color wheel

For the past three days Martin and I have been working on our first book: about colors. We started with red, and then added yellow and green. Each time, Martin painted the background with everything we could have found: yellow markers, yellow crayons and pencils, yellow chalk and paint... then we went through our boxes and found yellow scraps of papers, some feathers, stickers, drinking straws, pipe cleaners, fabrics, ribbons, foam, felt, nuudles, etc. Then we either tore them or cut them (first time with scissors... pretty interesting ;)) and then we glued them onto the paper (either Martin put the glue on or showed me where to put it, it was a real mission cooperation). And then some glitter to finish it off. We really had a good time and are looking to start working on the blue...

Martin's AutoMall

This was supposed to be Martin's 18-months-old gift but he found it even before I finished working on it, so... here it is. It's a car dealership, repair shop, car wash, and a gas pump. I think Martin's favorite part is swiping the card after getting the gas, lifting the cars up (or using the machine to lift up guys working in the repair shop), and polishing the cars after their car wash ;) My favorite part was getting rid of the broken cars we got to make this all happen. It's been quite fun working on it ;)

KoKo

Our dilemma over what to put on our living room wall was finally solved. We just needed to ask Martin. His answer was simple and immediate: koko. So, rooster it is. The next day Martin created couple of finger painting/brush painting (and whatever-else-he-could-get-his-hands-on-painting) papers and I cut it out Carle-style. Now, we need to start working on a cow.

Easy Easel

Every artist needs an easel... and after seeing the only one we liked (for $50), we finally made one (all we needed was a box, paint, paper, and duck tape). And it's not bad ;) It has chalkboard/cloth pins for paper on one side and magnetic/dry-erasable part on the other one. It's pretty big and after some adjustments it even fits on our art table. Well, gotta go... we need to try it out.

Practical Bowl / Stylish Hat

Couple of days ago we got a new issue of FamilyFun and thought their yarn-into-bowl idea is worth of trying. So, we got some colorful yarn, dipped it in glue, put it on a ball and the next morning, got a neat bowl (or, in Martin's eyes - a newest hat).

Carle's Look-Alikes

I have always loved Eric Carle's books and thought it's a high time Martin tried doing something similar. So, he painted couple of papers yesterday and this morning, while he was still in bed (he was so exhausted after our Oregon weekend that he slept till noon), I cut them out and made couple of pictures for our friends. I'm seriously thinking about starting a business with these ;)

Cute as a Caterpillar

I rediscovered oriental trading company and got a package of their stuff... including these cute caterpillars. So, today we painted the bubble wrap (mostly with cars) and printed it on the paper caterpillars, then glued on some eyes, put a pencil through them and voila... here she is.

Doggie Bag

Since Martin loves to collect things on our walks, grandma made his this stylish bag. It's easy to open (and empty), it has dogs on it, and it is light... so it became an instant hit.

Time on the Farm

Since Martin has a little obsession with a farm life (from tractors and cows), we decided to make his farm more fun to play with... We made a rabbit cage and a hen house, a well with a bucket, fields with crops he can pick, and a mill with three sacks (on with whole grains, the other two with flour), a ladder and a platform from animals, etc. So farm, the platform that helps the cow get to the second floor of the farm is the biggest success ;)

Nuuuuudles

And we also played a little with the nuudles we bought today. I don't know who had more fun: Martin, grandma, or I ;) We all loved it!

Wash Away Your Sins

After the play dough success, we decided to take on another challenge - bath paint. So we cooked 1/4 cup of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 cups of water, then added 1/4 cup of dish-washing soap... and finally, added few drops of food coloring. And to my surprise, not only did Martin like the bath (after a month), but he actually didn't come out as messy as he went in.

Play Dough 101

Making it was half the fun... we decided that it's time to try our home-made play dough, made with 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of cream of tartar, 2 tablespoons of oil, and some food coloring (green was Martin's color of choice ;)). He helped mixing it and kneading it, then we cooked it for a while and finally, tested it on the most important thing ever - a dog! And, it passed. Cool.

