.salad spinner art.

1st Salad Spinner Artwork

Salad spinners aren't just for spinning those green leaves that tastes like you're crunching on water salads.  If you have an extra one lying around, or can find an inexpensive one at Walmart (I *thought* I was buying a $5 spinner, but it turned out to be $11), you can add a piece of paper...or whatever canvas you want to use...add some drops of paint, spin, and you have a piece of art.  Of course, I did most of the steps, and I had Kaiya pull the cord to spin.  She enjoyed the noise as well as watching the paint splatter onto the sides of the salad spinner.  

I think the paint we were using was a little too thick and it didn't spread out very well, so next time I'll either look for a recipe in First Art, or water down the paints that we have.

The DIY Show Off: Silhouette SD Giveaway at the DIY Show Off!

Lately I've been "following" a bunch of DIY/craft/art blogs since I've been on this toddler art kick. Once in a great while I will enter a blog giveaway because they're giving away something cool that is pretty much out of my price range, so I figure what's the harm in entering. All the blogs I've seen go to this random number generator...and that's how the winner is chosen. But you have to leave a comment, or follow their blog, or link back to their blog. So...here is the most recent blog giveaway that I am entering. It's for a Silhouette Machine, and Roeshel of the DIY Show Off blog is giving one away. Hey...if I win, BONUS. If not, oh well.

Here's the link so you can see for yourself all the fun artsy crafty things the Silhouette machine can do.

The DIY Show Off: Silhouette SD Giveaway at the DIY Show Off!: "SILHOUETTE SD GIVEAWAY! I've been so excited about this day for you! The time has finally arrived! Hurray!!! Last week I showed you..."

.contact paper collage.

I had some contact paper that I bought for artistic journaling so I figured I'd lay some out (sticky side up) with an assortment of glitters, confettis, fabric scraps and other whats its so Kaiya could make her very own collage.  She took a while, since she wanted to put the confetti on one.by.one.  And I helped by covering the remaining sticky portions with glitter.  But I think it came out great for her first collage.

.popsicle time.

I started looking up homemade popsicles since it came up on one of the blogs that I follow, Hostess with the Mostess.  Here's her post on twisted ice pop molds + 11 fabulous homemade popsicle recipes.  I figured who doesn't love popsicles?  And since I bought Activia Yogurt at Costco, we had more than enough to have a go at making some.  The first batch I made was basically just strawberry Activia, vanilla Activia, and some Aloha Maid Strawberry Guava juice.  I stirred it together and poured it into extra Jell-o cups that my mom uses to make her version of the frozen treat 'guri-guri' that you can find only on Maui...I'll save that for a later post.

So hours later, and with an eager 5 year old willing to do some taste testing...the results of the Activia Frozen Yogurt pops were a success!  She said, "It's like eating yogurt, but it's crunchy!"  So smart that girl.  haha.  

I decided to search the internet and see what other recipes I could find and came across this Cookies n' Cream Pudding Pops recipe from Baking Bites.  Super simple recipe, and yet another hit among a 1 year old, a 2 year old, and a 5 year old.  So I'm sure we'll be making that recipe again.

I ordered this popsicle mold made by Norpro,  and since island weather is pretty much summer year-round, the need to try out different fresh and healthy (and not-so healthy) homemade popsicles are in the near future.  

I'll make sure to post again when we try new recipes.

.homemade fingerpainting fun.

