family friday :: pom-pon garland

if you follow me on twitter or facebook, you may remember me talking about teaching my little dude how to make yarn pom-pons. he literally spent 4 straight hours making them once i taught him how. a project i thought i was going to be doing myself was almost entirely finished by my 5 year old!



here's what i ended up doing with all the pom-pons he made. we made 3 different sized pom-pons in 6 different colors. when they were done i strung them on yarn.



once they were all strung, i hung them up with small nails around 2 walls in the boys' new shared room. i have a few more left that i want to hang from their new (used) bunk beds. once the bunks are spruced up, i'll share some photos of the entire room.

things i want tuesday :: kid's art

via the lovely world of twitter, i found an amazing local (to me) artist. kim haller of kilsook makes amazingly cute/adorable/sweet-tastic artwork that i want to plaster my boys' room with. here are a couple of my favorites.







check out her shop and buy some!

family friday :: watercolors

last week i saw martha making homemade watercolors (as well as homemade sidewalk chalk) on her show. the boys have been all about watercolor painting lately so i thought we could try to make some of our own! the recipe was super easy and maybe took 1/2 hour including gathering ingredients and clean-up. super easy and fun project for the kids.



here are our watercolors when they're still wet. i put ours in an old mixing palette i had. the amounts fit perfectly in the large spaces.



and the boys, satisfied with their work!



and here they are after they've dried. our plan is to try them out this weekend. here's the recipe if you're interested:

homemade watercolors:
mix 4 tablespoons baking soda with
2 tablespoons vinegar until fizzing stops

add 1/2 teaspoon corn syrup
2 tablespoons cornstarch

mix until a uniform consistency

pour the mixture into individual egg carton cups (or other containers you have handy)

add food coloring to individual containers to create desired colors. (be aware that your purple will look really awful when wet. when it dries it becomes much more color accurate!)

color recipes:
reddish pink: 10 drops red
orange: 1 drop red, 6 drops yellow
yellow: 5 drops yellow
leaf green: 3 drops green, 7 drops yellow
sea blue: 5 drops blue
violet: 4 drops red, 2 drops blue

that's what he said wednesday :: family portrait

this isn't exactly the most recent drawing from the little dude, but it is one of my favorites. our entire family standing together holding balloons. how perfect! you can see where he was still having a hard time with his "M's" & "W's" in his brother's name. (it should be a W)

that's what he said wednesday :: house pipes

the little dude comes up with drawings sometimes that make my head go "waaah?". this is his drawing of "a house. and these are all the pipes under the ground". how on earth does a 5 year old know, or even understand that there are pipes under our house? (and then care enough to draw it!) just more fuel to add to my pile of evidence which makes me think he'll be some sort of engineer. (just like all 4 of my mom's brothers....guess it runs in the family.)

things i want tuesday :: a deer wearing gym socks

how amazing is this print?



i need it!
charmaineolivia
also available as a laptop or cell phone skin

that's what he said wednesday :: mouse junk

well, here it is. i know many of you have been waiting to see the reveal of the artwork story i shared on twitter and facebook last friday. for those of you who didn't here the story, i'll share it here with you:

every friday the little dude brings home a folder full of worksheets and artwork that he's worked on throughout the week. this past friday was no exception. as i glanced through the packet i came across the usual worksheets and artwork. as i examined one of the worksheets more closely, i noticed something that didn't seem quite right....



i secretly hoped that what i saw was just another piece of food that was lower in the mouse's belly. however, in my heart, i knew what it really was. the fact that it seemed scribbled over made it even more certain for me. i called the little dude in to look at the artwork with me. i started easy by asking what the artwork was about. he showed me all the different food that he had drawn in the mouse's belly....and that was it. i had to step it up and address the obvious. "so, this red piece down here....is that another piece of food?" the little dude looked up at me with a guilty look that confirmed my suspicions and quietly and shyly admitted, "no, that's his junk".

things i want tuesday :: he says he can hear the forest whisper

sweet print. hidenseek :: $9.99 (on sale now!)

that's what he said wednesday :: camper

today i'm featuring another piece of the little dude's artwork. he's really into cutting his drawings out of the paper he drew them on. (which kills me, but it's impossible to stop him)



here's a scan of one of his latest. he explained to me that it was a truck pulling a camper. you can see the two seats and the steering wheel in the truck portion as well as the red headlights. when i asked what the pennant-like pattern was on the side of the camper he said that, of course, it was just pretty decoration. i love the details that he always seems to throw into his artwork. he certainly has an eye for details.

i have a bunch of other art that he's done recently that i cannot wait to share! come back next wednesday for more!

that's what he said wednesday :: excited

this piece of artwork is a few months old, but i finally got around to scanning it in. i think it's just the sweetest thing ever. what a super-cute thing to say. just in case you can't tell, the middle features a smily face and a very long and squat heart. 

things i want tuesday :: look within

how gorgeous!
look within :: thewheatfield :: $15

things i want tuesday :: more art

i love this print that i recently came across :: melodyseal

best day ever

i love all the art prints out there that are focused on positive messages lately. the one above is one of my latest favorites. erinjaneshop

sunshine

this print reminds me of being a little girl and singing songs with my grandma in the car. available at thewheatfield

vanity

this print from: feast shop

laundry day

since the arrival of etsy, i have been addicted to book marking art i find and love. often times it's gone before i ever order it which is a shame. i have an outrageous number of bookmarks overflowing with amazing art that i would love to snatch up. i'm going to make a point to invest in more of these pieces this year.


this particular piece entitled: laundry day, has been in my bookmarks FOREVER! i just love everything about it. who can deny the whimsy* of big red balloons suspending laundry from european looking buildings? i think this will be the first of many art purchases this year. find it at atwhim's etsy shop.

*i HATE this word. does anyone have a good synonym? i've looked online and can't seem to find an appropriate replacement.