The Artful Parent

Flower Crowns & Necklaces (Yes, Stained Glass!)

We made some beautiful flower crowns yesterday. Necklaces, too. So easy and yet really quite stunning. It seems the perfect lazy summer activity as well—to celebrate summer, for pretend play accessories, as a party activity, or just because.

Here's how we did it...

Starting Again

I'd like to start again.

Do you ever wish you could do that? Go back to the way it was at the beginning (of whatever).

I feel like I've lost my way a bit and it took remembering why I started this blog in the first place (sharing & connection) and my mission statement, if you will (get kids doing art by inspiring and motivating parents).

As you can see, I've taken a bit of a break from The Artful Parent over the last couple of weeks. It was unintentional, as perhaps you know. (Whenever I take an intentional break, I tell you about it ahead of time and then can't seem to stay away when I plan to.)

Enjoy the Little Things in Life...

T-Shirt Transfers :: Iron a Fave Child's Drawing onto a T-Shirt

I have a post over on No Time for Flash Cards right now on how to transfer your children's drawings onto T-shirts. Kid's totally love this! Maia and Daphne made shirts for their daddy's birthday, then for themselves, and (I've heard rumblings) are making some for me for Mother's Day...

This is such an easy and rewarding project!

My kids literally beamed with pride when showing their shirts to Harry. You could use favorite drawings from around the house or your children could draw something new just for this project.

Head over now to see how we made our T-shirt transfers and thanks to Allison for hosting me on No Time for Flash Cards! 

Hand Sewing with Kids :: Getting Started

Maia has been sewing up a storm the last few of months. She started out by hand sewing simple pillows and doll accessories and has since been been asking for (and getting) basic sewing machine lessons from me.

She now claims sewing is her second favorite hobby. The first is variably art or, from her 60 handstands in a row this weekend, gymnastics.

I thought I'd share her first hand sewing projects here and then give a few tips and resources for getting kids started with hand sewing.

On the Cover (And My Issues with Being Seen)

I'm on the cover of VERVE Magazine, a local magazine with the mission of "Covering Asheville's most fascinating women." This is equally exciting and nerve-racking for me. The last time I was on the cover of something was when I was born—2 weeks early in an ambulance on April Fool's Day. I'm sure I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about how I felt about my questionable fame then. 

This time around, I've had a chance to observe myself responding to the cover and I realize I have issues.

This is normal, right?

I mean, we all have issues. Some of us have issues with cockroaches. Some of us have issues with sugar. Some of us have issues with being seen. Some of us have issues with all of the above and more (yeah, that might be me).

Stained Glasses (Or, Fun and Games in Our House...)

Kids can be: Silly. Experimental. Persistent. Creative. Playful. And (add in a few bonus adjectives here). All in the space of a few minutes. 

Or one art activity.

When we were making the quilt stained glass window for our front door recently (which we LOVE, by the way), we all started off on the same page...

The Kids' Arts and Crafts Directory -- Now Updated!

Don't forget the Kids' Arts and Crafts Directory when you're looking for an art activity to do with your children. A friend has been updating it for me and it's now almost completely up to date. Yay!

Whether you're looking for a specific kids art activity or just browsing for inspiration and ideas, the directory is the place to go! It is organized by type of art activity to make it easier to help you find what you are looking for, whether it's a painting activity or some ideas for cooking with kids. Are you wondering if we have any fun kids' stained glass art projects? Why, yes! We've done one or two of those (or, ahem, over 40!). Looking for new watercolor techniques to experiment with? We've got more than a few of those as well...

And if you're just browsing for inspiration or to start planning your summer activity list, pin your favorites (or whatever you do to keep track of ideas you come across).

Happy exploring!

Breathing...

Note to self:

Breathe deeply, slow down, enjoy the little things, and don't get too caught up in that crazy long to-do list you just wrote.

Perhaps you could use a note like that as well? Feel free to borrow mine!

My First Bookstore Event :: A Hands-On Family Art Activity

I had my first bookstore event at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina yesterday. It was just perfect in every way. (From my perspective anyway! I hope the bookstore and the families attending liked it as well....)

The whole trip was a fun experience.

Driving to Chapel Hill by myself was a bit of a treat in itself, as anyone who takes road trips with kids can imagine. Listening to podcasts and my own music and stopping when I wanted to... Not often experienced, I can tell you.