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Spoonful of Imagination

Add it to a Family for Something Beautiful

Butterfly Nature Craft for Kids

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What is a better way to celebrate that spring is here with young kids than to do a craft together!? This butterfly nature craft is a perfect opportunity to have fun, get outside, encourage the imagination and teach new vocabulary with your young artists.

This multi step project allows you to prep a little and the artists to paint, explore, and design. It’s fun and I’m pretty sure it can keep your artist happily entertained for a WHILE! Let’s dive in…

The first step is to collect some cardboard.

Grab a cardboard box and cut it into a fun shape. We did a butterfly in this sample, but you could also keep it simple with a rectangle and turn that into a picture frame!

Divid the cardboard into sections with rubber bands.

Simply slip rubber bands onto your cardboard image to create some natural divisions in the design.

Painting comes next!

We kept it pretty simple with including only 3 tempera paints for our sample and a q-tip for each color. One thing with creating is we can control the mess by how many supplies we put out. Don’t be afraid to put out less.

It allows artists to experiment and try new things. Simplicity breeds invention. For example, we didn’t give purple paint. In the creating process, colors can be combined to make new colors and purple can be created with the colors we provided.

This paint project allows your artist to learn some new vocabulary.

  • They can paint by doing lots of dots to create a pointillism look. The goal is to collage each section of the butterfly with color to fill the whole image.
  • They can practice painting semetrical so the sides are identical or not- it’s up to their taste!

While the butterfly dries, your artist can go on a scavenger hunt.

Can they pick, find or cut small nature clippings like these:

    • dandelion
    • grass clipping
    • leaf
    • feather
    • stick

Once the butterfly is dry, your artist can stick the little nature clippings into the rubber bands on the butterfly.

This butterfly nature craft can be done or you can explore with more details and textures.

We added some circle stickers to help hold the natural elements in place and allow another texture to be in the project. Kids love stickers, right!? You can’t go wrong with stickers as a detail.

It is our hope that in each step of the project your artist can create, play and imagine the possibilities! There’s even a good chance that on the nature scavenger hunt, your artist starts playing organically outside. It’s a win-win.

If this craft sounds fun, but you don’t want to do all the prep- you are in luck. We have a few kits listed in our online store. You can jump over there and see if they are still in stock!

Have fun and get out and enjoy the blooming plants this spring season!

Imagine the Possibilities with me!

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Imagine the possibilities with me for a minute! What is a way you LOVED to create as a kid?

  • Love playing outside and building forts with sticks and mud pies?
  • Come alive cutting and gluing paper?
  • Enjoy the heck out of painting free and big?
  • Play with blocks or legos for hours?
  • Was rearranging or redecorating your room the normal?

Chances are the way you enjoyed creating as a kid you will still enjoy today!

I know for me, growing up in a family of nine kids there were always DIY projects going on.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about how expensive raising nine kids must have been for my parents. As my kids grow, it feels like it just keeps getting more expensive. Our oldest is learning to drive, and we all remember when we first caught wind of a brand we liked. Not just any pair of shoes always works anymore. I know my parents had to be thrifty to make our world work because I was so blessed and never went without. Being resourceful has been modeled for me.

I remember when my parents expanded our house. With nine kids, we outgrow the size house we had. The addition brought saw dust and scrap wood components to our lives. To this day, I still enjoy working with scraps.

Art doesn’t have to be expensive. We all have little things that we can reuse. For me, wood scraps has always been something I used, so to this day, I save them. The texture, possibilities of small pieces, and options of several things coming together to make something new is something I have always loved. Wood is a great material for all of those things to happen in the creative process.

Now, it’s no secret that I love to create in LOTS of ways. But, for many of us the ways we created as young kids can still be enjoyed years later or maybe the way we choose to create changes as we change.

Do you remember how you love to create? Has it changed?

Let me encourage you to imagine the possibilities.

Imagine trying that childhood creative process again that you loved so many years ago. Or, if you know of a new way you love to create imagine how you would feel if you took thirty minutes to do that activity this week?

We both know that your heart, mind, and soul will be better for that time of being FREE and using your hands.

I miss encouraging others in their creative process. It’s been a year, since we decided to close our art studio. So, as I was playing with some wood scraps, I dreamed up a kit with a lesson that I could share with all of you. If you need an extra nudge to get creative and imagine the possibilities, join me for this LIVE class one week from today. I will walk you through using these wood scraps to create a playful wood mobile. There will be a replay video, so if you miss the live. You can watch the tutorial replay back at a more convenient time.

Snatch up your kit to let me encourage YOU and your creative process. We will paint. Playing with order and design will definitely happen. Yarn will be wrapped. Of course, we will celebrate options and diversity. It will be so fun!

My hope for those that snatch up this creative kit (and for you on your creative journey) is that after playing with new materials and tools you feel a little more empowered in believing in yourself, knowing you can make good decisions, and trusting that how you think matters.

The creative process is a window into what’s going on inside us.

We find that inner discovery in playing, and pulling out of the expected. Keep playing. Keep creating. You never out grow the need to create.

 

Family Paint Night Activity

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Playing as a family is one of the essential ways to build a connection with one another. Do you know what are some of your favorite ways to play together? For our family, having a family paint night is something we all enjoy. As the kids get older, it might not be what they suggest anymore, but if I do the work to set it all up, they still get into it.

