Easy

Montessori Letter Tracing

At any given moment, my son is obsessed with at least thirty different things. Two-thirds of them relate to sports or food. Then you have the chinese erasers, Oliver Jeffers, cool pens, etc. category. Within this last group falls his obsession with script, and his love of similes. Yes, similes. He’s talked in similes for a couple of years now, and they always make me laugh. Similes are the way he expresses himself when he wants to make his point. What I love most about his similes is that they give me a glimpse into the inner-workings of his fascinating seven-year-old brain. He thinks pumpkins are clean and chickens are hungry! He’s a poet (or a comedian)…both are awesome.

His obsession with script is because his cousin in London of the same age has been writing in script since birth, practically. Our school doesn’t teach script until third grade which, in my opinion, is missing the boat. Montessori educators believe that at around age 4 1/2, children “explode” into writing. This is the perfect time to start them tracing letters with a pencil (before that age they can trace with their finger). Thank God for cousins abroad who inspire! For about a year now he has been tracing my script letters. This time, I decided to mix his love of similes with his passion for script. We used these neon Bistro Chalk Markers, which are so cool to write with as they glide smoothly along the black surface.

As the little guy was tracing his similes with his tricked out pens, he told me that he was as psyched as a cow!

14 May 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Easy, Explore, Featured, Inspire, Teach Tags: chalk, chalkboard, simile, writing script

Perler Bead Brooch // Mother’s Day

There is nothing fancy or original about these brooches, but they are just so darn happy (and simple)! We give these to grandparents, babysitters and aunts quite a bit. If you have kids ages five and up and you haven’t invested in some perler beads yet, then today would be a good day to start. They can spend hours with these little beads. It is a fantastic project for small motor skills, and for recognizing and creating patterns (I love when art meets math).

Supplies needed:

Perler beads

Parchment paper

Iron

Pin backs

Glue gun

Directions are included, but it’s very simple: Arrange the beads on the pegboard, cover with parchment, iron for a few seconds, let cool, add pin. Voilà!

My kids are really into the glow-in-the-dark beads these days. They really do glow! These beads have helped us through many a rainy/snowy/lazy summer day. I hope your kids will enjoy them as much as mine!

30 Apr 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, DIY, Easy, Featured, Teen Craft Tags: broach, Mother's Day, perler beads

Circle Paintings + Floating Frame

Today is a very exciting day for me! I am contributing to one of my favorite blogs, Small for Big. Mari calls her blog “A design blog without a snooty attitude” which is not only true, but also one of the reasons why I love it so much. Small for Big has a very playful attitude with just the right mix of design, DIY and shopping.

Mari was so nice to indulge me and let me post about a fun little art lesson for the kids: Circle Paintings! But before you click over to her blog to see how we made these beautiful paintings, I first wanted to show you how I framed one of them. I have always been intrigued by floating frames. Recently, I found this photo on Pinterest which set my wheels in motion. With just a few supplies, and literally a few minutes, this cool + simple frame was made.

Here’s what you will need: Frame (bigger than your art by about 1 inch on each side), wire (22 gauge or thinner), wire cutters or scissors, eye screws (12mm), mini clothespins.

(I picked up everything from my local hardware store and Jerry’s Artorama.)

Step 1: Take the glass and backing out of the frame. Turn it over to expose the back and lay it flat on the table. Center the painting inside the frame, eyeballing it (or you could use a ruler if you don’t trust your eyes). Draw a pencil mark 1cm below the top of the painting and 1cm above the bottom of the painting, (you want the wire to be just below the top and just above the bottom of the painting).

Step 2: Screw in the screws to the side of the frame (the thickest part of the wood). Just push them and turn and they will start to screw into the wood and become secure.

Step 3: Cut your wire about 2″ longer than the finished length. Thread the ends through the eye screws then twist it around and point the ends back towards the inside of the frame (so it doesn’t poke out the front where you could see it).

