The Toby Show

Emergency Art Projects

Despite how a blog can make things seem, we are not constantly doing super neato art projects over here. Sure, we do a fair amount but I sometimes think if there's anything I collect as a hobby, its ideas for neato art projects.  I do love pointing Huck in a certain direction and then stepping back and letting him really get creative with some new material, or making art based on something we're learning about.  And I love having a variety of materials--pencils, crayons, markers, papers, little books--available to him for whenever he wants to make something completely self-inspired. 

But sometimes...sometimes...there's just too much going on.  

Sometimes he wants to paint right as Jemima needs to be put down for a nap.  Sometimes he decides he must have an art project while I've got 3 pots going on the stove and a baby underfoot.  Sure, I could tell him to wait, but occasionally I take a different tack. 

Busy work.  I keep a nice supply of little workbook type projects handy.  Minimal skill is required and there's very little room for creativity but I use these when my intention is not to challenge him creatively, but to keep him busy without direct supervision ort much chance of disaster.  When there's no time to set up a whole area, no time to wash him up afterwards, no time to sit with him and talk about it or participate. 

Kumon coloring, folding, cutting and maze books are great and really do help build certain skills and teach following directions, but Paint With Water and Crayola Color Wonder Books are perfect for this intention, too.

Just because these types of projects don't fit into your art or education philosophy doesn't mean they don't have their place in a busy household.  Using them judiciously means when you do bring them out they feel exciting and fun, instead of boring and limiting. 

Watercolor Wall Art

We really did a lot of fun things during the blogcation.  And it's not that we don't do lots of fun things while I'm blogging too but I did have a serious backlog of to do's and fun projects to try.  I needed to focus power.  Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be sharing lots of fun stuff from the break.  Like this...

I bookmarked this fabulous idea from The Crafty Crow many, many weeks ago--I have more Crafty Crow posts "kept new" than any other blog in my feedreader, by a factor of at least 5 (Thank you a million times, Cassi).  I thought it would be prefect for some new artwork for the kids' room and some birthday cards for family and friends this year. 

I did a little prep work the night before cutting letters and shapes out of white contact paper and then sticking them to watercolor paper.  Then Huck did the watercoloring, card folding and, best of all, the peeeeeeeling. 

It was a really fun project.  I'm usually more about the fun of doing than the end product but I also think there's plenty of room for results oriented projects, too.  And the results here were amazing!  Even Huck was excited with how great they looked. 

He's very proud to have replaced a couple of Curious George posters with his own artwork in the room he shares with his sister. 

   

Those new curtains were another little blogcation project that finally got done.  The list is getting shorter...

More Quick Handmade (and Upcycled!) Blank Books

Over the weekend I made more little blank books to have around like the one Huck used for his I Love You book.  But I got pretty bored with my card stock choices--I've been using these 5 bright colors for EVERYTHING for the past couple of years.  But rather than wait until I could get to a store and then have to pony up and buy something new, I hit the recycling bin.  Once again, a "make do" item turned out to be WAY cooler than what I would have made if I'd bought the new supplies I thought I needed.

Cute, no?

Obviously, I just cut out cardboard food boxes for the cover and back, folded in half, folded blank paper inside and stapled.  Huck thought it was pretty neat. 

For a nicer version, check out these cool upcycled journals and notebooks from the Etsy shop Ivy Lane Designs.  What a great handmade gift along with some art supplies.  My project was a marriage between the Ivy Lane books (though not nearly as nicely done) and the handmade blank books I first saw on SouleMama.

Huck tested.  Huck approved.

I Love You Book

Yesterday Huck was talking about things he loves--blueberries, lollipops, books--and I came up with the idea of making a book full of drawings of all the things he loves right now.  He was game. 

It was a fun and easy way to quietly kill an hour while the baby napped.  And it will be a wonderful memento to have.

 

Why yes, I did recently get a mohawk.  It was going to be a surprise.

In the past I've pulled his pictures together and created a book with them after he's drawn them.  But this idea was different.  I wanted him to have the feeling that he was creating parts of a whole.  He was making a book.  I remembered these simple handmade books SouleMama made a while back and went with it.  We stacked 5 sheets of blank white paper on top of 1 sheet of card stock, folded it all in half, then stapled the spine.  You can also sew the spine and/or cover for a great look.  Then we just sat down with the art supplies and talked about things he loves. .  

Besides being a fun art project, it was also a really fun talk.  I may have to do these yearly.  At least.  And I will definitely keep a supply of these simple books on hand for when the mood strikes him.

Nest Cam :: Drawing Project

This is simple but it's a good first robin related art project for us.  Just grab your favorite art supplies--crayons, colored pencils, markers--and draw a picture of the robins or the eggs.

Here's Huck's drawing. 

He really wanted there to be 5 eggs so he drew the nest with little Yellow in there, too.  That's Clementine and Abner perched there on the side of the nest.  The rest of the drawing is the porch and the stairs.

Now, it's your turn!  But here's the catch:  We want to be able to see your drawing, too.  So, I've start a Nest Cam Flickr Group for all the art projects.  I hope you'll join the group and share your photos with us.  And be sure to describe your picture in the comments section.  We've added the photos of the robins so far and this drawing to start it all off. 

We can't wait to see everyone's drawings!

Fingerprints

You know, there are certain things that I just can't wait for Huck to be the right age for.  I can't wait until we can read a chapter each night from big books like Charlotte's Web, The Princess Bride and Treasure Island.  I can't wait until he's old enough to see The Wizard of Oz (some might say that at 3 he's already there but I'm not willing to risk Flying Monkey nightmares quite yet).  And I can't wait until he's old enough to use Ed Emberley drawing books.