Do you feel like your evenings can be a mash up of running kids to their activities, someone working late, homework, filming projects, school board meetings, and it’s rare to be all home on an evening together? That can’t be just me, right!?

It’s been a bit crazy over here. As I saw a night approaching where we would all be home (and knew we had all been carrying a lot), I wanted to create a fun moment for us to connect, play and recharge together. Here I give you our family paint night!


I love a good collaborative project.

When we all start with the same base shape or project, it’s fun to brainstorm and see the similarities and differences each of us comes up with. This is a fun way to see how each other’s mind thinks, portray individual interests into the project, and see the different styles and techniques emerge. The energy given off is usually lighthearted and playful, as the goal is to just have fun.

This egg garland project allows us to each have our own project, but they will be strung up together. It’s always fun to work towards something as a ‘team’.


The set up is part of the fun for me.

It’s been a while, since I have set up a paint workshop. I had so much fun picking out paint colors and pulling everything together. I have learned that although art can be freeing and messy, we still have a lot of power and control in what supplies we break out.

I choose to use just paint and only certain spring colors of paint. Even though my creative heart thought of glue and sequins. I decided to not break those out, and keep it more simple. As a result, it was…

  1. Less intimidating for artists to decide what they want to do.
  2. Less clean up for me.

Reagan did end up pulling out the black paint. Her creative heart needed it 🙂

Having the set up ready to go is helpful when you are inviting and asking for participation. It makes the start easier and you don’t lose any way-ward artists to distraction while you gather it all together.

The goal is to have fun.

We laughed and painted that night. I know the moods in our house were more uplifting, light-hearted and connected after this playful activity. It was a break in the fast pace of life. We slowed down and did something intentional together. It’s important to remember the goal is to have fun. If we put too much pressure on the results then it becomes stressful and we didn’t need anymore of that.

After all the eggs dried, I strung them up and added some fabric and yarn for extra texture fun. I love looking at it hung up now.

  • I see my Caleb and his forever love of basketball.
  • I see my Jeremiah in his blending and mixing of all kinds of colors to make his “perfect” purple shade.
  • I see my Reagan having a vision and searching up how to paint a jellyfish and bunny.
  • I see my husband putting so much care into his focused pieces, as he slows down from a busy day.
  • I see my simple designs, because I had more fun watching and connecting everyone else.

 

 

 

 

Having a physical piece as part of this night’s memory makes the memory and connection that much stronger. If you haven’t played by a having a paint night with your family recently, I highly recommend it!

If you want to do this project, I may have a few of the kits I created left for sale in our store. It’s worth jumping over to check!

In summary, these are a few tips that help guide our family paint nights. I hope they can help you too!

We had so much painting.

Occasionally, we still reference jokes from that night, as we enjoy our new spring decoration together.

Having this activity right after dinner one night, made for a fun evening. After all the eggs were painted, I used the leftover paint to paint the paper that had been a part of our set up. I painted big swirls and smalls dots, as Matt told me about his day and the kids got going with the rest of their night. Having my hands creating, while talking has always been something I enjoy!

Those scrap papers became their own creation, as you can see below and snatch up in the store as well.

Now, what about you? Will you have a family paint night soon?

Remember, the most important part is to have fun. Protect your table, embrace the process, and watch your artists unplug as you connect together. It will be an experience you tuck away in the long term memories.

If you love this little imagination starter, you might enjoy my list of 30 Ways to Play as well. Enjoy!

Wood Slice Valentine Art

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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. What a great opportunity to either make a little handmade gift (or purchase a little handmade gift) to show someone you love that you care! In this post, I am going to show you how I made some wood slice valentine art, and you can do the same!

I first started with some wood slices I have been drying out in my garage, since the fall. If you saw my big 4-0 birthday celebration, you know what these slices are from!

I love buying samples of my paint colors before I paint a new wall in our house.

It allows me to test the paint, stare at it in all kinds of lighting, and then I reuse that paint on other projects. I used a dark, charcoal gray to be the base coat for these wood slices.

Once the base gray color was dry, I went back and painted a soft pink heart in the middle of each one.

The wood slices were still a little textured so I had to be careful to get my smooth lines. I used a small brush and some craft acrylic paint.

I Made a Lot of Valentine Art Signs

I was in assembly line mode making signs. The reason I created a lot was so I could list them in my shop. Although the signs are really fun Valentines’ gifts or art, they are also a powerful reminder to leave up year round!

If you have one scrap piece of wood, you could do this craft idea too. You can also purchase wood slices at most craft stores.

Painting the hearts was my favorite step, but waiting for them to dry was my least favorite step. I was so excited to stylize them up and get some product shots.

There are so many fun color options you could do with this same idea and simple steps. I think a neon version would be so fun too!

It doesn’t have to be a big expensive gift to say “i love you”. I recently sent my mom a little gift, but she said what meant the most were the words in her card. Think of how you could pair a simple gift like this with a card. That’s a gift with meaning that is sure to be the highlight of your receiver’s day!

If you want one of my hearts, you can pick it up in the shop today!

If you need some encouragement in your journey today, I am here to say…you have a strong heart.

No matter what we go through, there is always hope, ability for change, and endless possibilities. We just have to keep going. Small steps are still steps and movement forward. This heart is a reminder that the world needs what you got.

**If you need more encouragement, I’d love to invite you into my new course, Create More Connection.