I Won't Forget

One more "mask" or "headband" or whatever pretend-play thing you want to call it. A paper plate, some masking tape, and a piece of paper... and you got yourself an elephant that Martin thought was really cool (and hilarious) when mommy wore it - but totally unacceptable (and freaky) when he was supposed to give it a try ;) Hmmmm, maybe tomorrow.

Bean Me Up

since we have already finished the patriotic headband couple of days ago, there was nothing but a red-white-and-blue butterfly to do today. We took some small coffee filter and a cloth pin, some chalk and water (Martin just loves it) and put it all together.

Puzzling times

I was looking for some puzzle Martin would actually like to put together and couldn't find any with the right picture and the right number of pieces... so I decided to make some. And it actually works. It's just simple foam but he seems to enjoy it much more than the wooden ones we have. He played with the car for an impressively long time (meaning about 10 minutes) - time to make some more.

Like Being Picked At

Since we finally bought our grill and decided to start eating outside (from time to time), Martin really needed some new placements. So, we took one of his last-week's paintings and made it into one. (The kind-a interesting thing about it is that Martin didn't really paint it - he just put the paint on the paper and then picked it up with his fingers to transfer it onto a jewelry box for grandma... but I think it turned out pretty well, considering ;)).

Free Parking Spaces

This was more of a "mommy" that Martin project. I think he actually slept 90% of the time I was working on these. But that hasn't stopped him from enjoying them. He specially likes flying the helicopter from (and onto) the roof and trying to fit a cow into the fire station.

Hold the Brush

What craft area would be complete without a unique way to hold some art tools? And since we got some new pink foam and Martin still tries to ignore pigs as animals (when I ask him what it is he simply leaves) - we made a little pig to hold his most precious possessions (for today) - brushes. Well, and if nothing else, at least we got some use for the yogurt-milk container we saved yesterday. Go green (or pink in this case).

Noisy Little Box

This afternoon we decided to do something about the fact that we have musical instruments all over the place. We got a big box, put some red duck tape on it, cut a foam note on top of it (Martin just loves to glue things onto everything) and de-messed our room a tiny little bit.

Wet Chalk Fun

Who would have guessed that chalk + wet brush + dark paper = so much fun (and mess). I really liked how the chalk became more vivid and fun and Martin really liked to dip the chalk in the water... and to dip the brush in the water (and yes, even the glue and his cars got wet). I'm so glad I decided to put the waterproof crib pad on the floor ;)

Feeding Time

Today was a feeding time at the farm. We took an old match box, added some birdseed and taped it all together - so that we could feed the starving cows and sheep. We also made a fenced yard for them with a tree and a pond from a wooden box we found but even though it had a cute little pond, Martin insisted that they should drink from a bottle. Hm, he's growing up to be a real city kid.

Patriotic Spirit

With the 4th of July getting closer and Martin's fashion phase getting stronger, we decided to make this handsome headband from a masking tape. It took couple of minutes and almost no effort... so, in the end we made one more ;)

Tons of Brushes

What do you know... this morning I realized that even though Martin loves brushes, he doesn't have many of them at home, yet... so, we created our own ones - and it got a little out of hand. We cut out everything we could get our hands on and taped it to the lollipop sticks and then went out and made a second batch with the stuff we collected there. What can I say - we actually had no time to use them, yet. But we both enjoyed the process... and Martin became fast friend with the tape dispenser.



Little update - we have actually used some of the brushes for this stunning masterpiece called "Red Dog Trying to Escape Two Fighting Aliens." Martin especially liked the "plastic bag" brush (and the "cork" one which he decided to tear into tiny little pieces).

Let's Get Crafty!

Hurray! We finally finished setting up the craft table I was obsessing about for couple of weeks now... it's all done (as much as it can be for today) - we got our papers and tapes and paints and crayons... all sorted, neat, and clean... let's see how long it lasts.