butterfly painting

With yesterdays beautiful paintings from Jumeirah, I wanted to do something for Amahli so she too could give her paintings away at Christmas. She loves to paint and is becoming quite particular in her use of colour and brushes, much like her older sister was at the same age. ( Boy, am I in for trouble)
Jared too, seemed keen so I wanted something he would enjoy as well.

So I set up a really simple painting experience that has brilliant results, butterfly painting.
Instead of using spoons to dollop out the paint, I made it less messy and gave them the whole tube of paint to squeeze out. This paint is really thick so it worked their muscles in their fingers really well.

I got them to squeeze paint down the centre of the page ( I folded it in half first so it was easy to see) and then to fold it over and squish the paint in between the layers.
No matter how many times you do this, its always different in the end.





Then they got to open them up for the big reveal.
You should have seen these little faces absolutely light up when they could see how beautiful their butterflies were :)





We will use our butterflies as gorgeous wrapping paper this year. So much cheaper and nicer to recieve than shop bought paper :)
Make some for yourself!

painting Georgia Okeefe style with Kool Aid

End of last week, I had a family of sick chicks... two with conjuctivitis, one losing her voice, all three wanting to do nothing but sit and chill in front of the tv. So whilst they were sitting there doing nothing, I thought I would make a brew of kool Aid paint to entice them to want to paint :)
It worked.

Jumeirah and I had found some art by kids who had been inspired by the artist Georgia O'Keefe, an artist who painted beautiful artworks inspired by nature and in particular, flowers. And so we decided to have a go at doing some ourselves which the idea that she could give them as Christmas pressies to the family.
Jumeirah, of course, needed to taste it first. Only took her one try to not want to do that again :)




I love this face

She began by drawing a flower, large enough to reach the edge of the page. I made her all the colours she wanted ( she too, had to try them first) and then she began to paint over the drawing. At this point, I told her I really wanted a surprise at the end and so I left her painting, knowing full well I have a really bad habit of instructing her too much. I drive myself nuts as well as stifling her creative edge so walking away and encouraging her from other points in the room meant that she could do as she pleased.

And whilst she did just that, Littlest Miss turned me into a paint slave, asking for each colour and making me pass it to her so she could create a masterpiece too. She loves Kool Aid :)


And when Jumeirah had finished, she made me close my eyes, and then she showed me all she had done.
And they turned out spectacular :)

I loved the colours she used. I love how she did one as a sunset. I love that shes proud of herself and that she enjoyed it so much. I love that both of us were able to enjoy the experience without me telling her what to do. (So often, So so often, her ideas work better anyway!)

I love these kids and their arty side :)

friday photo

Guess what we want for Christmas ;)???

Jumeirah pulled her own tooth out tonight, the first time shes done it!

Now that hole looks like a space invader...

Still a gorgeous face :) xx

Kool Aid painting.. what works and what doesnt

Earlier this week, my lovely friend at Mom Tried It, Kim, sent me MORE Kool Aid after I lost the first lot. ( I know it will turn up, someday). So, today, I was busting to try it out :) It smells incredibly sweet, even in an unopened packet. So we decided to do some simple water painting with it that would give us lovely smelling paintings.

So Amahli and I sat up and began to make a simple concoction of water and Kool Aid. Both of us wanted to try the powder. Neither of us had any idea how incredibly SOUR this stuff is!! Amahli didnt get it the first time, and had to try again. Me? Umm.. well... lets just say it took me longer ;) ( I had to try ever single one, believing for just a moment, that one of them would taste like it smells. I can see why you have to add copious amounts of sugar to it!!)

This is the faces when trying Lemon...

But quite obviously, Blueberry was worse ;)

And so, we began our paintings. And they smelt beautiful. Which, of course, put Jared right off :) But the colours are vibrant and it was fun to paint with.

I then thought I would have a go at making finger paint from it. I made a cornflour and water paste with two flavours ( lemon and blueberry) and the result was truly )almost) edible. I reckon if I put that in a pastry case it could SO pass as a lemon tart ;) An incredibly tart tart.

And so, I put the mixture on the table, encouraging both of them to come and feel it. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Amahli stuck one finger and and declared " ITS GROSS!" so it was up to me to test it out. Whilst the consistency is great and smooth, the colour was lacking. Next time, I'll add more ;)

masks for kids/ Look whats growing!!

It was crazy busy for me over the weekend... a very full Body Shop/party weekend.
The time that I did get to spend at home though, was fun and busy too.
It seems as the year progresses, Jumeirahs brain is getting further and further into overdrive. This afternoon, she gets in the car from school and announces: "Mum, Im making a remote control car. For school. For tomorrow." *sigh*

But, on the weekend, she took herself instead of announcing her plans (thankfully! I cant keep up) and was very busy for quite sometime. Finally, the announcement was made for us all to come to the kitchen for the "trying on". And I was greeted with the most gorgeous animal masks for the whole family. Before everyone tried them on, I suggested we laminate them first so they wouldnt rip.

