Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’ll be honest, I don’t really understand this holiday as it is celebrated in the United States. Despite having Irish heritage, I will not be consuming anything imbued with green food coloring today. But we did make some of this play dough yesterday, so here’s a shamrock for you.
Here’s a project that my six-year-old wanted to try after thinking about this painting that was made by her Daddy. Can you tell that this is a ladybug?
We used a piece of printable canvas and acrylic paints since that’s what we had on hand. She drew the ladybug with pencil, then I left the room to look for a ruler. When I came back, she had drawn her own grid. Well, OK! You could make the squares as small or as large as you want them. I asked her to paint one square at a time and leave some space around the edges, but she took it from there. She had a couple of spots that she painted the wrong color, but since we were using acrylic paint we let the paint dry and she painted over them. I think she made some interesting art and managed to use both sides of her brain in the process.
Do more with your child’s artwork! I used my embroidery machine to sew my daughter’s drawing onto the fabric, but you could transfer your child’s design and hand embroider, print on fusible paper or printable fabric, have your child draw with fabric markers, or a number of other options. We use tote bags frequently and I thought it would be nice to have a pint sized version. They can haul their own snacks to the park, carry home groceries, or tote a change of clothes.
Here is the tutorial for the bag: childs-artwork-tote-bag. The pocket method that I used is a bit different from the version pictured above and the pocket is smaller (6″x6″ finished size). Also, I did not include specific instructions about creating the drawing on the pocket, but you could use any of the methods mentioned above. So this is a versatile tote bag pattern that you could edit in many ways.
If you live in Atlanta, be sure to come out this Thursday for Kraftwork at Young Blood Gallery from 7-10pm. This event takes place on the first Thursday of each month and is sponsored by the Indie Craft Experience.
This week, I will be there with my six-year-old who has designed her very own set of animal softies, Eva’s Art Sewing. Around the beginning of the year, she started asking me (repeatedly) if she could have a job. So we came up with this plan. She’s the designer and I’m the laborer. I wanted to encourage her entrepreneurial spirit, so we’re donating half of the proceeds to the World Wildlife Fund and I’m letting her keep half to buy art supplies. We would really love it if you can come out to see us!
Here’s a photo of her horse. She drew the design, then I digitized it for the embroidery machine, we sewed it and stuffed it. Eva created the background scenery for this photo.
Check out my post over at Alpha Mom for super easy instructions on how to make this Mardi Gras necklace with your kids.
