definite, but since she already had card valentines that she had made earlier, we came up with the idea to leave them around the neighborhood as secret admirer surprises.
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in Art Projects / Creative Projects / Holiday 3 comments