The welcome messages for Tigers and Cats, complete with balloons :)


(If you dont have a laminator, GET ONE. I have used mine so many times and they are just fantastic for perserving art and now animal masks too!) She was happy with this and so once laminated, I had a family of tigers and cats prowling around the house....Amahli wasnt sure for awhile but got used to and then wouldnt take it off to eat.. luckily enough, my smart cookie had cut holes so they could eat and so she happily ( well incredibly messily but she did manage) ate her dinner through the mouth hole in her mask. Luckily for you, my stomach was churning at the sight so there are no photos of that one :) Sausage and sauce is not a good look. being laminated, they just wiped clean.

Even daddy got involved and had a roaring ( ha) good time as well :)
Making masks are fun and simple. You can print them off the net ( just google printable masks and there are hundreds) or just draw your own. Or let your kids make one themselves! Laminate them if you can as the elastic will rip through paper or cardboard and that way you can keep them for longer as well.
ROAR!


And look whats growing! The one vegetable that I planted and cant stand is squash and its growing beautifully!! such a pretty flower :) Such a horrid veggie...

WARNING!!!!!! friday photo is disgusting!

WARNING WARNING WARNING






This is quite possibly the worst photo I have ever taken... but I cant not post it because Miss almost 6 asked me to :)
Its her tooth, ANOTHER one, that was so lose it turned itself sideways.

And guess what? I pulled that buggar out :) My first and last tooth pull, EVER.
And you know what she said to me once it was out?

"See Mum, I told you I would keep growing up!"

try looking up

Lately, Ive had a run of average days. Its left me feeling a bit flat and frustrated... I struggle when the friends around me dont do what I think they should, when my expectations have to be lowered, when things just dont go right.

So I vented on the ever present Facebook (I would be lost without it really :) )

My vent was " Karina needs healthy suggestions on how to deal with the world when its hell bent on pissing me off" ( sorry, I told you I was having a bad day)

A response came from a friend " Ignore the world luv!!Look above!!"

Well, today I did. The day is much like yesterday, grey and rainy. And so looking up, I see this.

Not really that inspiring really. ( yes I know what she meant, bear with me)
Until it hit me. I KNOW FOR A FACT that the sun still shines above those gloomy clouds. I flew in a plane once and was shocked that although on the ground the rain fell heavily and the sky was completely cloudy, once we got through the clouds, the day was brilliantly sunny and blue.
So, I KNOW that although it SEEMS gloomy to me, that brilliant sun is still shining above. Even though I cant see it, or feel it, I know its there. And clouds pass. Ok, so sometimes they hang around long than we want or can deal with, but they DO pass. And often, they bring a rainbow, a promise of better days ahead.

So, if the day is grey and gloomy, either inside or out, try looking up. Who knows, you may get a glimpse of Heaven while you're there :)

I believe in the sun even if it isn't shining. I believe in love even when I am alone. I believe in God even when He is silent.

Author Unknown

window drawings

Sometime earlier this week, I was reading a post of a lovely blog I follow Mom Tried It. Over there, Kim was talking about a great little product from Crayola ( no, Im not being paid either by them) called Window crayons. Now, here in Australia, we dont get NEARLY as many cool things as some lucky ducks in the states, but I was wandering our local craft shop and THERE THEY WERE! So I grabbed a pack, ready for a dark and rainy day. And today was just the day :)

We dont have the crazy darkness that she has either. I cant say its ever been dark before 6pm at least so it wasnt quite as effective as hers but it was still a very fun thing to do.
I didnt tell them what we were doing, just sat down and started to draw on our glass door. They looked at me in shock and were very quick to join.

I had drawn Jareds name on paper and stuck it to the other side so he could trace it which he seemed to really enjoy. He really struggles in holding a pen so any encouragment and activities to help are always good.

Amahli just had fun drawing :) The crayons are ridiculously smooth and creamy, and write just beautifully. I was a bit addicted myself.
Then I asked Jared to go outside and put his face on the other side. I began to trace his features while he giggled and wiggled away.

Amahli was up next and was exactly the same, wiggling and giggling and falling over.

Then they both told me to go outside and I realised how funny it was to have two people come at you with crayons, even though you have glass between you :)

Of course, Miss Picasso just HAD to try them out on her skin. Which for some reason today Jared followed. As I said, the creamy crayon is really quite beautiful to work with, even on skin. I turned them both into cats before heading for the bath to wash them off.

35 minutes later, happily pruned by the bath water, two children and I rugged up went puddle ducking in the rain.

And now I really have a reason to clean the glass... tomorrow :)... maybe.