Silhouette Art

Had an idea for different kinds of silhouette art. And here is one of my creations.

Materials:

• 1 Canvas or posterboard. (Size doesn't matter, whatever you prefer.)
• A few different colors of paint. (I only used 4, but you can certainly use as many as you'd like.)
• A pencil and eraser.
• A few paint brushes.
• Optional: A picture of a silhouette. 

Steps:

    1.   Draw the silhouette onto the canvas with your pencil. Or you can do as I did - I printed a few pictures of the internet, cut them out, and traced them onto the canvas. I'm not great at free hand drawing so it really helped me out a lot.
   

 2.   Paint in the silhouettes. 

         And of course before you paint them in, make sure everything is where you want it to be. Once you start painting it'll be pretty hard to change things.

    3. After you've chosen your colors you can start to paint in you section. As you can see I chose to break it up into 4 sections, but of course you can do as many as you'd like. My canvas wasn't too big so 4 was a good number for me.    

     

      4. This step is optional. My painting kinda had a theme to it so I decided to add some lyrics to go with it. I chose a few lines from "Everything" by Lifehouse.

     

      5.  Be creative. This art can just be something cool, or it can express a bit of you. Everyone is different so go with things you love.

Have fun!

Sensory Play Bottles, Bags, and Bins for Children

My son is autistic, so I have been looking for better ways to give him stimulating play that is productive. I finally made a trip to Dollar Tree to get items to make sensory play items, which are suggested for special needs children. I saw a million different versions of these on Pinterest, so I took those ideas and created my own!

Sensory Play Bottles

Materials:

• clear plastic bottles
• strong glue/glue gun
• water, gel (I used cheap hair gel), and possibly oil (preferably clear)
• craft items to put into bottles, such as glitter, googly eyes, pom poms, beads, etc. Can even use pasta (like the bottle on the far left).
• food coloring (optional)

Steps:

1. Clean bottles and remove any labels and sticky residue from the outside of the bottles. I used SmartWater bottles because of the clean shape and size.
2. Add water and/or gel. I would suggest adding smaller amounts and test it out first. You don't want too much gel because the items will not move. Adding water will help loosen up the gel. If you are using food coloring, add a drop or two to the mixture and mix up.
3. Add desired items to the bottle. I made themes for the bottles, such as a outdoors bottle with rubber frogs and flowers.
4. Once you have the right amount of liquid to allow the items inside to move, then apply glue around the top of the bottle and screw the cap on over it.
5. Let dry overnight and then let you child enjoy!

Sensory Bags

Materials:

• Strong quart-sized freezer bags
• Clear gel, such as hair gel
• Craft items, such as foam shapes, googly eyes, beads, action figures, glitter, etc.
• Clear packing tape

Steps:

1. Add desired items to the storage bags.
2. Add enough gel to cover the items.
3. Close bag, removing as much air as possible.
4. Spread out gel and items, making sure there is enough gel.
5. Once finished, fold over the opening of the bag and tape with the packing tape to ensure your child doesn't accidentally open it.
6. Enjoy!

Sensory Bins

Materials:

• Plastic bins with lids
• Dried beans, rice, sand, etc.
• Glass beads, pom poms, action figures, etc.
• Scoops, spoons, measuring cups, etc.

Steps:

1. Add rice/beans/sand to the storage bin.
2. Add desired items to the bin.
3. Enjoy!

Structured Play Suggestions

To make the play time for your child more structured, you can always play hide and seek with the items in the bins, or have your child find certain items in the bags or bottles. You can also make some dry bottles to turn into instruments! 

I was able to make all of these items for under $30, and I still have supplies left! Enjoy!

Weather

The view of the sky from my apartment looks crazy today! Here are some pictures I took from my balcony of the clouds passing over. They looked pretty scary, but are passing quickly!

Child Handprint Artwork!

I saw a pin on Pinterest and decided that instead of buying the artwork, I would make it with my son! Such a great way to get children involved in arts and crafts, and get a very inexpensive piece of artwork to decorate your home or a child's room.

Materials

• 4 small canvases just slightly larger than the size of your child's hand
• Paint (such as acrylic paint)
• Paint brush
• Wall mounting items (tape, painting hanger, nails, etc.) I chose to use wall mounting tape to avoid holes in the wall and to reduce the amount of work it takes to hang. 
• Your child's hands!

Steps

1. Paint the small canvases the desired colors and let dry.
2. Once dry, apply paint to the palm side of your child's hand and press gently onto the canvas.
3. Repeat with the rest of the canvases.
4. Let dry.
5. Use chosen method to hang the product in your home!

And here's the finished product hanging on the wall!

Awesome Homemaking Blog!

This blog has a lot of awesome tips and tricks for the home. This particular page has a bunch of awesome printables,such as guest lists, grocery lists, meal planning, weekly planning, and blog planning. I absolutely love it and I printed almost every single one! 

The Complete Guide To imperfect Homemaking

So Sweet Proposal Video

Jessica found this video and I thought that it was pretty awesome! Such a great idea for a proposal. Just thought I'd share it! Enjoy!