Things to Make - Saran Wrap Watercolor Paintings

I've wanted to try saran wrap painting ever since Not-So-SAHM posted about it. Luckily (or perhaps, unluckily) we've had enough cold rainy days lately that the opportunities for indoor entertainment keep presenting themselves to us. So on one such day, we gave it a try.

Here's the scoop:

Materials: HEAVY watercolor paper (the heavier the better), watercolor paints, saran wrap, and sponge roller (optional)

1. For this to work the paper has to be wet. Since T's obsessed with sponge rollers lately, I let them use these. Though in retrospect they made the paper a little too wet.

2. After wetting the paper, paint designs using the watercolors. All three kids loved this part, as the color really swirls and moves on the paper.

3. Place saran wrap over the wet painted paper and move the saran wrap with your fingers to make patterns on the paper.

4. Once you're satisfied with your pattern, LEAVE THE SARAN WRAP ON, while the paper dries.

5. Once everything dries, peel off the saran wrap and Voila! Beautiful designs.

On the upside, the kids LOVED this project, especially working with all the water. On the downside, the water caused the paint to loose its vividness, so everything came out really pale looking. I'm not sure how to correct this, any suggestions?

Things to Make - Leaf Prints with Watercolor

A few weeks ago, I bought the fabulous book - Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages (Lab Series). Leaf prints with watercolor is included in the book as Activity 28. Since we just bought new watercolor paints and the leaves outside are plentiful - this seemed like the perfect fall craft.

Here's the scoop:

1. The kids painted designs on thick watercolor paper.

2. While their paintings dried, we walked around the neighborhood, collecting LOTS and LOTS of different fall leaves.

3. We then squirted black paint onto a paper plate and rubbed it smooth using a sponge paint roller.

4. We placed the leaves in the paint, trying to make it as even as possible.

5. Finally, we pressed the painted leaves onto our watercolor prints.

This was a messy messy process, but the kids really seemed to enjoy it (though next time, we may move OUTSIDE for this project, as I sort of panicked when the table started turning black). Anyways, a really fun use for all those fall leaves. Though in the future, I'll probably make the paint even thinner on the plates, for better prints.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!





For T, it all turned into finger-painting at the end.

Things to Make - Paintings with Watercolor Crayons and Watercolor Pencils

A few weeks ago, while attending a Stories in Art class at the National Gallery, F had the opportunity to work with watercolor crayons. I had never seen these before, so I bought some from Amazon for approximately $15 (Staedtler Karat Aquarell Premium Watercolor Crayons, 223M12) and now we can't stop painting with them. The kids like to combine the watercolor crayons with watercolor pencils, using the pencils for details and the crayons for wide areas. They're really fun to work with - less messy than paint, more creative and colorful than crayons. And I really enjoy that all the kids can work with them, from T at 2.5 years old to F at 6.5 years old. I think I'll bring a set, along with some brushes, on our next vacation, as they seem like an easy art material to travel with.



We made another banner to surprise Dan when he came back from a long worktrip. The banner also helps conceal that I still haven't purchased counter stools. Ugh, major purchases stress me out (am i crazy for thinking of counter stools at a major purchase? I want them to match the table and chairs that I still don't own. Decorating is hard.).