Our Favorite Art Books

I love to buy artsy books for my kids (and sometimes me!) to draw with.

Now don’t get me wrong, I fully believe in blank paper in order to create but sometimes it’s just fun to try drawing an alligator or a funny person.

Here are some of our family’s favorite art books (my kids are 11, 7, and 4 if that helps):

Ed Emberly’s Drawing Book

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Doodles at Lunch & Doodles at Breakfast: 36 Tear-Off Placemats

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Animal Doodles Place Mats

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642 Things to Draw: Journal

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and this is the next book I want to get for our house

The Boys’ Doodling Book

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and maybe in a few years we’ll purchase this one

The Girls’ Drawing Book

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Happy Drawing Everyone!

Art Holder for Markers, Crayons, Pencils, Glue Sticks, and Scissors

I have wanted an art holder for our kitchen table for awhile now.

I looked around the garage and found an old tea light candle holder that I bought at Goodwill for $3 several years ago.

My husband drilled the holes further down & then I sanded it to create this new piece.

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I could sand it further & then paint it but frankly that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

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When the art holder is on the table I have noticed the kids drawing and creating more than usual. I place various drawing books we have as well as blank paper and watch them go to town.

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Tomorrow I’ll share with you some of their favorite doodling books!

Cardboard Boxes – So Much Fun!

The last time I talked about Caroline’s super hero party it was concerning the scavenger hunt, bean bag toss, and the chest letters they received.

Today it’s, “Exploring the City!”

When I looked on pinterest for Caroline’s super hero party I came across party decor which had buildings with it. I thought, wouldn’t it be fun for the girls to be able to play in the buildings?

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Otherwise known as, “Cardboard Boxes are so Much Fun!”

One of the missions the kids had to complete was, “Explore the City.” This simply meant, bring out some cardboard boxes and let the kids have fun.

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A week before the party, the kids and I drove around gathering big boxes that had been discarded in the new subdivision they are building near us.

We then set up a painting station on our driveway and got to work painting the boxes.

I used regular house paint that we already had so the cost for this project was $0.  

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Caroline wore her painting outfit – yellow pants, old white shirt, and a pair of the boys’ old water shoes – always looks like she’s a retired Floridean 🙂

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Everyone got in on the action.

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Once the boxes were dry, my husband cut out doors and windows in each box.

And here are the final results –

Every Super Hero town needs a City Hall…

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the Movies…

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A Jail to put the bad guys…

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And the library!

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The cardboard boxes stayed in our house another week before they were completely destroyed.

Good fun!

Banner with Ties

Caroline turns 4 today so we are well into party planning mode for the weekend.

For the 11 months and 3 weeks she requested a super hero party on a regular basis.

Last week she decided she wanted a cheetah party.

So we’re having a super hero party where the person of honor is wearing cheetah leggings and a cheetah tutu and calling it,” The Super Hero Party Where People Can Be Super Hero Cheetahs if They Want to Be.”

Classy party we’re hosting around here.

We’re also hosting this party on the cheap so we are using supplies and materials that we already have first and then buying second.

Therefore, the party colors are bright yellow, blue, and pink, since I had leftover fabric from my sisters shower last year. Caroline approved of the colors so we moved forward.

So first up for the Super Hero Party  – the foyer.

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For the “bam” and kapow” signs, I used yellow frames we already had and placed the images I created on the computer inside them.

For the “banner with ties, ” I used fabric strips and string – super easy.

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I cut strips of fabric in varying widths and tied them onto the string with one tie.

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Here I have tied on 3 pieces of fabric.

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Once you have tied a few pieces of fabric, push them together – I know, rocket science here.

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I just kept adding pieces until I thought it was long enough – in the beginning I was worried with how it was turning out but once I had tons of the pieces on there I was happy with it.

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Now onto bean bag boards, painted cardboard boxes, and lots of sewing!

Shaving Cream Letters

In school, Caroline learns a new letter each week.

Since she wasn’t really picking up each letter each week, I decided to work with her on the new letter before it is introduced.

This week the letter was P and one of our activities was shaving cream writing.

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Caroline loved it and had lots of fun writing the letters.

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She also had tons of fun just playing.

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Needless to say, she took a shower after this.

Disney Fun

Well, that was quite a long break for me but one that was quite necessary.

You see, we had the holidays, then we went to DISNEY, and then my middle child got the flu.

Yep, even though he received the flu shot in October, he got the flu.

Apparently the flu shot covers three out of four types of the flu.

