• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

ARTBAR

raising creative thinkers

  • MY BOOKS
    • Art Workshop for Children
    • Cardboard Creations
  • ART SUPPLIES
  • SHOP
    • Art Bar on Etsy
    • Art Class Poster
  • ABOUT
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

A Year of Making

March 31, 2014 by Barbara Rucci 2 Comments

3 shares
  • Facebook

A year of making, guest posts by Art Bar Blog on Small for Big

It’s been one whole year of making from Art Bar on Small for Big! Today I am featuring a round-up of some of my faves. It is also a goodbye for me as I will be leaving my contributor position to focus on some exciting things happening here at home. Mari has been so generous and kind to give me this amazing chance to share my projects and crafts with a bigger audience. As a new blogger, she showed me the ropes and helped me find my voice. I will be forever grateful to her and her readers!!

#makeit2014

On another note, my hashtag project on instagram has been SO FUN!! Thank you all for participating. It’s awesome to see all of the stuff you guys are making. Bravo to you!! Above are some that I wanted to share with you. Keep tagging your photos with #makeit2014 as I will continue to share your handmade goodness!

row one: @mericherryla, @schaeresteipapier, @bmarcogliese

row two: @willowdaygram, @alldayalldamnday, @jesscornman

row three: @jesscornman, @mericherryla, @cdouglas9

row four: @willowdaygram, @giddyja, @simplybike

Love This {five}

And finally, another installment of the things I am loving on the interweb these days….

Love This {five}

1. Two women went on a canoe ride to the island. What they saw on the way back was unimaginable….and hints at universal principles yet to be understood.

2. A quick tutorial on drawing your hand in 3-D. The kids will love this!

3. Essential oils are what I’m buying for my one child who tends to be anxious and a worrier. I am so excited to try these!

4. Going on a road trip soon with your kids? This simple yet brilliant road trip game with keep them from fighting the whole way!

5. This article about toys made me both long to do what this mom did, and gasp at what this mom did. What do you think?

6. I want to buy this star light for my son’s room…i love this company!

7. Love, LOVE this dad. Read about his brilliant and creative way to stay connected to his 5-year old son while traveling.

8. A 13-yr old girl gives a heart-rending answer to Matt Damon about what she will do with her free time, now that her village has access to fresh water. Makes you think.

9. This 4-yr old has become an internet phenom overnight. She designs and makes dresses out of paper. I love her! If you haven’t already seen this, you might be living under a rock.

10. And lastly, these 100 calorie double fudge muffins literally look like heaven! Made with bananas and 1/4 cup sugar which you could replace with natural sweetener…they are healthy, too!

Have a great week!

xo, Bar

 

Filed Under: Open-ended Crafts for Kids, Teen Crafts, DIY Tagged With: Instagram, #makeit2014, love this five, small for big, year of making

Previous Post: « DIY Bird Nests
Next Post: Parenting Test »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jeanine

    April 1, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    Wow. It is very bitter-sweet… So, you wont be blogging here anymore? Nowhere? BUT, this is such exciting news! My entire focus now after being off work for almost 5-6 years (from a temporary inability to work) is to learn more about blogging, some more university, & work from home. I have found soo many inspiring colorful cheerful and encouraging messages from posts on your blog. I enjoy it here much. I am certain you will continue to spread that light of yours around your future ventures. BEST OF LUCK & huge thanks for the encouragement & shares…

    Reply
  2. meri cherry

    April 2, 2014 at 9:18 pm

    SO much amazing inspiration Bar! I love #makeit2014! Thanks for all the shootouts. Can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store. MAKE MAKE MAKE! xo

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

The Creativity Project
RESOURCE FOR TEACHERS
Join our course!
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Yes! I want to raise thoughtful and creative children. Send me more inspiration, please!

artbarblog

i make things✖️
creativity facilitator✖️
design as a lense✖️
author✖️✖️
mom✖️✖️✖️
blog at artbarblog✖️
teacher resources ⬇️
@the.creativityproject

I have been thinking lately about so many big idea I have been thinking lately about so many big ideas. They seem to be stuck, though, in the cogs of my brain. I need to articulate and connect these ideas together, but I can’t find the right words, or medium. It feels like trudging through thick mud, and then making the choice to set up camp in the muddy place. Maybe this is always what motherhood + living a creative life will be. And I am ok with that, too. Life is mucky, and even though I crave clarity, I am also acutely aware that this is why I also crave art. Music, books, museums, film, gardens… these are the mediums humans turn to when they need to find connection and, if we are lucky, clarity. But I feel more protective of my human-centered ideas these days and less willing to share them in spaces like this where they are open source. I don’t even know what is real sometimes. And how am I contributing to this landscape of creative and intellectual robbery. I think I am headed in a different direction but I don’t know what that is yet. Meanwhile, I am camping in the mud and looking for beauty where I am. 

