Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Mommy & Me Canvas Art




I'm a bit delayed with this fun post, but I'm happy to report that this Leimenstoll is officially in print! My first project with MD Family Magazine ran online, so this month is my big debut in the magazine. 

MD Family Magazine publishes 6 issues a year and is distributed in Baltimore and Howard County locations, including grocery stores, libraries, elementary schools, and other high-traffic areas. I

The June issue focuses on "100 Places to Take the Kids" and other summer activities. I cooked up a fun "Mommy & Me" Canvas Art project for families to tackle on one of these glorious summer vacation days. 

Like all parents, I have a special place in my heart for macaroni and cotton ball art - I honestly can't wait for Drew to come home from pre-school one day with his first masterpiece. However, this project lands in that great sweet spot of giving your kids a really fun activity to work on and giving you a final product that you'll be psyched to display in any room in your house.

True story - when I hung my canvas in the kitchen, my mother-in-law asked if I had picked it up during my latest trip to IKEA. IKEA is the motherland of fun design in my opinion, so I took this as a major compliment! 


Materials:
  • Canvas
  • Paintbrushes (or hands) of various sizes and shapes
  • Craft paint
  • Painter's Tape or Washi Tape 



The final goods - love the pop of color and against a neutral wall. (And love that sweet squishy baby face as well!)
Paint the entire canvas with a solid base color (example shown uses white). This will make touch-up work a breeze at the end.

Once the base layer has dried, tape down a design with painter's tape. If you're working with a smaller canvas, washi tape provides a smaller width to work with. (say that 10 times fast!) I went with a herringbone design - the funky cousin to the oh-so-popular chevron. You could also use chipboard letters or stickers to spell out a favorite saying or your child's name.







Ask your child to cover the entire canvas, including the tape, with paint. This technique will assure you a crisp design that will pop when the tape is removed. To avoid muddled colors allow for dry time between colors.


Go paint crazy! If you know what room you want to hang your finished product in, provide a pleasing palette of colors for your child to work with. If you're letting your little one finger paint, make sure you're using nontoxic materials. We don't want this project taking a turn for the worse! Feel free to play around with various brush sizes, shapes and strokes.




Once the paint has dried, peel off the tape. Using a thin brush, touch up any spots where the paint may have bled through.


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Spread the love.




I saw this fun idea on Pinterest and knew that I needed something similar in my house. 

What a cute way to tell your kids (and husband!) all of the ways you love them. Big reasons. Small reasons. Silly reasons. Random reasons. I love you for making your bed. I love you for being kind to your brother. I love you for letting mom sleep past 6 a.m.  It's always nice to be acknowledged, and to me, it's all of those tiny things that add up to big happiness long term. 

The board also moonlights as an easy message board for a quick note or grocery list!

I found the dry erase boards at Target in the beloved One Spot;  the $1 - $5 items that are always located at the front of the store. They were so cute, colorful and perfect for this little love note project. I scooped up the stickers at Michael's and the rest is happy history.