repurposing watercolor paintings

the students paintings are collected in their painting folder throughout the year. they are sent home in bundles once at christmas break and once at the end of the year.

a friend asked me for some ideas to re-purpose some of her children's watercolor paintings that are accumulating. i remembered a post i started writing nearly a year ago on this very topic. i revised it for her and thought i would share it here with you, too (finally!).

i would not always advocate for cutting into your child's art, however we do this sort of painting on a regular basis and have acquired quite the collection of paintings! we always choose a few to keep or to display and then make a pile for crafting with.

here are some ideas to get you started:

* use it as a mat to frame another picture

* signs, signs, signs! as teachers, we use them for all sorts of postings at school. the morning meditation and the daily schedule which are both posted on the cabinets, for one example. honestly, anything is more beautiful when written on a watercolor painting!

* cards. our paintings come home from school twice a year, once being at christmas break. having a fresh supply is handy when it comes time to send out those thank you cards after the holidays.
* hanging stars. the watercolor paper is a little thick for this project, but it still worked and they are beautiful!
* star lanterns. more beautiful photos of these stunning lanterns.

* martinmas lanterns. here's one. here's another.

* another lantern. i haven't tried this yet, but really want to! when you use watercolor paintings they come out looking like this- second picture down.
* balancing butterflies. cut out a butterfly that has exactly symmetrical wings and then tape a penny to the underside of each wing, spaced evenly. the butterfly will then balance on the tip of your finger or any other groovy place your children can think of.
* pinwheels. oh how i love that she uses a real stick! ;)

* coins. my friend, joy, punched circles out of some watercolor paintings with one of those craft punchs. her children loved them and turned them into all sorts of things in their play (think money, play food, game pieces, and on and on).

* you could make your own angel cards.

* silhouette pictures. these are gorgeous and could be made to fit any theme throughout the year.

* flash cards (and greeting cards from scraps). i made sienna *flash cards* with some of ours recently. each card is square with rounded corners (also with a craft punch) and has both the capital and lower case letter on it.

* birthday banner. again, you could adapt this for any celebration. be sure to look at the side bar on her blog as she has lots more ideas for using watercolor paintings.

i would love to hear ways that you have made new art out of your children's watercolor paintings! please share in the comments and feel free to leave a link if you have posted about your creations.

thankful for our angels

specifically jasper's own angels that work overtime keeping this little guy safe. he has given me several real scares in the past month. they say that it comes in threes, so i am hoping that we are all done!

1. at the halloween carnival at sienna's school, my children enjoyed a jump in the bounce house. enjoyed, that is, until the darn thing collapsed right on top of my three year old!! seriously. sienna had just exited but jasper was still in there bouncing away when suddenly it lost power and instantly it deflated right on his head.

this sent me into survival mode. it felt like i was in a war zone or something. i crawled into the huge deflated pile of vinyl that had sandwiched my son inside. as i crawled in, i peeled apart the two layers that were the ceiling and the floor and tried to follow the sounds of his muffled screams. i quickly found him and pulled him to safety. i have never heard him scream in terror like that.

he recovered rather promptly and then my trauma set in. ;) it took me some time to settle after that.

2. a few weeks ago, jasper and i were in a car accident. thankfully, we are both fine. we were traveling on *the big road* (as my kids call it, otherwise known as the expressway), but had just slowed down as we split off to go in another direction when a woman decided she needed to change lanes immediately....right into the side of my car, which happened to be jasper's side.

as i looked up, i see this car scraping down the side of our car, passing right by my sweet child's head, just outside his window. so traumatic for this mama! this trauma took a little longer for us both to recover from.

it is just so frightening to think of the risks we are taking when we get into our car (practically) every day. yes, there are inherent risks in most everything that we do, but this experience brought back for me a serious car accident that i was in as a teenager and am so blessed to have survived. i have also lost a friend and had two friends lose their moms in car accidents, so the dangers are very real and close to heart for me.

