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.

Craft project - Crab bag

Supplies (you can get these at Hobby Lobby or Wal-Mart):

brushes, water to rinse brushes, white acrylic paint, paint for your crab (I used fushia), paint for the name (I used turquoise), and black paint with a tip, canvas bag - you can get the small containers of paint that are between $.60-.99 because you won't use much

Before you begin, you may want to put a piece of cardboard inside the bag to prevent paint from soaking through. It usually doesn't on canvas but you can never tell! Also, acrylic paint does not wash out of clothing so wear an old tee shirt or apron.

Step 1: using fushia (or your chosen crab color) paint a large circle and fill it in completely with paint.

Step 2: make 3 stick legs on each side of crab like an upside-down check mark.

Step 3: For top left claw, make a PacMan shape just above the crab body and connect with a line of paint to the crab. Repeat for the right side but turn the direction of the PacMan shape.

Step 4: make two small lines in the middle at the top for the eyes to go on.

Step 5: Using white paint, make two circles on top of the crab for the eyes. You can also lightly accent the crab with white paint by barely brushing paint on the outer edges of the claws, body and legs.

Step 6: Using other paint color, paint your name on the bottom or top of the bag, wherever you have room. You can add polka dots, like my daughter did, or stripes or leave it solid.

Step 7: Using the black paint with tip, outline the crab. Fill in the eyes and add a big smile in his/her body. Also, outline the letters of your name.

Congratulations! You have finished the project. Let your crab dry for at least 1 hour and then take your bag on an adventure! This also looks cute on a tee shirt but you definitely need to put cardboard in side to prevent bleeding through.