Artwork Overload

By Cori of Peace, Baby! Batiks

Kids are prolific artists, and they want every creation hung in your home gallery, whether that’s the fridge, a wall, bulletin board, or, in our house, a door. Every so often I have to take my son’s art down and sort through it – mostly to make way for new art!

Not sure what to do with the creations you take down? Here are some ideas.

Save It
I save the projects I have fond memories of making or artwork that is particularly special or marked some kind of “first”: The first time he drew something I recognized, the first time he wrote letters, the first time he drew a face, etc. I keep these in a folder that is already stuffed full – and he doesn’t start kindergarten until 2013! Time to sort through that folder, I think …

Share It
Grandparents, aunts, and uncles love kid artwork, and chances are their fridges are empty. Share your little one’s creativity by sending artwork to them.

Repurpose It
There are a ton of ways to use your child’s artwork to make other pieces of art. Here are a few of my favorites (found, of course, on Pinterest!).

• Paint Cut Paste shared a great weaving project that would work great for those abstract pieces your kids have made! 
• Another great use for abstract art and early scribbles is to cut it into shapes (or use a punch) and mount it on canvas, as seen at Squash Bottom Babies. 
• I love this idea from Prudent Baby to use your kids’ artwork, tiles, and Mod Podge to make fun trivets or coasters. Great gift idea! 
• Or, cut the artwork into squares and piece it back together as a mosaic. More frameable art! 
• I’m a scrapbooker, so a couple of years ago, I took some of my son’s finger paintings and used them as a background for a scrapbook page about his artistic efforts. 

How do you handle the artwork overload at your house?

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EtsyKids Design Challenge for June: Schools out for Summer!

via

For our June challenge Lori of ttykes (our last month's winner) would like to celebrate with all the "rockin" kids out there -"Schools out for Summer!" Celebrating whatever fun things kids like to do during their summer vacation.

EtsyKids members will have until June 20th to submit their entries, and voting will be open to everybody from June 21st to June 27th. So, be sure to come back to the EtsyKids blog for a new post on the 21st to see all of the entries and VOTE!  In the meantime, please click here to get a sneak peek at some exciting entries so far!

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Happy Father's Day

Daddy's use to be little once too!  Here are some fun finds for the future daddy's in your life.

Balloon Buddy (fabric balloon cover) by kidsloveletters

Dinosaur T-Rex T-shirt by Westmama

Fire Truck Personalized Wall Art by babychickdesigns

Custom Boys Knight Costume by VintageDuck

Boutique Burp Cloth set of 3 by MomNMiaQuilts

Toddler Boy Bow Ties by kdpdesigns

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Urban Farming: Involving the Children

Sarah, of ThatsAWrapBaby, has been sharing a short series of posts on her blog Three Little Monkey's on Urban Farming.  Today she shares of one of the projects in her series.  You can visit her blog (see her May 2012 posts) for other projects in the series.  

The kids and I set about creating a tiered herb garden yesterday afternoon. This project was inspired by one in the book The Ultimate Step-by-Step Kid's First Gardening Book. The book is fabulous and brimming with wonderful, kid friendly gardening ideas.

This project is perfect for kids of all ages. I had an 8 year old, 5 year old, and 4 year old helping, plus a 2 year old watching on. We modified the plans a bit to accomidate our meager budget! Instead of pretty terra cotta pots of varying sizes, I found some plastic and metal pots in the dollar bins at Target (small, medium, and large. Make sure they'll nest). They aren't as pretty, but they'll serve our purpose well. I am also banking on the herbs growing large and hiding the pots a bit.

First things first, make sure you have the right tools gathered. We had our three nesting pots, a bag of soil, a trowel, some seeds, and a few small herbs. We chose basil, thyme, lemon balm, chamomile, and curly parsley. There is a bit room for more, but that's what we had. Steer clear of mint, as it grows rampant and will take over your pots! Have fun choosing your favorite herbs or try new varieties. There are so many to choose from.

After we gathered our tools, we set the medium sized pot inside the largest pot and filled in all around with potting soil. We had a few herbs that were already a bit large, but mostly we had seeds (trying to be economical!!). We planted a couple types of seeds and a couple larger plants in this bottom tier. 

We filled in a bit more and then set the smallest pot into the middle one and filled in around it. We planted a few more herbs in our middle pot.

We then filled the top pot with soil and planted a lovely bit of curly parsley to crown our herb garden.

This fun project was quick and easy! It was perfect for including all of the children and gave them a real sense of ownership in our garden. 

 Try this project with your own little ones! Keep it in a sunny place and let them water it each day. Very soon, their own herbs will be gracing the kitchen!

We would LOVE to have you join in the conversation with comments or links to your own adventures in Urban Farming!

Sarah can be found on Facebook, at her Blog, and on Etsy at her shop ThatsAWrapBaby:

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Introducing little girl Pearl

Today We Introduce You To Melissa from little girl Pearl

Q: What motivated you to start your shop?

