DIY Heart Handprint Painting for Valentine’s Day

Welcome back friends!

My little girl hasn’t quite reached the age of exchanging multitudes of valentines amongst her classmates and/or friends so I thought we would create a few fun pieces of artwork instead! These heart handprint paintings are the perfect Valentine for moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles; the sky is the limit!

Let’s have some fun and get painting!

SUPPLIES
  • Small mounted canvas (large enough for a handprint)
  • Foam paint brushes
  • Acrylic paint
  • Heart shaped paper, small
  • Scissors
  • Sticky tape
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Select the colors you would like for a background, this can be one or more dependent on your preference.
  2. Squeeze dots of the background paint color(s) you selected on the canvas in any pattern you prefer. I was going for a gradient look so I arranged my dots from light to dark.
  3. Using a a foam paint brush, you and your little one can spread and blend the paint over the canvas in back and forth strokes.
  4. For a completed look, paint the edges of the canvas if you have not already done so, then set it aside and allow it to fully dry.
  5. Print and cut a heart out of paper and use sticky tape to attach it to the dry canvas.
  6. Select the colors you would like to use to create the handprint, this could be one color or more, we did six, one for each finger and another color for the palm!
  7. Using a different foam paint brush for each color, brush the colors onto your little one’s hand. Gently press the painted hand down on the canvas, aligning the heart under their palm.
  8. Gently pull the hand away, then peel away the heart if it did not come off onto the hand.
  9. If needed, use a small paint brush to touch up the edges of the heart, then allow the painting to dry.
  10. Enjoy!
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DIY – Bat Silhouette Pom Pom Painting

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is making things that delight her; I want to create fun, educational crafts for her that are made with love and will be loved! This week we’ll be creating pom pom paintings of bat silhouettes for halloween! 

I remember when I was a kid we made halloween crafts at school and my mom would bring them out every year as part of our halloween decor. It made me feel super happy and proud that she would take the time to save and display my art every year and that is the feeling I want to inspire in my own daughter.

Let’s get painting!

SUPPLIES
  • Bat silhouette pattern (see above)
  • Printer paper
  • Scissors
  • Scotch tape
  • Black cardstock paper (8.5 x 11”)
  • Clothespin(s)
  • Pom poms
  • Sunset colored paints (I used red, orange, purple and yellow)
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Print this bat pattern I’ve created and cut the bats out.
  2. Break off several small pieces of tape, roll them into cylinders, and use them to attach the bats where you want them on the black cardstock paper.
  3. Pour non-toxic sunset colored acrylic paints into a pie plate (or something similar) and set out a pom pom for each color.
  4. Use a clothespin to grab one pom pom at a time, or one clothespin per color.
  5. Allow your little one to dab the paint around and over the bats to their heart’s content.
  6. Allow the paint to dry and then gently peel off the bats to reveal their silhouettes!
  7. Hang it up and enjoy! 

DIY – Ghost Pom Pom Painting

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is making things that delight her; I want to create fun, educational crafts for her that are made with love and will be loved! This week we’ll be creating pom pom paintings of a ghost for halloween! 

I remember when I was a kid we made halloween crafts at school and my mom would bring them out every year as part of our halloween decor. It made me feel super happy and proud that she would take the time to save and display my art every year and that is the feeling I want to inspire in my own daughter.

Let’s get painting!

SUPPLIES
  • Ghost pattern (see above)
  • Printer paper
  • Scissors
  • Scotch tape
  • Black cardstock paper (8.5 x 11”)
  • Clothespin
  • Pom pom
  • White paint
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Print this ghost pattern I’ve created and cut it out of it’s frame, then set the frame aside.
  2. Cut the eyes and mouth out of the ghost shape.
  3. Break off three small pieces of tape, roll them into cylinders, and use them to attach the eyes and mouth where you want them on the black cardstock paper.
  4. Pour non-toxic white acrylic paint into a pie plate (or something similar) and use a clothespin to grab ahold of a pom pom.
  5. Place the ghost pattern’s frame around the edges of your cardstock page and dab the pom pom in the white paint, then dab it around in the edges of the ghost’s shape to create a dotted pattern for your little one.
  6. Remove the frame and allow your little one to dab the paint away to their heart’s content.
  7. Allow the paint to dry and then gently peel off the eyes and mouth to reveal!
  8. Hang it up and enjoy!

DIY Red and White Striped Christmas Box

Christmas is nearly here and we love celebrating every moment!

What better way to celebrate than having a Christmas box! Now when I first heard of these, they were and are referred to as Christmas Eve boxes and presented on Christmas Eve for the family to enjoy, but then some of the items can only be enjoyed for one to two nights before Christmas is technically over, so I’ve decided to just call it a Christmas box and we can present it a week before Christmas to really enjoy its contents!

SUPPLIES
  • Wood crate
  • White acrylic paint
  • Red acrylic paint
  • Foam paint brushes
  • Painter’s tape
  • Matte varnish
  • Embellishments (optional)
  • Hot glue (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Paint every other beam of the crate (outside and inside) with white paint and then allow it to dry.
  2. Repeat step 1 until the desired brightness of the paint is reached.
  3. Once the paint is dry, use painters tape to tape up and protect the edges of the white beams or anywhere else where the red paint may drip or bleed.
  4. Paint the remaining beams and the sides of the crate (outside and inside) with red paint and then allow it to dry.
  5. Repeat step 4 until the desired brightness of the paint is reached.
  6. Carefully peel off the painter’s tape and coat the whole crate with varnish, this may take two coats to reach the desired coverage.
  7. If you have any embellishments like an ornament or two, carefully glue them on with a hot glue gun and allow it to dry.
  8. Fill it up and enjoy!

If you’re looking for ideas to fill your new Christmas box with here are a few to spark your imagination!

  • Candy
  • Cookie mix
  • Festive hat(s)
  • Festive pajamas
  • Festive plushies
  • Festive socks or slippers
  • Gingerbread kit
  • Holiday-themed books
  • Holiday-themed movies
  • Hot Apple Cider mix
  • Hot Cocoa mix
  • Mug(s)
  • Ornament(s)
  • Savory snacks
  • Sweet snacks