Vendor Spotlight: Little Blank Canvas

Little E has just started art lessons at Little Blank Canvas and I'm loving how awesome they are!! She had her first lesson last week and I'm really impressed with how much they fit into the lesson, how age appropriate the material was, and how much Little E loved it.

 

We arrived a little early so Little E was able to enjoy some time on their giant chalkboard. It's painted directly on the wall and Little E was fascinated by this!

 

Once the lesson began I was really impressed with how well Ms. Brittney led the lesson. She was great with the kids and broke it down so well for them. This week's lesson was drawing and painting a self-portrait. They discussed each feature they would have to draw, it's location, and she would give them tips for how to draw it.

 

 

After their lesson was complete and their paintings were drying, Ms. Brittney treated them to a story. Little E is a huge fan of story time so she loved this!!

 

 

They finished the class off with some chalk drawing on black paper. They practiced writing and drawing with the chalk between their toes and drawing silly made up animals.

 

 

Now for the big reveal...Little E's self-portrait. (Please remember that she's almost 5 and super proud of this one.) We'll just say it's abstract...

 

 

 

 

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Craft: Love Painting

I am a huge fan of Pinterest!! A couple weeks ago I found this photo on there and just had to recreate it. Now, I'm crafty but I'm not artsy at all! I can't draw and I do not freehand well at all, but I decided to give it a try.

{Etsy}

I know, Valentine's has just passed but Little E and I had so much fun painting this and I'm loving having it hung up in the house. Now I did change it up a little so that it would match my bedroom, but it was super easy and what an awesome keepsake.

 

I bought the canvas (a 2-pack of very large canvas' was $7.99 - not on sale) and I bought two small bottles of acrylic paint. ($0.82 since they were 40% off), all at Hobby Lobby. Don't forget if you subscribe to their emails (or check the newspaper) they always have a 40% off coupon for anything not already on sale.

 

I know acrylic paint is scary with kids, but it washed right off and washable paint just won't show up well on canvas. I stripped Little E down to her panties so we didn't ruin her clothes and it worked just fine.

 

First, you'll paint the canvas. I think it works better to have the darker color for this coat, but it's up to you. It will take you several coats but I had paint leftover so one bottle of each should be more than enough.

 

Once you're happy with the base coat, free hand your "L" and "e". This is the hard part. If the painting intimidates you, you can always purchase vinyl sticker letters instead. Be sure when you're painting to leave room for one handprint and two footprints.

 

Lastly, add the handprint and footprints. I found it was easiest to start with the feet. They're going to take up more room and you can control how big the handprint is by opening up or closing the fingers. You'll probably have to touch up the handprint and footprints with a little bit of paint to make sure that they're dark enough.

 

Here's our finished product:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

 

 

 

 

Happy Valentine's from Little E & me!!!!

 

Story Time: Valentine's

Barnes and Noble story time is one of the best story times in our area. Most Barnes & Noble stores have a rotating group of people that read the stories and they don't offer much more. Our local store however, has an awesome story lady!! Ms. Wanda is fantastic and she is GREAT with the kids. She knows their names, she brings cookies for them, and she knows what stories they like.

This week we were celebrating Valentine's with several Valentine's themed stories. Our favorite was "Pete The Cat: Valentine's Is Cool" by James Dean & Kimberly Dean. After cookies and storytime the kids had a blast making Valentine's with stickers, crayons, and markers.

Ms. Wanda even brought Valentine's for each kid!! Really, she's awesome!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Playdate: Meet A Groundhog

What better way to celebrate Groundhog Day (a little late, but still) than to meet an actual groundhog (or two)?! That's exactly what Emma and I did at the library for this awesome playdate!

The Piedmont Environmental Center visited the library with two of their groundhogs, Hansel & Gretel. Hansel & Gretel were rescued, along with their siblings, after their mother was accidently cleared while a man was clearing some of his land. While their siblings were taken to another rescue facility, Hansel & Gretel were taken in by the Piedmont Environmental Center. Unfortunately, because of their condition when they were taken in, these groundhogs cannot be released back into the wild so they will stay at the environmental center.

 

The keepers came in and told us their story, shared some interesting groundhog facts with us, showed us a video about what all they do and some of the animals they take care of, and answered some hilarious questions from the kids. Afterwards, we got the opportunity to meet and pet the groundhogs. You wouldn't believe how sweet and soft they are!

 

Here are some of my favorite shots from this unique playdate:

Ready to learn some cool groundhog facts! Did you know that groundhogs eat fruits and vegetables, just like us??

How cute is he???

Little E was in love! She kept asking when we could get our own groundhog.

 

 

 

 

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Library Storytime: Penguins

Little E and I are in love with library storytimes. We are so lucky to have such awesome children's librarians that come up with such great activities for them.

If you've ever been to stortytime, they generally involve a grown up reading a book or two and that's about it. Not here!! Storytime begins by finding a mat and picking your seat. Right away the kids are singing (and dancing) their hello song, followed by several stories, songs or finger plays, and ending with a craft. Each storytime has a theme (this one being penguins) and each story, song, and activity fits the theme.

This week we read four books, our favorite being "Quickly, Quigley" by Jeanne M. Gravois. We also build stand up penguins and colored penguin pictures.

Reading for some penguin stories

Making her stand up penguin

Ta-Da!!!

 

 

 

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