DIY Watercolors

For the longest time I've been wanting to make these DIY Watercolors with my daughter and we finally got around to it and I'm sure glad we did! We got the recipe from one of my favorite blogs: Happy Hooligans....do check this blog out for all kinds of kid friendly ideas.  You can find Happy Hooligan's great tutorial on Homemade Watercolors here.  Keep reading to find out our results of these watercolors and the beautiful paintings we created!

To make these DIY Watercolors you'll need:

4 Tbsp. baking soda

2 tsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp. light corn syrup

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Food coloring

mini muffin tins or ice cube trays for the paints

First,  mix all all the ingredients together (except for the food coloring) in a big glass measuring cup and pour this mixture into your mini muffin tins or ice cube trays.  I filled them about 1/4 inch full.  Then,  add a few drops of food coloring to each section.  Use a toothpick to mix each individual color.  Wait about  a day for the watercolors to dry.  When using the paint add water just like you would with a watercolor set you would buy in the store.

Here is C having a blast with these watercolors:

One of her GORGEOUS paintings:

Another beauty:

Even Mom had FUN:

Hope you have fun making and painting with these DIY Watercolors!

How to Create Your Own Scratch Art

My daughter came home the other day from school with one of those pre-made scratch art papers. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can check them out here at Amazon.com.  Usually the top layer is black and you scratch through other layers to create a drawing of your choice. I think they are really cool and the colors are brighter, but I wanted to show her that you could create your own with a few materials that most artsy craftsy people like me usually already have at home! Keep reading to find out how to create your own scratch art.

To create your own scratch art you'll need:

Thicker paper/tagboard/scrap matte board/scrap book paper (either one)

crayons (not washable kind)
neon crayons have fabulous results

paint brush

black tempera paint

dish liquid

scratch tool: sticks/skewer stick/ popsicle stick/old pencils

First, color fairly heavily with crayons on  a piece of white cardboard....I used scrap matte board. Color with many colors or just a few.

Then take some black tempera (or poster pant) mixed with a drop or two of dish liquid (to make it stick and scrape off better).

And paint it over your crayon  coloring. Let dry.

Then,  start scratching through to create your drawing or doodle or whatever you choose.

Here are some of our results: "Flower People", by C.

C holding grapes.

My flowers, hearts, and spirals.

The whole collection.

I don't know if I convinced my daughter that these DIY Scratch arts were better than the ready made kind,  but I wanted her to be aware of the process.  I do think she enjoyed the process!  Those commercial scratch art kits are really cool so I don't blame her.

What Do You Think?

DIY Chalk Paint Revisited

We continue our tradition, once again, of making our own chalk paint.  We made some with the neighbor kids and they had a blast.

If you didn't catch my post from last year check it out here: DIY Chalk Paint.  It is terribly simple to make. Basically you put some chalk in a plastic bag and crush it with a hammer until it is in tiny pieces. You could also use a large stone to crush the chalk too.  Add some water, stir and you have chalk paint. Grab some paint brushes and you are a good to go.

Here is C and some neighborhood friends chalk painting away.

C has gotten quite good at this chalk painting! (4 years straight)

A painting of C and a ladybug.

I'm sure we'll be doing more chalk painting....the neighborhood kids have asked me to bring it out countless times.  This all puts a smile on my face.