3. i am so grateful to our sweet friends for opening their home to us on thanksgiving. we were planning to go to my mom's house but then the starter went out on my car and we are now spending our travel money to have it fixed.

so, last night the children are playing with their friends and everyone is having such fun. then jasper opens the door to the basement and falls right down the steep staircase, landing on the concrete floor below! be still my heart. once again, a short time of mild shock and then he is bounding about again with nothing more than a few minor abrasions to show for it.

i am thankful for the gifts and the many life lessons that our children bring to us. though these moments have been terrifying for us, it has helped to keep me present and grounded. it also helps to put all the other seemingly frivolous worries into perspective.

i'll be holding them both a little tighter today!

handmade holidays.....mostly

i signed on to tonya's handmade holidays long ago and am only just now getting a post up. i will say that it is my intention to gift primarily handmade, mostly by matt or myself, some from other talented people. however, there will be a few other little non-handmade items, namely books. a few beautiful children's books that i have scored at the used book store (more on that later) and some bare books for sienna.
here's what i'm working on at the moment. just finished knitting these slippers. now i need to sew them up and felt them. i am excited about this process! i am planning to make this *princess and the forest* ensemble for sienna and the slippers were the first of the three projects that i tackled. thank you, ginny, for sharing your brilliant work!
this is a sibylle von olfers book (also author of *the story of the root children*) with a simple and sweet story line and of course, her captivating illustrations. we own and love this book already. i like that it portrays a wholesome and innocent princess who communes with nature. sienna is starting to get some disney princess exposure and i am happy to offer a counter image to balance that out. ;)
here is the tail of the flying snake i am making for jasper. this is my first project with dpn's!! i have a friend coming over tomorrow to council me. ;)
this adorable little guy, nils, was made by suzane from down in the meadow. i was lucky enough to spot nils in her swap shop and we did a little trade (her site says she is taking a little break but check back to see the amazing creations she posts for trade for beautiful goodies that you create). i made her one of my sweater fairies (this one) and she sent me nils.

i used my swagbucks to score a copy of *the wonderful adventures of nils* to go along with it (making it absolutely free!) and will gift them both to sienna.

there are other little things in the works, but that is all i have to share for now. what are you busy making?

***see more handmade holidays at plain and joyful living.***

craft school

i have had the great fortune to spend a bit of time at sienna's school crafting with the children there. a few dear friends and i offered a nature craft class after school for four sessions. this was a mixed age class of grades one through three. i don't have pictures of all the projects that we made, but here are a few of them.
first up we made these gorgeous tree weavings as found here. such a beautiful and approachable project for all!
one week we made fairy looms. we laid out many types of interesting foliage for weaving into their y-sticks.
the variety and creativity the children expressed with this project was delightful!
we also dyed silks with plant dyes. something i have little experience with but enjoyed oh so much. from left to right above: black walnut, blueberries, poke berries, onion skins, and turmeric. so gorgeous and the kids were absolutely delighted!
i happened to be in the classroom when ms rachel and the first graders were stringing these peppers (they were green then). the beautiful colors they have changed into blend right in with the autumnal scenery around them. a beautiful sight indeed!i assisted the executive director in a really cool project that she brought to the first graders. we made sorghum brooms from the tassels of the sorghum plants that she grew on her farm. i loved every minute of this project and the brooms are so darn practical, too. they work really well!sienna wanted to demonstrate just how well it performs.
this week, i went to class to make corn husk dolls with them. both of these projects tie in with their appalachia unit (as in the appalachian mountains that we live in). on friday, we will gather in their classroom for our appalachian feast. the students will then share all of their work that is on display. so looking forward to it!

handmade exchange

if you have signed up for the exchange and have not gotten back to me with your info, please do so promptly. i wish to get you all paired up and on your way! thanks for all the interest in the swap!

i go with my little lantern

i have so enjoyed all the beautiful and inspiring posts about martinmas these past few days! it is such a lovely little festival. this was my third and we have made a different style lantern every year. this year we did the paper mache balloon ones. they turned out lovely!jasper chose to carry a beeswax one that we made last year. it is such a joy to witness the children's anticipation of the event. returning to school at night time is a thrill itself. carrying their own little flames inside lanterns they made themselves out into the dark night brings unparalleled joy! a short and sweet little walk, our lanterns lighting the way, our voices filling the night air. if you do not have a group to do this with, you can make a lantern and go for a walk with your own children around your neighborhood. it is such a delightful experience for young and old and a most meaningful way to signify the carrying of our lights in to the darkness of winter.
cody's turnip lantern shining brightly!

