Hand print fishes!

Now that the school holidays are well under way we have been doing lots of art and crafts, including the ever faithful hand printing! Hand printing always goes down well and is pretty versatile. We decided to make some hand print fish pictures the other day as a nod to the summer!

You will need – paper, paint, crepe paper, card and glue.

Begin by painting your hand in whichever colour you like. My kids chose to do multi coloured stripes like a rainbow!

Print down onto your paper.

Leave your prints to dry, then turn them into fish by adding a mouth and eyes.

Then cut out your fish and stick them down onto some card. We also added green crepe paper seaweed and blue bubbles!

The kids loved their finished hand print pictures! You could also add glitter and other sea creatures! A fab, simple art activity for the summer holidays!

We hope you all have a very crafty, fun filled week!

 

Water Balloon printing!

This type of printing is one of my kids utter favourites and we have spent many hours experimenting with different colours to create some fantastic art work! Balloon printing gives such unique and individual results each time and is sure to be a big hit! (Adult supervision is required otherwise you may have quite a bit of water on your hands – and not in the balloon)!!!

To balloon print you will need – water balloons, paper and paints.

1 – Begin by filling your water balloons and setting out your different coloured paints. (I use disposable take away food trays which I wash and re-use for paint activities).

2 – Gently dip your balloon into your paint and print gently onto your paper. (Gently does it)!

3 – Build up your pattern or create a picture using the circle prints.

We had lots of fun using the balloons to create different pictures and different patterns! This is a perfect activity for kids who love printing in a slightly different way to the usual! It is also a lovely sensory activity as the balloons do feel fab for little hands.

We made lots of different pictures and patterns with the balloons! A simple, different way to create some lovely artwork!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our very first make under doll!

I am so excited to share mine and my daughters latest project with you! It is something that my daughter has wanted to do for a long long time but I have been putting it off as I wasn’t sure how it would go and I really didn’t want her to be disappointed!

A few months ago I came across an article on my facebook feed about a lady called Sonia Singh who gives old, unwanted Bratz dolls a new lease of life by giving them a make-under and calling them Tree Change dolls. I was so impressed! I am not a huge fan of Bratz dolls – my daughter has them but I have never understood why they needed such copious amounts of make up – not the best message to be sending out to our children! I much preferred Sonia’s more natural looking dolls! As I was browsing through her website I found some DIY tutorial videos where she encourages parents to give it a go themselves. I showed my daughter and she instantly fell in love with the changed dolls (and then instantly asked if we could make under one of her dolls together)….. I can honestly say I was not sure at all! Don’t get me wrong I love creating and crafting but I doubted if I could make my daughters doll look anywhere near as lovely as Sonia’s creations!

After endless nagging pleading from my daughter I eventually gave in and we started work on the make under! She chose a doll that had been given to her by a friend which was in desperate need of a little love!

 

As you can see the doll looks wonderful – complete with what looks like extra felt tip eye make up!

We started by using nail varnish remover and cotton pads to remove all of the make up from the face. Try not to scour the face as it can scratch it, instead firmly rub! The glitter lipstick was pretty tough to get off and needed quite a bit of time.

Once all of the make up was removed from the face we started painting her new face with acrylic paints. We looked at lots of Sonia’s creations online for inspiration and then took the plunge! (I must admit I was pretty scared I was going to mess it up – I was in charge of the lovely dolls eyes – eeek)! My daughter painted the lips and we both painted her eyebrows. I had to mix up a little skin coloured paint to paint over a biro mark and I was really pleased with how it covered the pen mark up. We also added freckles!

Once she was finished my daughter was ecstatic and I was pretty pleased myself! I don’t think she turned out too bad considering it was our very first attempt. My daughter has already picked out more dolls to make under!

The doll (renamed Daisy!) has not left my daughters side since being finished and is even heading to a sleepover with her tonight at my sisters house!

We really hope you like our make under doll! I would definitely recommend giving it a go yourself. It was a lot of fun and not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be!

Happy Friday guys!

Fathers Day cards – (bath puff required)!

Fathers Day is tomorrow here in the UK and my kids love nothing more than making cards for their Dad to let him know how much they love him. I wanted to share with you how they have made these brilliant cards with some paint and an old bath puff! (Yep you read that right! Bath puffs are brilliant for printing with, simple to use and give amazing pattern results)!

To make your Fathers day card you will need – paint, an old bath puff, card and glue.

1 – Begin by squirting some different coloured paints onto a plate. (We used a paper plate but any old plate is fine).

2 – Use your bath puff to push down into the paint and print onto your paper.

3 – Once you are happy with your print, leave to dry. Once dry, you can cut out whichever shape you like. We used tie shapes for our cards! Mount onto card and ta – dah! My kids decided to add stickers to their cards too for some extra sparkle!

 

This is a lovely, simple way to print and make some slightly different Fathers Day cards! We really hope you like them.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fork printing!

As a lot of my regular followers will know, me and my little ones love experimenting with different ways to paint. Don’t get me wrong paintbrushes are fantastic but we also love using other items! Fork printing is a super way to paint and kids love experimenting with different ways to use the prints in their art work.

To fork print you will need – paint, paper and forks (that’s it)!

Begin by dipping the back of your fork into the coloured paint of your choice and pressing down onto your paper ( you may need to roll it slightly to get the full fork print). My daughter decided to make a sunflower picture so she used a yellow then dipped the tips in brown paint to form the sunflower seeds. She also used a paintbrush to paint her leaves.

We did quite a few fork print pictures so we ended up with quite a collection! Here are a few of the kids pictures –

We really enjoy printing with forks. My son used to get a little frustrated with this as it can take a little practice to roll the fork, but now he loves it! My kids love mixing the fork prints with brush painting to make their art. We hope you like our pictures!

