November 7, 2011  by

Fall Classes Have Begun!

The new Make+Believe art studio has opened! After a long month of moving the studio, getting the classes filled, and finding the right teachers we have finally begun our fall session. Here is a look into the new space- it’s small, but feels just right for our little tots.

For our first week of the session, we began with finger/wacky object painting for the 1’s and 2s classes. The returning students never get tired of messy painting, while the new children get to explore the tempera paints and wacky tools that will soon become very familiar. This activity is also a great way to show the children (and parents!) that this studio is place for messy exploration and open-ended creativity.

The easels are a always a big hit with the younger classes.

The 3s/4s classes began by mixing their own colors to use in their paintings. Quite a bit of time was spent squeezing and stirring the primary colors to see what new and interesting colors they could create.

When they were ready to paint, the children used their new colors as a base for a mixed-media art piece. Some of the kids added circle tissues and glitter, while others decided to cut their own tissue shapes and add other bits of collage materials to their work.

The kids had fun getting to know their teachers as well!

At the end of each class, everyone washed up in the water table outside and got to explore the new garden area of the GROW Art & Garden Education Center. The chickens, the fort, and the hay bales were especially enticing!

 

 

Save

in Art Projects / Art Spaces / News 1 comments
August 29, 2011  by

A Little Research Project

I just finished ordering all of our products for the online shop and decided that that I’d share some interesting information. There are a lot of products out there to choose from and I wanted to make sure that I was picking high quality items that are also true to their advertising. If a paint says “washable,” is it too much to expect it to actually be washable?? As a parent, I’ve experienced first hand what it’s like when I let my daughter finger paint with “washable” paints, only to find out after doing the laundry that her yellow dress is now practically tie-died with blue and red stains. I’m all about getting messy and don’t even mind stained clothes, but I do mind when a product boldly pronounces itself to be washable when it clearly isn’t.
So here is a little research I did while choosing children’s “washable” tempera paint to sell in my shop.

After narrowing it down to two brands, I did a swatch test and painted red and blue from each brand onto pieces of white cotton. Paint A has better colors, closer to true red and blue which is good for color mixing (but the blue also had a strong chemical smell that turned me off). Both paints are clearly labeled “washable” on the front of the bottles. I let them dry, then threw them into the washing machine with cold water and regular detergent. Here are the results…

So it looks like there is a clear winner! You won’t find any of “Paint A” (Melissa & Doug Poster Paint) in my shop. Paint B is Palmer Washable Poster Paint that will be available in many colors on Make+Believe. If you’re looking for brighter, truer pigments we will also have Palmer Prism Tempera paints that are not very washable, but don’t claim to be!

Update (6/2016): I no longer have the online shop for art supplies, but you can find Palmer Washable Poster Paint here (affiliate link) as well as another great washable brand here.

in Art Supplies 2 comments
April 16, 2010  by

Naomi’s Bedroom Makeover

My niece, Naomi, recently turned 8 years old. One of her birthday wishes was to make some changes to her room. As you can see from the before photos, there was little about her room that said “8-year-old girl.” Her room housed a rarely used family computer, a toddler table set, Hello Kitty bedding from years ago, and an outdoor mat.

Naomi’s Nana offered to sponsor a makeover (within a budget of course!) so I set out help make this birthday wish come true. These are the photos I took of her room as we discussed what type of design she hoped for.

 

Naomi chose the bedding on the Pottery Barn teen website which gave me a jumping off point for the colors and feel of the room. She was drawn to the oranges, blues, and yellows of the bedding and her main request was a bed canopy. She also asked for some paint on the walls (including chalkboard paint), but they are in the process of putting their house on the market so we decided to only change what can easily be moved to a new house. This also meant that I had to somewhat design the room to stage the house… so less is more! My goal was to turn the room into a cozy, bright, girly (but not too girly), functional room that Naomi would want to spend time in.

Naomi’s artwork hangs in the bedroom entrance, brightening up the corner, and setting the tone for the colors of the room.

To stay within the budget, I purchased a worn used desk, repainted it, and added new knobs that Naomi picked out from Anthropologie. The bottom of the desk pulls out for extra surface space.

I made this bulletin board by upholstering a plain cork board with fun, Amy Butler fabric.

 

I added the shag rug and low chair so that Naomi would have an inviting space to hang out with family and friends on the floor. The soft blue blanket (another request from Naomi) adds a final cozy and luxurious touch to this tween room.

 

in Art Display / Home / Kid's Bedrooms 1 comments