storytime lakeside...

you know summer is coming to an end when you go to the last storytime at lake wilderness for the season.  it was a beautiful day for picnic lunches with friends, stories, songs and popsicles at the lake!

beach collage!

remember i mentioned i was testing out dying sea shells with liquid water colors?  well, they turned out pretty and this is what we made with them!

materials used:

~cardboard
~tempera cakes
~washi tape
~paper straws
~small glass beads
~low temp hot glue gun
~sea shells (dyed with liquid water colors - or food coloring would work)

how to:

we started off with bowie painting the piece of cardboard, which lead to her painting her fingers and hands again.  then decorated with pieces of washi tape.  the next steps we did together as we were using a low temp hot glue gun.  we glued pieces of cut paper straws, glass beads and lastly the shells.  then one more sprinkle of beads to cover all extra glue spots!

this truly came out a masterpiece.  the colors are vibrant and beautiful and i'm kinda obsessed!

using driftwood and string to hang our masterpiece!

shells and chalk paint!

taking some inspiration from one of my fav instagram accounts (@theworkspaceforchildren).  she is always bringing art supplies to the beach to let her kids create with, especially chalk markers.  we brought some shells home with us from orcas and we sat outside yesterday and used chalk markers to paint them.  bowie also started to incorporate leaves and sticks into her project, talk about child led process art!

and i am doing my own experiment to see if i can dye some of these shells with liquid watercolors, stay tuned to see if they turn out???

new home in our succulent

snack attack road trip hack!

snack-a-tackle-box!  i've seen this done with tackle boxes, but i used what i had.  basically fill each compartment with snacks and hand it back to the kids for road tripping!

i threw this one together last minute and used; veggie straws, craisins, granola bar cut into pieces, peanut butter cereal, coconut and fruit snacks!

orcas island!

we spent a great weekend with great friends in orcas island!  aside from the traffic, we had a blast going to the beach, farmers market, kayaking, crafting, searching for shells and driftwood, crabbing and the seafood feasts that go along with it!

llama llama crafty mama!

i heard hobby lobby was having some great summer sales, so i had to check it out last weekend.  i found a few things, but my best buy was this llama pic.  i got it for a steal ($1.49!!!) and it was plain black and white (sorry, i should have taken a before pic).  i had thoughts of putting it in bowie's room, but i had to spruce it up first.  i used some colored pencils and pom poms to bring it to life!

packing for the kids!

we are leaving for a weekend in orcas island and i wanted to share what i am bringing to entertain the kids.  we have been doing a lot of art lately, so my choices reflect that as well as trying to pack light and efficiently.  the nice thing is that we are traveling by car and ferry, so i don't have to worry about cramming everything into a small suitcase.  if we were traveling by plane, i would probably make other choices.  my thought is that we will be spending some time at the beach, and i want to collect driftwood (i got some there a couple of years ago and want to use it for macrame and wall hangings) and shells.  i'd like to do more process art and use what we find to create!  we are also bringing a bag of some painted rock finds from the arboretum to hide on the island!

drawing inspiration from one of my favorite IG accounts (@theworkspaceforchildren) she always bring chalk markers and other art supplies to the beach, so this is what i have packed up...

always must include a melissa and doug water wow, her LCD writing tablet (both will be handy in the car) and a beach themed play dough play kit

stuff to make more necklaces; dried clay beads (ready to be painted), pre-cut lanyard cord and beads

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neon tempera paint cakes, kwik stix, chalk markers, paint brushes, index cards and her tray to work on (painting supplies for beads or other beach/nature finds)

ryder is getting a few fav toys; shape sorter, cars, puzzle and books!

i'm packing it all inside of my large sensory bin with a picnic blanket for the beach.  i am bringing some of my recycled bottles and food coloring on the side so that i can use my sensory bin for a pour station/water play on the deck if need be.  and of course pail and shovels, chalk and a favorite stuffie for both kids!

book worm!

ryder has been really into books lately, love his new love of books!

happy camper!

today bowie did a drop in summer camp class at her new preschool and this weeks theme was "happy camper!"  she loved going on a bear hunt, playing in the tent and snacking on granola bars.  i think this was her favorite session yet! 

salt painting!

we are slowly making our way through the "play make create" book by meri cherry and i have been wanting to do this salt painting activity!  i had everything i needed and it was a perfect day to do a craft outside!

supplies:

~cardboard
~white glue
~salt
~liquid watercolor (or food coloring)
~pipettes (or small paintbrush or kids medicine dropper)

how to:

on a piece of sturdy cardboard make lots of thick squiggly lines of glue, apply a thick layer of salt to cover glue and remove excess, using pipettes dab liquid watercolor (or food coloring) over the salted glue and watch it travel and mix!  let dry.