Happy Thursday!

 

I want to be……

I really wanted to share with you our latest activity as the kids have loved it so much! They have enjoyed every part of this and I have loved watching them working on it too! They have each been busy making what we call an “I want to be….” self portrait.

You will need – large paper (old wallpaper or lining paper works really well), pencils and paint.

Begin by cutting a piece of large paper which is large enough for you to draw around your little one! We used old wallpaper. Lining paper works brilliantly too and it is super cheap! Next get your little one to lie down on the paper and carefully draw around them – be warned this usually results in fits of giggles and can take a while!!!

Once you have your outline discuss with your child what they would like to paint themselves as. This time we decided to think about what they would like to be when they grow up. My son chose a policeman and my daughter chose a vet (no surprise there)! The opportunities here are huge. You could think about jobs, storybook characters, imaginary people, superheroes etc!

Next draw the details they want to put on their outline. Younger kids will need extra help with this part. We looked on the internet for the different uniforms which their chosen vocations used. This also helped with colours needed. Next comes paint! We also used chalks, felts and crayons. Lots of different materials!

 

Once finished leave to dry and then cut out. My kids loved the fact that they had turned themselves into what they wanted to be! They now have pride of place on their bedroom walls!

We hope you like our “I want to be…..” portraits. I highly recommend giving them a go! Huge amounts of fun and giggles go into these portraits, not to mention the thought, creativity, imagination and fine motor skills!

A lovely activity to get their imaginations fired up!

 

 

 

 

 

Winter tree pictures!

The weather has been pretty horrid here recently. Rain and very strong  winds are all we seem to be having at the moment! I find myself longing for the sunshine again….or snow. Anything apart from this continuous downpour!

One particularly rainy day last week my five year old son and my two year old nephew were getting a little bored so we brought out the craft box and decided to make some Winter tree pictures!

To make your own winter tree pictures you will need – coloured paper/card of your choice (we chose blue as my son wanted it to look like the sky), green paint, white paper, hole puncher, glue, pom poms and crayons.

Begin by making a stencil to be your tree shape. I used a triangle shape as it is very simple and looks pretty effective! Next dip the pom pom into the green paint and print the shape onto your coloured paper/card by pushing the pom pom up and down onto the paper. My son and nephew printed two trees onto their paper. If your little one is struggling with holding the pom pom you can pop a clothes peg onto it, which will act as a handle.

Whilst the paint is drying make your ‘snowflakes’ by punching out white paper circles using a hole puncher.

When your paint is dry glue on some of the paper circles to be your falling snowflakes.

Next tear some white paper into strips. This will be the snow on the ground. I like tearing the paper rather than cutting it as it looks a little more realistic with the bumps and curves instead of it being just a straight line!

Next draw on tree trunks with a crayon.

The boys had great fun making their winter tree pictures and they have certainly brightened up the place. I just wish we had some real snow now!

Fingerprint Christmas Trees!

Each year the kids love making home – made Christmas cards for family members. I think it’s lovely receiving a personal home – made card from a loved one!

I thought it would be a nice idea to make a Christmas card with my niece for her mum. I put a few ideas to her and she chose to make a fingerprint Christmas tree. I love this activity as it is so simple which means even very young children can take part!

To make your fingerprint Christmas tree you will need – paper, paints (green and a few more different colours), card, glue and sequins or glitter.

To begin cut out a template from card, to use as your tree shape. I find using a triangle shape works really well. Then place over a piece of paper and begin fingerprinting inside your template with the green paint. (If you are doing this activity with young children, you may like to stick the template to the paper with blu – tack, to stop it from moving around).

Continue fingerprinting with the green paint until you have filled the tree shape. You can then add a few more fingerprints in different colours to be your tree ‘lights’. My niece also added a yellow print at the top of her tree to be the ‘star’!

When you are happy with how your tree looks, gently lift up the template and allow the paint to dry. Once the paint is dry you can add sequins or glitter to give it some extra sparkle! We then cut out and glued her tree down onto a piece of card, and she made a plant pot from sequins too!

My niece really enjoyed making her card and thought so carefully about which sequins she thought her mum would like best. Her mum loved her extra special card made especially for her!

Silhouette pictures!

We have had some nasty weather and lots of horrible storms this weekend (Boo hiss)! This means we have had no choice but to stay in and keep dry and warm. Unfortunately this also meant that the kids were getting a little crazy by the afternoon yesterday, so we got out the paints and decided to make some silhouette pictures.

I love making silhouette pictures! You can turn pretty much anything into a silhouette with some black paper and the finished effect is beautiful. We decided to use purple, blue and pink colours to give a moonlight effect, as opposed to yellows and oranges which give a sunset effect. They both look so pretty!

(If you missed our sunset pictures the blog post is here – https://paintboxmum.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/super-sunset-sea-pictures/ )

To make your silhouette picture you will need – paper, black paper / card, paintbrush, paints in purples, blues and pinks, glue and scissors.

Begin by painting the paper with your different colours. We find that painting horizontally works best. Work the colours into each other to give a more blended effect. Whilst the paint is drying, decide what you would like to use for your silhouette picture. My niece chose a fairy and my son chose a pirate. Draw the chosen images onto black paper or card and then cut them out. If your child is older they could do this part themselves. Once they are cut out, glue them onto your painted paper. You could also add some extra details! My niece added a rock to her fairy picture which looked really pretty. 

If you don’t fancy using paints, you could use chalks instead. We did make some chalk pictures too but unfortunately the photos didn’t show the chalk very well, but they look good too! (The photos don’t show the paint colours that great either sorry, but hopefully you can see the effect)! I think they would look very cool on greetings cards too!

These look super pretty and are a lovely way to spend some time on a rainy afternoon!