Some moments new and old, lately…

1. Painting at my easel, age 4 when we lived in England before moving to the US. 
2. I tried making a video of motherhood on mother’s day inspired by this song 🌙 but never finished. 
3. Planting dahlias 🌸
4. Year 2 of my veggie garden. It is not going well. 
5. We diagnosed our garden problem as not enough sun so cut down a tree to give the sun a little path but then the sun moved. Also failing at science 😳
6. When you see your habits in your children ❤️ 
7. My mom’s caretaker gave me a cake and now I am a whole year younger 🙏🏼
8. Thank you James for the treats, mom dreams of traveling to visit your bakery but this was the next best thing 🥐
9. Finding 50 bucks in jeans from 20 years ago 👏🏼 Always check the pockets!
10. The newly graduated makeup artist with her kit off to a job 💋 
11. When the birthday kid isn’t home it’s too sad. must make art. 
12. When I am so dumb and share it on the internet 🙃
13. My heart, my clarity ❤️
14. Another round of silkscreening! Things are happening. 
15. MUA by Ava, and hanging out with the help 😍
16. Reminder.
Happy Earth Day! Can we agree that every day is Happy Earth Day! 

Can we agree that every day is Earth Day? The older I get, the more I change my habits to be kinder to this beautiful planet. Lately, seeing the photos from Artemis II of Earth from space has really moved me to make even more planet-friendly choices. Here are some things we do at home, and of course, we could always be better, but I also think small changes are more doable and sustainable, and if millions of us did just one of these things, it would make a difference.

Ok, here goes! My hope is that someone reads one of these actions and thinks, I can do this! We cannot reverse the melting ice caps, but we can stop further global warming… humans can do this if we work together. It starts small and is community-driven, so share this with friends!

1. Eating less meat, eating more veggies (this is also called eating low on the food chain). A vegetarian or vegan diet is a low-carbon diet. Did you know switching to 2/3 vegan reduces your carbon footprint by 60%? 
2. Grow our own veggies. Save on emissions and packaging, and find joy in gardening.
3. Less food waste. Eat leftovers, clear the fridge.
4. Buy less. Buy local.
5. Repurpose, fix, mend, thrift.
6. Make homemade gifts.
7. Drive less, fly less. (This one is harder, but being conscious of it is really important.)
8. Moderate, steady thermostat settings can save so much energy. Try 67/68 F in the winter and 72/73 in the summer and don’t touch it.
9. No pesticides on our lawn. It may not be pretty, but we have never had a beautiful lawn, and I’m fine with that. We also live on a river so the thought of polluting that water so I can have a perfect lawn is crazy.
10. Using non-toxic cleaning products or making our own from vinegar.
11. This year, we will do “no-mow May” to promote biodiversity, help the soil, and reduce emissions.
12. Vote for candidates who take climate change seriously!

Add some things you are doing in the comments. This is a judgment-free zone, so no preaching! But for real, we all can do a little bit better. 

The blog post about these signs is on artbarblog.com, link in bio!
New blog post! It’s about time I share my favorite New blog post! It’s about time I share my favorite materials that I bring to the library. Read the post for links and tips for how to pair these materials to foster deep engagement. Children have always needed time in childhood to use their hands to make things and play, but now more than ever, the skills they develop through these experiences are imperative for their future well-being and success. I’ve been reading everywhere about children’s “lost skills” in this new ed tech world where screens have replaced so much hands-on learning in the classroom, even as young as preschool 😞 Communication skills, flexible thinking, regulating emotions, building empathy for others, innovating, even core strength and pencil grips are a struggle. Offering time and materials for making things and playing with ideas should not be a challenge; it should be as essential as filling bodies with fresh air and food. Play is how children learn! Anyway, I hope this post will inspire you to collect some things for making and maybe even join our Materials Matter course over on @the.creativityproject so that you, too, can become an expert at cultivating creative thinking through art making!
It’s almost impossible to concentrate or sleep or It’s almost impossible to concentrate or sleep or work or enjoy anything these days. I know joy is resistance, art is resistance, kindness and empathy are resistance, and I try and practice all of these things every day, and also boycotting and shopping local and volunteering and making calls and checking on my neighbors and bartering and keeping our big tree lit for the community. And still, it doesn’t feel like nearly enough. I know we probably all feel this way. And maybe the collective small things really do add up to bigger movements, I don’t know. It’s Sunday and my mom is in the hospital again and I miss my one at college and I had such a bad dream last night. My headspace is not in cheerleader mode which is my usual default. And yet… going through my camera roll to find photos of things I made did actually help today. And I have made a plan for future things to make. When I wake up in the middle of the night, the way I get myself back to sleep is by envisioning this one big installation idea I’ve had for years, it takes place in a forest and involves textiles. So maybe 2026 is the year for me to bring this to life, or begin the process. I think about this quote, and it helps, too: When you make art, you rebel against a world that fears vulnerability. Ok, I’m better. Thank you for listening 🤪❤️

Ps: It weighs on me that Meta should be part of the boycotts. If anyone has any ideas for building community and sharing somehow somewhere else let’s discuss.
Follow on Instagram

Categories

Archives

Copyright and Reposting

All content on this blog is copyright and owned by Art Bar Blog unless otherise stated. I would be flattered if you wanted to use an image from one of my posts! But please, ask me first. I would also ask that if it involves DIY instructions with a list of supplies that you don't repost any of that stuff because then nobody would have a reason to click back to my original post!

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

About Me

There are two things that I'm passionate about: Children + Art. As an art teacher, author, graphic designer, and mom to 3 creative thinkers, I get to explore my passions every day! Learn more...

I am dedicated to keeping your information safe. Please review my Privacy Policy.

Recent Posts

Copyright © 2026 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework