Hands on Painting

The girls received a bunch of crafty stuff from Nana at Christmas. We've spent the last 2 days playing with paint and brushes. Since they had so much fun, we're going to try to paint at least once a week. We need to create a gallery wall for all their creations.

Don't worry it's washable.

Annie's first painting

Annie had fun getting messy and we were impressed that she didn't try to eat any paint.

Emily has lots of ideas and loves to paint.

Emily Elephant

Purple Pony

Pink Bird Flying

Livi is so patient and selective with her paint.

Livi spent 2 days on her handprint pony. 

She wanted to make a momma and baby bird.

Handprint birdies

Olivia Octopus

Lexi sketched and painted this horse in less than an hour.

Mummy Candy Holder

With four girls who have discriminating taste for fine candies, we made mummy candy holders to keep their favorites out of the community candy bowl.

First, we gathered our supplies. We had all this junk around the house. 
Plastic cups, Mod Podge, paintbrush, scissors, medical gauze, 
green Play-Doh, googly eyes, and girlie trimmings.

Next, they painted on the Mod Podge and wrapped their cups.
After it dried, they pressed on green Play-Doh and added googly eyes,
gauze and teeth to make a face. Finally, they added cute bows.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Custom Painted "TOMS" ~ Olivia's Neverland Pandas

Olivia likes pandas and Jake and the Neverland Pirates so I mixed the two for the design. I painted, repainted and repainted because I couldn't decide on the right color scheme. Also, the herringbone texture of the fabric was driving me batty! I struggled to get smooth lines.

When the shoes finally dried and the results looked acceptable, I showed Olivia and she exclaimed,"They're cute-iful!" Ok. With that adorable comment, I can live with the results. Plus, she created a new word for the family lexicon. 

Monkey Pudding

Emily has to bring a birthday treat to Pre-K tomorrow. She chose clementines but our household can't seem to hold back on produce so I had to make something else. I rummaged around the pantry and found Jell-o instant chocolate pudding, Nila wafers, Cheerios, red food coloring and clear plastic cups for Monkey Pudding. 

The kiddos helped with this "recipe" but really it's just a matter of mixing and assembling.

First, we put the clear plastic cups in a cupcake pan for a handy pudding carrier. Next, we mixed the instant pudding in a large measuring cup with a spout. Then, we poured it into the cups and put the pan in the fridge so the pudding could set up. In the mean time, the kiddos counted and sorted the Cheerios to make eyes and counted out the number of Nila wafers needed for the mouths. I squirted some red food coloring into a dish and painted smiles on the Nila wafers with a clean craft brush. After the pudding set up and the Nila wafers dried, the little monkeys assembled the monkey pudding. We had fun, it was easy and I saved myself a trip to the store.

AFTERTHOUGHTS: I halved mini cookies for ears but we decided to eat them instead. The cup didn't leave much room. In the future, I think I'll make monkey cookies or cupcakes and add the halved mini cookies for ears and maybe candy bananas from a box of Runts. 

Custom Painted "TOMS" ~ Grandma's Garden

I'm on a faux TOMS painting kick. 

I made my MIL these and will happily make anyone else a pair too.

Grandma's Garden

COMING SOON:

 Panda Pirate/Panda Mermaid version for Olivia