Voilà…you are done! I painted my clothespins, but you can leave them plain or buy them colored. Now it is time to read about how we made these beautiful circle paintings on Small for Big. And if you’re the following type, become a fan of Mari’s on Facebook or follow her on Pinterest (she has the BEST Pinterest boards, I swear) or Twitter. Her Instagrams are always so fun, too.

Happy Monday!! xo

22 Apr 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Create, Decorate, DIY, Easy, Featured Tags: circle paintings, clothespins, floating frame, frames, framing, painting, watercolor

Simple Signs // Make

My family and friends have seen me make these signs for years. They are my last-minute, in-a-pinch, go-to idea when I need something colorful + sincere – but fast! I would say it takes about 30-45 minutes to make these from start to finish, which is pretty good. Usually my family is waiting in the car while I’m finishing up, but that’s alright. It’s not officially a family outing until kids are screaming and husband is honking anyway!

Here’s what you need:

Large paper (14 x 17)

Colored paper

Pencil + scissors + tape

Hole punch (1/16″)

Twine or Ribbon

To make the sign, fold the colored paper in thirds. The folds will guide you as to the size of the letters. Draw your letters free-hand with a pencil and then cut them out. Cut out any embellishments, like the hearts. Or you can just leave the sign plain + simple. Use rolled tape to adhere. I have tried white school glue, but it dries all buckled. And rubber cement takes too long. I find that rolled tape is just the fastest. Punch holes, tape on embellishments, weave in the twine, and you’re done!

This sign was made for my dear cousin who had an impromptu joint baby/wedding shower. Long story short, she found the man of her dreams a bit later in life and they didn’t want to waste any time!

You can make these signs for birthdays, baby showers, welcome homes….just about anything. I’m already planning my next one which will go on my front lawn and say something like, “Scoop your poop”. I’ll let you know how that goes.

4 Apr 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, Decorate, DIY, Easy, Featured Tags: banner, hand-letters, sign, simple sign

Egg Garland

Is it really almost Easter? I have to admit that I just took down all of the hearts around the house from Valentine’s today to make room for these cute egg garlands. (Truth be told, my Christmas cards are still in a basket in my living room. Seriously, who has time to keep up?) Holidays can’t just be ignored when you have kids, though, so over the weekend we got down to business. These garlands are pretty simple, and what I love about them is that they can be made with just about anything. We made one for each of the kids, plus one for each set of grandparents and one for my mantle. That’s seven garlands all in a matter of a few hours. Easy!

Egg Garland // Art Bar

Here’s how to get it done. First, you need an egg stencil. I thought about including a download, but then decided that really…we all know how to draw an egg, right? I know you can do it!. Just fold a paper in half and cut like you would a heart, but make it an oval. Next, decide what you want to use for your eggs. We used the following: marbled wrapping paper, map of paris, watercolor paints, washi tape, and old art (in this case it was the color studies from a few months ago). I got the wrap from the Papyrus in my town. They do not sell the map and marbled sheets online, but you can get some great wrapping paper at Paper Source.

Egg Garland // Art Bar

Then we got busy painting, cutting, taping, stringing. Sometimes we embellished with pom-poms or beads. We even cut up some straws to string! When the paper was thin, like the wrap, we glued the eggs to cardstock and then cut a second time. We used an 1/8 inch hole punch and a needle to string the embellished garlands.

Egg Garland // Art Bar

I’m slightly obsessed with garland (if you haven’t noticed), so I could make these day and night. But really, they are super easy and fun…so get busy. All you need is one cute decoration and you’re done (in my book). These might even be up until Thanksgiving!

20 Mar 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, Decorate, Easy, Featured Tags: Easter, Easter eggs, egg garland, eggs, garland

Travel Art Bag

We’re back from our February vacation! It was beautiful in the Dominican Republic and we feel so fortunate that we were invited to share a very memorable family vacation with grandparents. Despite several trips to the infirmary for various problems (which I will not elaborate on because I am pretending none of that happened), we were able to relax, read, eat, play and best of all…create some pretty art! I threw together this little travel bag for the trip and it was perfect. I’ll include sources, but you can really just grab anything that you have on hand (or make a run to CVS) and even just put it in a ziplock! My goal was to get the kids to draw and paint from the beautiful nature that surrounded us. (I will share their art later this week.)