This is my actual book from when I was a girl. 

I loved my Ed Emberley books so much and I was incredibly thrilled to find my Drawing Book of Animals in a box of children's books my mom saved.  Thanks, Mom.

Note to self:  Put away favorite books in a special box for each of my kids and give them back when they are old enough to appreciate, cherish and share them with their own children.

The idea behind all of his books is that you can draw anything by just putting together basic shapes and lines.  He really breaks drawing down to basic building blocks and makes it very fun.

Funprints is another one of Ed's brilliant books that I remember fondly.  I loved it so much that when I saw a copy at my local bookstore, Dark Horse Books, I bought it even though Huck was only 2 at the time. 

I've been twiddling my thumbs for over a year and I finally showed it to him a few days ago even though he's really still too young to make anything quite this small and detailed.  Still, he loved the idea and was charmed by all the little critters.  He'll grow into it.  And in the meantime, he's plenty old enough to make other neat things with finger and thumb prints.

After we looked at the book I cut out this tree for him to decorate.  I was thinking he'd cover it with fingerprint leaves but Huck said he wanted to make apples.  Perfect! 

And while he's mastering how to press the stamp pad just so and get his print down the way he wants it, maybe I'll just keep the old Funprints book warmed up for him.

Wet Chalk Art

Clock
Huck Dyer, March 2009
Chalk on construction paper

A super quick and easy art project from Preschool Art: It's the Process, Not the Product.  I love this book.

Dissolve a 1/4 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water.  Soak some small pieces of chalk in the sugar water for about 10 minutes and use up all that extra black construction paper that's always left over.  The sugar water makes the chalk colors really POP and keeps them from smudging. 

When you're finished, pour the cup of sugar water in your hummingbird feeder!

Collage Kit in Action

We've been having a blast with the Collage Kit I made.  I can't wait to get a birthday party invitation in the mail so I can put another one together as a gift. 

Here's the first project we made with ours.

Huck is very into the ocean right now so I cut out a bunch of sea creature shapes from card stock.  I put them out along with the collage kit and let him go wild.

Huck's cousin joined in the fun and made a very lovely "lady of the pole" fish.  That's the kind of thing that happens when you invite college students to do preschooler craft projects. 

As the fish were finished, we attached them to a long piece of string that I'd taped to the wall.  

I had planned to transfer the display to the playroom.  Maybe hang it from the ceiling so it would dangle and turn, but you know how preschoolers are.  It now belonged where it was and any talk of relocation was met with whining pleas.  I have a feeling we'll have this sea creature collage hanging in the kitchen for a very long time.  Which is fine.

We love collaging with bits of tissue paper.  Remember the Christmas cards and ornament we made using a tissue paper on foil technique?  Though they're Christmas projects you can see how easily both ideas could be adapted to almost anything. 

In fact, we've started doing handmade birthday cards using a combo of the 2 projects.  Just fold a sheet of construction paper or card stock in half, cut out the letter of the birthday boy/girl's first name from some of the tissue collaged foil, then spray mount or glue it to the front of the card.  Write a short message inside and have your child add some bling.  If it's for family, be sure to write your child's name and age on the back, too.  They make nice personal cards for any occasion.

Put to this use, the Collage Kit is not only a cheap "toy", it's actually saving you money!

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Collage Kit Birthday Present

Hello and welcome to everyone visiting from One Crafty Place and Kiddio!

I put a collage kit together for Huck recently using a tackle box and craft supplies my mom sent from the dollar store.  Not only was it a big hit with Huck, this is now going to be my easy "go to" birthday gift for little kids.

The supplies consisted of puff balls, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, googly eyes, sequins, tissue paper
& some foam dinosaurs.  All in, my mother assures me it was under $10 worth of goodies.  I filled Huck's box with a good amount of stuff but have a ton of everything left in assorted baggies in our craft drawer.

Next time I get a birthday invitation in the mail I'll pick up a small tackle box at my local hardware store (Walmart or Target for those of you in the civilized world) for under $10.  Then I'll just load that sucker up with supplies from my stash, add a pair of child's scissors and a big glue stick from the grocery store for another $3-4 and tie a big bow onto the handle.  If you have paint pens or paints on hand, write the birthday boy or girl's name on the  top of the box, too.

Then--Abracadabra!--a personalized, fun, engaging and inexpensive gift for any young child.

It's a really awesome sidekick to his Art Supply Caddy, too.

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Be sure to check out our collage kit in action and this other great gift idea for kids.

And while you're here, have a look at some of the other fun Toys and Games we've made.

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Valentine's Day Cookies and Crafts

We made old-fashioned Valentines (just big decorated hearts) for family last weekend.

It was a very special day for Huck--his very first experience with glitter.  I had been putting it off because I knew that despite my best efforts it would wind of EVERYWHERE.  I was right.  But what the hell.  What's a childhood without glitter in your underpants anyway?

Check out that sparkley upper lip.  Valentine's are very serious business.

Besides the Valentines, I'm planning a special dinner of Elk Bolognese over polenta, using this recipe and I'm making two very cool cookies I found on other blogs.

I doing a take-off on these jazzed up Oreos (my husband's favorite cookie) from Her Cup Overfloweth.  I'm dipping in melted White Chocolate instead and doing the colored sprinkles.  With his new glitter experience, Huck should be an asset.

I'm also going to make these easy but gorgeous Peppermint Hearts from Flossie Teacakes.  Don't they look melt in your mouth delicious?

So, here's hoping for breakfast in bed on Sunday!

What are your Valentine's Day plans?