thank you to all of you that have shared your own lanterns and walks! it is refreshing to both celebrate common ground and to explore new traditions.

black and white wednesday: mother nature's leaf prints

leaf prints found in front of our house on a damp autumn day.

sign ups are still open for the seasonal handmade exchange! sign up by commenting on this post or at jen's beautiful blog, sewn natural studio.

found art

pumpkin carving happened on halloween afternoon this year. it was so sunny and warm matt and the children worked on their pumpkin together on the back porch. matt laid cardboard down to contain the mess and they used a marker to draw the face on.when i went out later to clean the mess up, i found this sweet fairy on the cardboard. when i came upon this scene in the playroom i was taken aback. she must have worked on this for an hour. every little thing is placed exactly so. the most played with *toys* in our playroom are seen here. they are: 1) our treasures from nature. these include buckeyes, acorn caps, sweet gum balls, beechnut hulls, etc. 2) silks. this is one that i had from long ago. 3) little people of all sorts, mostly wooden or felt.
there are so many little figures here! many that she made hersekf, at least one that i have made, a fisher price guy from my childhood, a couple of playmobile figures, several random wooden figures from different games or other toys, an alkelda doll, her wild child, a corn husk doll, a mamakopp gnome, princess nimble thimble mermaids, a very old baby doll that our old neighbor george gifted to her many years ago, and so many more!

i love where her richly developed imagination takes her. i sat alone in front of this scene just taking it all in. there was surely a story and a progression as to how they each ended up in those specific spots. today she set up a whole scene and told us a story. it was so inspiring! perhaps i will share a little of that tomorrow.

thank you to all that have signed up for the handmade exchange! i am excited at the talented group that is forming and can not wait to see what you all come up with. there is still time to sign up if you want to join us!

kinobe

back in the spring i posted (bottom of the post) about an amazing show we experienced at leaf, kinobe and soul beat africa. during their performance in the kids village on mother's day, jasper walked right up on stage with them and greeted one of the musicians with a big bear hug around his leg! the sweet soul scooped jasper right up into his arms and kept going. at the time, he was doing a little call and return chant. he couldn't get jasper to do it. so, he switched it up and began chanting *mo-mmy, mo-mmy*. jasper joined right in! it was mother's day and this special moment brought tears to my eyes and touched me in a way i will never forget.
when i learned that sienna's class had the opportunity to work with kinobe (pronounced “CHI-NO-BÉ”) for a one day workshop, i was overjoyed. he is an incredibly gifted musician and one of the brightest, warmest souls i have ever encountered. he has been traveling internationally since he was 10, he makes all his own traditional instruments, and provides workshops for children all over the world.

he worked with sienna and her classmates on a thursday. that afternoon, when jasper and i went to pick her up from school, kinobe was standing out on the deck. jasper zoned in on him right away and asked, *who is that man, mommy?* i reminded him about his spring encounter with him and his face lit up.

we carried on our way, gathering sienna and her things and heading back to the car. all the while, jasper never took his eyes off kinobe. when we reached the car, i attempted to buckle him into his car seat. he began to resist, trying to get out. ms joy wandered up and we became engaged in conversation while i distractedly continued wrestling my son back into his seat.

after a few minutes of this, i released him. he was nearly jumping out of the car by this time and pointing. i thought he wanted to see ms joy, but he was pointing beyond her to kinobe. i took him back up to the deck where he stood and watched for a moment as the big kids were close to kinobe. as soon as there was an opening, he darted in and embraced him fervently! i told kinobe who we are and he remembered that show vividly, saying that it had made a big impact on the band, too, and that they had talked of jasper often.
jasper would have let kinobe hold him for hours, i am sure of it. i was able to move him along knowing that we would see kinobe again in two days when he performed for the school's fall festival. on that day, jasper held us on the deck for possibly 45 mins while the band set up. he wanted to stay near this beautiful soul.

while they performed, he was glued right in front and would interact with kinobe between songs. when the music was finished, he ran to kinobe once again. the two of them embraced and kinobe took him to greet his band mates. jasper grasped his neck so tightly and just held there in a firm embrace. it warms my heart in a way i can not describe to see this connection between these two!again, jasper would easily have sat here for hours, i know it. when he is with kinobe, he rarely speaks. he just is. content and blissful. it's as if they have been reunited. what do you think?

the band has just finished up their tour and are heading home, but kinobe is still in north america on solo tour. if you have the chance to see him, do go! you won't be disappointed.