Well, he got the 4th one sometime while we were at Disney.

Mickey Mouse, roller coasters, and the flu.

Thankfully, he only missed the last day of fun and he felt so bad he didn’t care that he missed going on rides.

Here are just a few shots from our trip:

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Only rained one day

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Animation Class

Fun Fact: I won the teacher’s artwork by answering the following trivia question:

Name one of Mickey Mouse’s nephews... answer at the end

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Yes, we spent $45 on face painting on this trip but it was completely worth it

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Me: Let’s all three of us ride together

Alex & Caroline: No

Me: Please can we all ride together

Alex & Caroline: No

Result: Loser Mom is riding the Dumbo ride all by herself and trying not to look anyone in the eye

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Little girl souvenir haul: one princess nightgown, one cheetah, one princess bank

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Oh, and one princess hat

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And in case you were wondering, Mickey Mouse has two nephews, Morty and Fergie.

Years of reading Disney storybooks finally paid off.

Hope your holidays were wonderful!

Baby Jesus

Caroline’s teacher told me she had the following conversation with Caroline last week.

Teacher: “OK class,we have all the parts to make Baby Jesus in front of us.”

Caroline- “That’s not Baby Jesus.”

Teacher – “Well who is it then?”

Caroline – “That’s Charlie Brown.”

Teacher – “You know Caroline, I think you’re right.”

Easy Advent Calendar with a Paper Bag

***I am reposting this from 2 years ago – the only change I will be making for this years advent calendar will be at the end of this post***and sadly, I have to report that there was no big Powerball win for us last night – here’s to hoping no one won!

Last year the kids and I made a paper bag Christmas tree which they partially decorated using markers. Here’s the way our advent tree works.

On December 1 they receive a paper ornament which states something we will be doing, watching, or making that deals with Christmas.

One of the boys gets to glue it onto our tree. The next day the other one gets to glue it on.

On certain days they receive their ornament before school while other days they receive their ornament after school (it depends if I have my act together or not). Here’s a picture of the finished project.

advent treeHere’s a close up of some of the ornaments. Some days they would receive one ornament while on other days they would receive a bonus one.

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There is a small part of me that cringes when these are glued onto the tree every which way. I do have to tell myself that having symmetry in this craft is not the purpose. But oh how I sometimes try to make suggestions of where the ornament could be placed.

This year I’ve made a tentative list of activities for our family. Some will change based on schedules and weather but it’s a start:

  • Wed Dec 1 – Watch The Grinch
  • Thurs Dec 2 – Make Christmas cards for grandparents
  • Fri Dec 3 – Choose Angels from Angel tree
  • Sat Dec 4- Andrew’s Christmas program
  • Sun Dec 5-Shop for Angels
  • Mon Dec 6 – Have hot chocolate & marshmallows
  • Tues Dec 7 – Watch Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
  • Wed Dec 8 – Turn in Angel gifts & get cookie at mall
  • Thurs Dec 9 – Watch Santa Claus is Coming to Town
  • Fri Dec 10- get tree?
  • Sat Dec 11-Photo with Santa at school
  • Sun Dec 12-make snow globes
  • Mon Dec 13-Assign & Hang Stockings
  • Tues Dec 14-drive around and look at lights
  • Wed Dec 15-?
  • Thurs Dec 16- Andrew’s school Christmas party
  • Fri Dec 17-Alex’s school Christmas party
  • Sat Dec 18-Frisco downtown – Santa parachutes in?
  • Sun Dec 19-wrap some presents
  • Mon Dec 20-Go see Northpark train display?
  • Tues Dec 21-Make Christmas cookies
  • Wed Dec 22-Aunt Amanda, Uncle Ryan, and Gramma & Grampa arrive
  • Thurs Dec 23-Aunt Kelly & Uncle Ben arrive
  • Fri Dec 24-go to ICE! display in Grapevine
  • Sat Dec 25 – Christmas

***Changes this year – Now 3 children will be placing ornaments on the tree *** Our activities each day has changed *** I am using large brown craft paper that I also use to wrap gifts in***

Do you have any unique ways your family celebrates the holidays?

Front Yard Halloween Sign

In a previous post I mentioned that I liked this Halloween decoration…

Well, our family made our own using materials we already had.

In the garage we found planks of wood from a pallet (for the place signs) and then a standing piece to secure those smaller signs to.

The boys insisted that the names of the places had to come from somewhere…

Do you know where they came from?