BroSis Creations

Can you tell what we have been up to?

 Here's a hint:  

We got our clothes so messy that Mom made us change our clothes when we were done.

A close up of our creation:

 BroSis Creations present to you…  Chalk Step Art #1:

It's just wonderful isn't it?  

 Even though we got chalk all over our pants, shirts, and elbows… who cares?!

Artists are allowed to get messy.

 Messy means you were caught up in the moment having fun, right guys?!

 Be sure to join us next time for another awesome creation.

 Buh Bye!

Art is Fun

This school year, Brian begged me to teach art again in his classroom.  How could I say no?!  (Secretively, I had fun teaching art last year and really wanted to teach again.)  The art lessons are the same as last year, but I can see the improvement in Brian's work as he gets older.  The project shown below is my favorite one that we've done so far:

Brian's a funny kid.  He always gathers his things before all the other kids and helps me take the art supplies back to the art closet.  Then once we exit the school, he holds my hand and we run to the van and we attempt to be the first ones to leave the school parking lot.  That's happened a total off two times so far.  Then, we always stop in somewhere for an after school snack.  We usually end up at Macey's grocery store to get ice cream, but last week, we decided on Jamba Juice.  Razzmatazz is one of our favorite flavors.   Mmmm!

Tyler, Katie, and I had an art day at our house last week.  Tyler is in the stage where he likes to cut up paper into a million tiny pieces.  So I let him go to town doing that and then we glued those pieces on to a larger piece of paper.  

The kiddos also did a little water coloring.  Katie needed my help a little bit because she kept trying to eat the paint.  She'll get the hang of it eventually if we keep practicing.

Art in the Park

 I took my kids to an Art in the Park activity.  Brian's favorite activity was "skating in shaving cream."  

Tyler's favorite activity was helping all these kids build a dam in the nearby stream.

And Katie held on to a green wad of Play Doh and ran around most of the time.

And as if Art in the Park weren't enough, I whipped up some color shaving cream "paint" and let the boys paint the tub.  It was a rainy day and it killed some time and energy.  The next day, I made the boys clean it all up.  FYI:  It doesn't stain the tub at all!

Homemade Paints for Kids

  Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint

 2 Tablespoons corn starch

2 Tablespoons water

5 drops of food coloring

* Paint on cement with a paintbrush.

Homemade Puffy Paint

* For best results, mix the paint just before you use it.  

For each color, combine 1 tablespoon each of FLOUR and SALT, 

1 teaspoon of BAKING POWDER,

2 tablespoons plus 1 or 2 tablespoons of WATER, 

and several drops of  FOOD COLORING.  

Stir until smooth.  

Apply the paint to a sheet of sturdy card stock using brushes or cotton swabs.  

To dry and puff the paint, microwave the finished work for 20 seconds.  

(If the paint isn't dry, microwave it for 10 seconds more.)

* The paint is safe to eat (though yucky-tasting), but the food coloring makes it hazardous to clothes.  

Have your child wear an apron and/or an old t-shirt that can get stained.

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*** BOTH OF THESE PAINTS HAVE BEEN TRIED AND TESTED 

BY ME, MY KIDS, AND THEIR FRIENDS.

BOTH PAINTS WERE SUPER FUN TO PLAY WITH!

Final Art Day

Last Monday was my last ART DAY with Brian's first grade class.  We surprised their teacher by having each of them make her a thank you card. (Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week).  Then we went out in front of the school to draw with sidewalk chalk.  The kids were really creative.  Some kids got really clever and made up their own game of hopscotch.  I've had so much fun being an art teacher this year.  Brian's been begging me to be his art teacher next year too.  We'll see!

I can't forget to include this complete masterpiece of Brian's:

Nice, buddy, real N.I.C.E.!!!  This is what greeted us in the hallway outside of Brian's classroom for all the world to see!  Of course, I was quite curious and asked my son why he so proudly and artistically portrayed his family as happy-jump-up-in-the-air nudists.  

His answer, "I just didn't feel like drawing clothes."  Oh boy!  

I bet Brian's teacher got a good chuckle out of this piece of work!

{ Embrace the Camera } - January 26th

  I'm the Art Appreciation Volunteer for Brian's first grade class.  Once a month, I teach the students about a famous artist and then we create an art project together.  I love art so this has been fun for me.  It's so great to see Brian's eyes light up when I enter the room.  The last time I was there, he exclaimed (rather loudly), "MOM!!!"  He shot his arms up in the air and gave me one of the biggest smiles ever.  I love my first grader.  It's so sweet for him to hold my hand as we walk the halls together after school to return our art supplies and walk out to the van.  He just holds my hand.  I don't even have to ask.

 

Brian sitting across the table from me at Subway just slurping on his orange pop.

Brian has his own Spiderman calendar in his room.  He has carefully written, "MOM ART GROCERIES" on the appropriate day each month.  After school on "Art Day," we head to grab a snack, and then continue on to do our grocery shopping.  Since this day is the only day each month that I make an exception in having a grocery shopping buddy, Brian LOVES every second.  He proudly carries the list in one hand and a pencil in the other hand.  Crossing off each item as it is located and placed in the cart, Brian asks, "Where's the bananas?"  With curiousity and a extra bounce in his step, Brian's eyes scan the produce section.  When his eyes spot them, he darts over to the banana stand with a huge grin on his face.  He carefully picks out the perfect bunch of bananas, making sure there are 8 bananas.  The excitement carries on throughout the whole shopping experience.  Without fail, each time we make it to the check out, the cashier comments on what a great helper he is with putting the bagged groceries into the cart.  I smile and say "He loves every second of this whole grocery shopping thing."  "Art Day" is a serious bonding day for us.

Besides creating art together and grocery shopping, Brian and I love our hot cocoa breaks!

This whole Embrace The Camera thing is so fun.  Join in!

Children's Art Gallery

The far wall in our garage was totally bare at the beginning of the summer.  

I had the bright idea of turning that wall into a children's art gallery.

Caleb and Tyler have both contributed to the gallery.  Brian has too but he didn't want to get in the picture.

Tyler wanted to show off his favorite project so far: Cereal Art

As this wall fills up with more masterpieces, we'll share some more of our favorite projects.

Random Drawing

We were poor college students when Brian was born. I tried really hard to make his room look nice. For FHE, I had the idea that Sam and I should draw some animals to hang in Brian's room. Sam drew a deer with a waterfall in the background. He's a pretty good artist, if I do say so myself. Drawing is a hidden talent of his that not very many people know about. I wish Sam would have scanned his drawing before he threw it away. Here's my drawing of a giraffe. I had to look at a drawing out of a book. It's alot harder draw something really detailed without seeing it in front of you. Anyway, I found this drawing last night. I want to draw more in my spare time!

I am A Child of God

The theme for Primary this year is I am A Child of God. There are several wards that meet in the same church building as us. Our Primary Presidency was in charge of decorating the big bulletin board in the Primary room. We decided that having a big drawing on the board would be nice along with having this year's theme, the monthly theme and corresponding scripture. (I will post a picture of the completed bulletin board once I return to church). Anyway, our Primary President is an elementary school teacher and had access to a projector. She projected the image on the wall and traced it for me. I volunteered to color the image. It sure was a bigger project than I thought it would be...especially when my only art supplies were crayons and colored pencils! I finished coloring it in the day before Tyler was born, hence the huge belly!


This is what the poster looks like on the bulletin board in the Primary room.