Free Art Friday

I love letting Jacq explore different mediums and just be creative. This time I brought out my pastels and she LOVED them. We used heavy art paper so the pastels would adhere better.

One set of pastels. Aren't they beautiful?


First she made a few sketches.


Then she used her fingers to explore what it would look like being smudged.


Then she used brushes to smudge.


Here is a rainbow that I drew and Jacq smudged and blended using her fingers and brushes.


This was a little messy but a lot of fun!

How to: Make your own gift bags

Ok so you are not actually making the bag yourself. But you get the idea. We go to a lot of birthday parties. Gifts, gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbons, cards, they add up. Fortunately I have an awesome play group who does a money pool and we get the birthday child a group gift. This is really nice because not only does it soften the blow to each mom's bank account, we are able to get a decent amount together and get the bday child something really nice.
Another way I thought we could save money would be to decorate your own gift bags. In reality they aren't that pricey and really you aren't saving a lot of money but I really like to do this because it's cute and adds such a personal touch. Most stores sell plain gift bags in multiples of 3 for around $1. You can get creative. Use paint, stickers, scrapbook embellishments, ribbons and bows, glitter. The list could be endless. Here are a few that Jacq and I have made.

These were for Nana Judy, Nana Shari and Grandma Yvonne on Mother's Day.



Here is another one we did for a birthday party.



Grandparent's especially like this. Have fun with it!