Christmas in July!

What a fun project - make Christmas ornaments or gifts in the middle of July to mark the half-way point. So many things you could do here.

1) Peruse thrift store shops for wooden candlesticks to paint in red, white and green. Or find old spoons, bend the handle so it will hang, and paint it with snowmen, Santa, or trees. Or keep it simple and paint stars in traditional (or non-traditional) colors.

2) Go ahead and make a Christmas tee or sweatshirt. Paint a green triangle. Let dry. Paint a gold or yellow star on the top. Use red, blue, and yellow to paint balls on the tree. Let dry. Outline each ball, star, and tree with black paint that has a pointed writing tip. Let dry.

3) Use scrapbook paper to make Christmas cards. All you'll have to do is insert a family picture, sign it, and send! No more spending money on boxes of cards and your recipients will appreciate a handmade gesture so much more.

So...happy early holiday season and happy crafting!
jen

Cloud drawings

I recently took a little day trip with my hubby. On the way home, there were so many white puffy clouds in the Alabama sky that we began picking out what they looked like. Some were animals, others were random objects. My daughter and I saw a Yoda shaped cloud one day last week when we were out. I love doing that. So...it got me thinking how fun it would be to take the kids out with just a sketchpad, some markers or pencils, and sketch what we see in the sky. Simple. Fun.

Another thought was to take a digital camera and actually photograph the clouds before drawing them. Sometimes they change so quickly you need to capture the moment before it becomes something else. That way, you could have 2 craft days - one to photograph the clouds, then another (maybe a rainy day) to sketch the photos onto paper.

So, the next time you see those little puffy white clouds in the sky, grab your kids, art supplies, and spend quality time together. You never know what might be up there.

Happy Birthday America!

Well, it's finally here. Independence Day! I love this holiday - sun, lake, pool, red, white and blue, BBQ, and my favorite...FiReWoRkS! I don't know what it is about fireworks that I love so much but I could sit and watch a good fireworks show anytime. They make me happy. Maybe I'm just intrigued with the fact that you can light a fuse and this thing explodes and paints pretty pictures and shapes and colors across the night sky. I just love it.

Things have been pretty busy this week and I didn't have time to post a craft but I'll be back on it after the wonderful weekend and fireworks extravaganza...hopefully a bit inspired.