Mason's Annual Handprint Canvas~Year 6!

Yes, we're still making a handprint canvas every year on the kids' birthdays..and yes, I'm Sooooo thankful we started this tradition when Mason turned one! We already have a nice little collage wall of handprints in his room (6 to be exact) and I just hope he lets me keep doing it until he's 18! :) Ok...I may have to stop before then, but a Mama can dream, right?

This year, I let Mason choose what colors he wanted the canvas & his handprint to be. He chose royal blue & orange. Bright--but it turned out nice, I think!

Hung in a random order...may have to rotate them before next year's handprint.

Here's the big 6 year old!

Here's a link to the past 5 years of handprint art!

Kids' Canvas Name Art

This is a fun art project that your child gets to help make! My son and I made this last Fall but I'm just now getting around to sharing it.

My son always wants to paint while I'm painting and I thought this would be a cute sign for him to make for his bedroom.

Step 1:

Paint canvas a solid color. This is the color your child's name will be. It also helps in case he/she doesn't get the canvas completely covered with paint and so white won't show through.

Step 2:

After the paint has dried, spell your child's name out in removable stickers.

You can use:

A. Painters tape (good if your child's name is short and doesn't have many curvy letters) or

B. Large letter stickers or

C. Cut out adhesive vinyl letters from a Cricut or other cutting system. (This is what I did.)

Step 3: Let your child go wild painting on the canvas--assuring that the letters get covered really well.

Step 4: Let it dry, then peel the letter stickers off to reveal your child's name!

I used a staple gun to attach a ribbon to the back of the canvas...

Then I attached 2 removable Command hooks to his bedroom door and hooked the painting on.

Here are my kids' bedroom doors! I made the ribbon wreath for my daughter's door and I have since added a large painted wooden letter in the center. I love having their names/initials on their bedroom doors!

If you'd like to see another kids canvas art idea, check out our Annual Handprint Art. 

Sand Art

This Summer, my son turned 5 and we threw him a Scooby Doo birthday party. It was the first party in which he invited some friends from preschool, so in addition to a game, I wanted to have an activity/craft for the kids to do and be able to take it home. I thought that making sand art would be both fun and fit the bright colored 70's theme of the party. It was a hit!


I set up the table in the backyard (didn't want sand in my house!), covered it with a plastic tablecloth and set up all the supplies. The kids did the rest!



The dog bone sign was for Scooby Doo~it looks kinda of out of place in these pictures without seeing the rest of the party LOL!

I made up an example sand art and had it on the table. I just put all the containers in a bowl in the middle so the kids could pick which shape they wanted.




Supplies Needed:

Colored Sand (I got 7 different colors)
Small funnels (1 for each child)
plastic (or glass) containers with lids (1-2 for each child)
spoons (to scoop sand into funnel)

All of the sand art supplies (sand, funnels, & plastic containers) are found together on a craft aisle at Hobby Lobby)

Madelyn's Annual Handprint~Year 1!

My son has a nice collection of 5 of these now (see previous post) and it's now my daughter's turn to start her handprint tradition, since she just turned One!

I went with light pink on pearlescent hot pink paint. I use a metallic silver marker to write her name, age, and the date (which is on the side.)


She moved (who knew) so her face is a little blurry

Checkin it out

I hung it over her dresser-I'll have to move it in the future when she gets more.

Mason's Annual Handprint~Year 5

You know the drill by now...Each year on his birthday, I paint Mason's hand and put it on a little painted canvas. I'm so thrilled we started this tradition because it's fun art for his room that is also a great keepsake that shows how much he's grown over the years! This year I chose charcoal grey & yellow paint.




Here are all the other year's posts, if you care to check those out:

2010

2009

2007 and 2008

The canvases will get bigger & bigger! *sniff*
Next post: Madelyn's FIRST handprint canvas!!!

Thrift Store Frames with Art Prints

My son's room has a robot theme and he really desperately needs something hanging on his poor walls! I came across this robot abc print and thought I'd seek out a thrift store frame to alter to match his room. I also got an owl abc print to match my daughter's room (and she doesn't need anything else on her walls-but I managed to fit it in somewhere anyway!)

I found these two frames at Helping Hands. The brown one was $2 and the white one was $3.
I popped out the glass & mats & sprayed them...
Watermelon & Cherry Red gloss!
I adhered the robot print to a sheet of navy blue cardstock that I cut down from a 12x12...
Then, to add just a little dimension, I used Zots glue dots to adhere the cardstock to the mat. (The inner area of the mat was too small to let the entire print to show through, so I simply put the print on top of the mat.)
Here is the final product, hung on my son's wall! I love how it turned out...
...And how well it matches his room!
Here is the BEFORE of my daughter's frame. I really scored on this one at $3 because it had this print in it that had been professionally framed and matted with non-glare glass.
After I sprayed it Watermelon, I decided to sand some of the paint off to show the detail of the lines in the frame and to hide of few small chips in the wood.
I adhered the owl print to the pink marbled mat that the frame came with...and hung it on the wall! Super cheap & easy & I love the results!


I'm linking up here:

Did you know?

Did you know I have another blog where I post my hand painted art & frames?



My business is called Fiddlesticks Art & More



and all the items I post there are for sale either locally (in NW AR) or on Etsy.



I'd appreciate it if you'd check it out!



And click "Follow" to follow the blog...



And "Like" to follow me on Facebook!



Thanks so much for your support!

This is me...

You feel that creativity provides insight into your own being. In fact, it is like therapy for you, enabling you to get to know yourself better. You seem to be looking for a way into the mysteries of the subconscious. It’s not really self-expression you are seeking, but rather the tools of self-expression: discovering what your creation will reveal about yourself. Art helps you reflect on, analyse and expand your personality. You long to be creative, and it’s not just because you need to deal with your emotions. It’s the tension between contradictions, and the need to resolve doubt that drives you to be creative. Painting pictures, decorating rooms, arranging shells in the sand — these are all creative processes that allow your introspection to roam. You can trace your life through the different ways you have exercised your creativity. For you, art is there to make sense of life. You are more attracted to artistic activities
that demand reflection, planning and solitude, and the personal discoveries you make often provide answers for others, too.

(Found here and here.)

Inspiration: Woodland Animals

Since I've been decorating my baby girl's nursery over the last few months in a woodland animal theme, I've come across some wonderfully lovely items that are so inspiring! Many of them are owls~I just can't get enough. I'm constantly amazed at all the eye candy I find on Etsy.com and I'd love to own each and every one of these items, if I only had the space & the funds! So I just thought I'd share some (ok, a lot!) of my faves that have inspired me...



"The Bright Forest" (top) and "Rose" by Marisol Spoon on Etsy

Sleepy Heads vintage 70's children's book by vvpaperemporium on Etsy

Foster the Angora Owl by Woolcrazy on Etsy

Sterling silver Baby Owl necklace by Made by S.A.M. on Etsy
Ling Who Owl Bank by Just Puff on Etsy


Miniature Playset, Felt Owl in a Tree toy by HibouCards on Etsy



"Lilly Petal" felt owl plush, also by HibouCards on Etsy

Hedgie hair clip by Flashy Fish on Etsy

Bird in Her Hair, Pretty in Polka Dots hair clip by Ribbon Candy hair bows on Etsy

Woodland Friendly Owl Hair clip by Rosey Posey Bowtique on Etsy

Wooden animal toys-set of 3 by The Wood Garden on Etsy

Bon Bon & Belchick Squirrels by Sleepy King on Etsy


"Owl" (top)and "The Keeper of Time" (bottom) Both by Karen Davis on Etsy