Here’s what I put in our travel art bag:

watercolors // colored pencils // washi tape // 1 pencil, 1 eraser, 1 sharpener, 1 sharpie // sketchbook // brushes // tempera paints // merimekko tote

I hope you had a nice little break as well (or will have one soon!). Don’t forget to pack a few art supplies when you travel!

{Travel tip: Remember, when traveling to a foreign country with small kids, curtail the habit of picking off of your kids’ plates or having your kids share any food. Also, don’t share utensils or have the whole family drink from the same water bottle at the airport. And wash hands frequently! Sickness could be spreading and you won’t even know it until it’s too late. And that’s all I have to say about that.}

27 Feb 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, DIY, Easy, Explore, Featured, For Moms, Travel Tags: art bag, art supplies, travel, travel art bag

Homemade Playdough // Glitter Recipe

If you have never made homemade playdough, I hope this post compels you do it already. It’s really easy and cool to make. (By cool I mean sciency and awesome). The kids loooooooove making it, but the true bonus is that it lasts forever and ever! (By forever I mean in playdough-time, which is about 6 months). We used food coloring but you could also experiment with natural dyes.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/4 cup salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

dye & glitter

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in a big-ish bowl (big is good because then little people can stir without losing too much). Add the water, oil, food coloring and glitter. We used about 2 tablespoons silver glitter. When fully mixed (it’s ok if there are still a few lumps), pour into a non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture draws away from the pan. Cool until you are able to handle it. Knead until smooth and place in an airtight container (we use zip locks).

{Note: Although homemade, this playdough is not edible because it’s too salty.}

We’ve collected many tools over the years for playing with our playdough. On this day, we used a roller, spatula, potato masher, and an old set of heart cookie cutters.

Playdough never gets boring because it’s so tactile. Even my 13-year old will knead and roll and cut. And there is something about homemade playdough that is softer and even more satisfying to squeeze!

Make some today before Nemo hits (for all of you New Englanders), and stay safe!!

{Here is a video that shows you how it’s made. They used essential oils which is also a great idea…rose scented play dough!}

8 Feb 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Create, DIY, Easy, Explore, Featured, Play, Science Tags: glitter, homemade, playdough

Craft Table // Valentines

This week was tough. My daughter was home from school (again) with her mysterious malaise, and I had two important deadlines to meet for work. But now it’s Friday – yippee! I stayed up late last night to finish my jobs and after they were sort-of wrapped up, I downloaded the photos from my camera. They made me happy so I just had to share! Last weekend I set out a table of valentine’s crafts and let my kids and their friends make whatever they pleased. Nothing warms my heart more that watching them get busy and make a mess.

I hope these photos inspire you to set out some simple supplies and let the kids create! I am off to NYC this weekend for some much needed r & r. If you happen to be there with your kiddos, Mo Willems will be at the MoMa Design Store at 81 Spring Street!! Yes, the Mo Willems of Knuffle Bunny fame, and our all time besty Leonardo the Terrible Monster. Get the books, meet the author, create some art…wow, you have a lot to do this weekend!!

xo Bar

1 Feb 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, Easy, Featured Tags: craft table, Valentines

Art Story // Ninjas attack Monsters

My son recently spent a day home from school, his first “sick” day since he started first grade. I wasn’t being fooled, I knew he wasn’t really sick. But it was a Friday…and his sad eyes were too much for me. He loves to paint so we took out a large piece of watercolor paper, a sharpie and some liquid watercolors. My only instructions were to tell a story and to use the whole page. As his story got more involved, his gum-chewing stopped and his brow furrowed in concentration. His story and characters became more intense as they waged a battle to save the princess. And then he would throw in some comic-relief, like a monster with an earring. It’s so satisfying to watch your child experiencing complete flow…pure happiness.