My daughter! I went into a quilting shop with my Mom one day, and spied some Amy Butler fabrics. Inspired to pull out my old sewing machine from college, I grabbed a cute pattern, some adorable Alexander Henry fabric, and went to work one day to make her a cute little pant set for an upcoming wedding. I had been buying second hand designer duds on ebay, but after completing my first handmade garment for my daughter, piping and all, I was hooked. The fabric stash grew into an obsession, and when people started coming up to me and asking me where my I got those fabulous clothes for my daughter, "little girl Pearl" was born.

Q: What is the story behind your shop name?

My daughter's middle name is Pearl, after my paternal grandmother. It seemed an obvious choice for my business. She is my little girl Pearl!

Q: Do you have a favorite Etsy Shop (non-child related)?

I have several favorite etsy shops. I wear jewelry from my friend Erica Walker of WalkerSilverworks.etsy.com on a daily basis, and enameled wonders from Lia at bullfinchbarbury.etsy.com. But there are others I love just as much!

Q: What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?

Something that has always amazed me is the reach of etsy! I have had buyers from all over the world... Australia, Norway, Thailand, Singapore, France, Italy, and from most regions of the U.S.. To me, there is nothing that surprises me more than that.
 

Q: What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?

The most challenging aspect is finding time for it all. I can tell you, ashamedly, that my house is a bit of a disaster. Alas...
 

Q: What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?

My personal philosophy is that I want my craftsmanship and enthusiasm to shine through my designs. I adore what I do. I get so excited when I have a whole day in my studio to "play" with color and pattern. I am thrilled when one of my customers takes as much delight in my designs as I do. And I am very proud of the extra time and care that I put into each and every dress. Piping and all!

Q: How would someone (other then you) describe you?

They would describe me as being full of dichotomies. Driven, yet laid back. Introverted, yet personable. Opinionated, yet amenable.
 

Q: What music do you have on while you are creating?

The music I listen to is very dependent on my mood. I've been known to crank up the volume on Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" when working with the sweetest of pink fabrics...talk about a dichotomy!! I love jazz, but I've been listening to the National, an alternative rock group quite a bit. But my absolute favorite thing to listen to while working is the BOSTON RED SOX! I'm a diehard fan, and because we don't have a TV, I listen to them on the radio when I work in the evenings...nothing better! Especially when they win!
 

Q: What do you do when you aren't working?

When I'm not sewing, I'm flying. I'm a flight attendant for Delta Airlines, and travel all over the world for my job. I've been doing it for 20 years, and still love it. I don't have a particular route, but lately have been flying to Amsterdam a lot. Best place for bicycling in the world (because it's flat!). On my London layover I was able to catch a show in the West End. What a life!
 

Q: Anything else you'd like to tell us or share?

I'm so grateful for having my daughter who keeps me on my toes on a daily basis. I'm grateful to be surrounded by family and friends who support my endeavors. I'm grateful to be able to CREATE!

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We ♥ Dad

'I Heart Daddy' T-shirt or Onesie by thenook

'homebrewed' baby/toddler shirt or bodysuit by kith

'Daddy's Little Man' bodysuit or tee by rhoadworks

'I love daddy' handstitched onesie by aperfectreasure

'Just Like Dad' onesie/bodysuit/t-shirt by jennifernoeldesigns

'Thanks for my Dad' handpainted shirt by ThanksForMyChild

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Bring the Outdoors In: Beautiful Things - Collecting and Sorting

By Christine of Belly Bear Baby Gear

Items found in nature contain such beauty, and children seem to be particularly attuned to this beauty. With only a few simple items, you can encourage your children to participate in this fun and educational nature based activity.

All you will need is a paper bag (or other collecting vessel), an empty egg carton and the great outdoors!

Begin by giving your child a paper bag and bringing them outside. A walk in the woods would provide for some great diverse items for collection, but as you will see, your own back yard will do just fine.

If you are working with young children, you may need to show them what to do by placing a few items in their bag for them. Encourage them to collect as many small three dimensional items as they'd like.

Sean was particularly drawn to this patch of grass and rocks in our yard. He discovered big and little rocks as well as a few left over acorn caps. As your child collects more items, this is an opportunity for you to build their nature vocabulary by naming and labeling what they are collecting.

Once your bags are nice and full bring them inside and pour the contents into the top portion of your egg carton.

Sit back for a moment and enjoy the spoils of all your hard work. Allow your child to study the items and consider how they may be sorted.

Young toddlers will simply enjoy exploring the items and filling the cups in the egg carton at random. You can begin encouraging them to notice the similarities and differences by explaining "Let's put all the rocks together" or "Look at all the pink petals".

When working with older children you can encourage more advanced sorting skills. Allow them to study what they have collected and decide how they will sort the beautiful things they have found. They may decide to sort by color placing all the brown things and pink things together, or they may decide sorting by type of object makes the most sense for them.

This activity will encourage your child to begin developing their mathematical thinking skills such as sorting objects varying by one or two attributes all the while enjoying the natural objects they collected. Take a moment to enjoy the beauty found outside with your children and help foster the next generation of nature lovers.

Christine can be found online on her blog Belly Bear Baby Gear, facebook, and her etsy shop:

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