:><: announcing handmade exchange! :><:

i am excited to announce a seasonal handmade exchange! i have so enjoyed the swaps that i have been involved in. it is such a joy to receive the gift of another's time and creativity in exchange for something you have created yourself.

for this exchange, you are invited to create an item intended to enhance one's nature table (or other special niche of one's home). you will be paired with a partner anywhere in the world and you will exchange your item with your partner.

i have the honor of collaborating with jen of sewn natural studio for this project. you can sign up at her blog, by commenting here, or e-mailing either one of us.
inspiration for the swap:
this seasonal swap is inspired by the beauty in the changing seasons and the small tables and collections we have for our young children to mark and enjoy nature and its cycles. we also love to learn about other climates and places in the world, and enjoy having pieces from countries like south africa and australia on our nature table - places where spring is now emerging, instead of fall.
guidelines:
- this swap is open to anyone worldwide

SIGN UP BY Friday, NOVEMBER 12th, 2010
MAIL ITEM BY Wednesday, DECEMBER 1st, 2010

- as a participant, if you sign up, you should be willing to mail overseas and honor the swap commitment in terms of timelines

- by signing up you agree to send (swap) at least 1 item that is handmade by you, with an optional 2nd item that may or may not be handmade but should be as natural as possible (ideas could be a stone, some wool or yarn for crafting, a favorite recipe, etc.). any item(s) should be safe for the mail.

- no returns

- participation is in the spirit of sharing, openness and appreciation

- you don't need to actually have a little nature table or corner in order to participate, you just need to be interested in celebrating nature and the seasons and handcrafting something for someone else, and appreciating the swap of another from somewhere in the world.

in creative appreciation,
rae

p.s. thanks again for all the comments and love for my acorn fairy! the winner of this little beauty is seaside siblings! i will e-mail you shortly for your snail mail address!

signups are now closed for this exchange. thank you!!

the costumes

given the speed that my life is running at currently, i am not going to attempt a thorough halloween post. suffice it to say that there were a lot of festivities over four days! a halloween celebration at my school thursday, one at sienna's on friday, a huge festival at her school saturday, followed by our annual walk in the dog parade (no, we don't own a dog but this is our fifth year walking in a halloween parade with a slew of them dressed in outrageous costumes!). halloween morning we went to a birthday party and a wee bit of trick or treating to our neighbors houses that night.
at home we made an altar for those that have passed back over the rainbow bridge and decorated sugar skulls.
sienna saw a picture of a butterfly costume in an old volume of childcraft (make and do) ages ago and knew that was exactly what she wanted. she did insist her body be black (like a real butterfly's) not blue like the one pictured but wanted the wings the same.
matt and i made these wings together the night before. (yes, i said she picked her costume ages ago and we saved making the key element until the night before. that's just where i'm at right now!) i wish i had done the middle felt piece differently. it was a structural element and i modeled it after the pair of wings we deconstructed to salvage the frame. matt pointed out that we should have made it part of the design by mimicking the lines we painted. good idea.jasper was a crow.i took elements from a couple of different martha stewart costumes and came up with this. the body is a leotard with feather boas safety pinned to it. he is obsessed with black so he was pretty happy. he insisted that none of the ticklish feathers touch his skin though. daddy was his scarecrow when we went out halloween night.
this was my next favorite costume spotting. ;)
how cool are these burlap scarecrows? i love them!!

***a big thank you for all the comments on the giveaway post! wowsers. i had no idea my little fairy would generate such excitement. ;) you can still enter once a day until tomorrow night.***