I recently got a book, First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos  by MaryAnn Kohl.  There are some great ideas for toddler art, as well as recipes to make different types of paint and tips for uses for everyday household items to use as art.  I decided to try out the Creamy Soap Flake Fingerpaint recipe.  I couldn't find soap flakes in the store (surprise, surprise), so she mentioned that you could make your own just by grating up a bar of Ivory Soap.  So I bought some bars of Ivory, a cheap-o cheese grater (that is now *for art use only*), and grated away.  I followed her recipe, but instead of using an electric mixer, I used a *for art use only* whisk and voila...creamy soap flake fingerpaint.  I made three colors, blue, purple, and yellow.  I spread out a drop cloth, covered a table with newspaper, then layed down some brown craft paper.  Then I put out the three different paints, along with paintbrushes, pipe cleaners, combs, and spoons and let the kids go to town.  I wasn't sure how Kaiya would like it because previous experiences with fingerpaint ended up in her crying and whining because she didn't like the paint on her hands.  But...she was all about this paint.  And it smelled like Ivory soap!  It was a mess...but not really because a quick jump in the shower after and Kaiya and her cousins were all washed up!

Here is MaryAnn's recipe for Creamy Soap Flake Fingerpaint:

Pour 2 cups warm water in a bowl.  Add 1 cup soap flakes and beat with an electric mixer until stiff.  (I used the whisk and it took only a couple minutes).  Mix in 1/2 teaspoon food coloring.  Spoon the paint onto paper for fingerpainting.  (I divided them into 3 bowls and put out the bowls so the artists could do as they wished).  

*Do not dump unused paint in the sink because it can clog the drain*

.more discovery bottles.

I made two more discovery bottles for Kaiya lastnight after she FINALLY fell asleep. The first one is H2O+laundry detergent+pink paint=pink bubble bottle. The second one is shells+glitter+H2O+blue food dye+baby oil=under the sea bottle.

.toddler art.

We've been trying to get Kaiya to do some art projects...but it turns into mommy doing art and Kaiya watching.  Oh well, it's fun for both of us.  Sometimes Kaytin and Caleb are here when we're doing art and Kaytin LOVES art.  Kaytin claims that she wants to be a nurse/art teacher/picture taker when she grows up.  She's also mentioned being a sushi chef at Genki Sushi.  LOL!

Anyway, back to the art.  Kaiya is getting good at scribbling on paper, rather than just trying to put the marker or crayon in her mouth.  She's not too fond of finger paints...she actually freaks out and says, "owww" when it's on her hands.  Drama queen in full effect!  One thing I have found in recent days is that she likes stickers...and what easy clean-up for mommy.  :)

I've made discovery/sensory bottles for Kaiya and she was more interested in trying to drink them!  Good thing for gorilla glue and duct tape.

Helping mommy put glitter in the bottle.  One.piece.at.a.time.

Here are the two we've made so far:

left: water+cornstarch+confetti+glitter=glitteratti bottle
right: water+green food dye+baby oil=lava lamp-style bottle

We also worked on a Valentine's Sticky Hands, Warm Hearts project we found from Disney's Family Fun Magazine.  Again, Kaiya watched as mommy did it.  Which wasn't a bad thing because they were pretty messy.

Starchy hearts.  You're supposed to let them dry for 24 hours, but since we wanted to speed up the process we put them in the oven at 150 for an hour or so.

And the last thing I made was a present for Kaiya for Valentine's Day.  Paint in a bag.  Colorful "paint". No mess.  I made purple, cause I thought it would be fun.  And yellow, cause that is the only color Kaiya seems to know.  They only last a week, so if it's not a hit...we won't make it again until she starts warming up to paint.

So that's what we've done so far.  Hopefully there will be a lot more projects.  And I'm confident that we'll find a bunch of things that Kaiya will love doing.  I'll keep you all posted.

.behind once again.

So much for keeping up with the blog right? Well, within the last month or so, Eric and I both entered the thirties. So far so fabulous!! Kaiya continues to make us laugh and smile...along with crazy since she seemed to have entered the terrible two's earlier than we hoped. But regardless, she is one funny little girl! She loves to dance, spin in circles, call people on her "phone" and talk talk talk. She says a lot of words, too. Her favorite is probably mommy. All day long, it's mommy, mommy, mommy, mom, mom, mommy, mom. Great! :)

We started doing art projects with Kaiya. She's more interested in the brush, rather than the paint. And the crayon rather than drawing with the crayon. Oh well. It's fun for all of us. We'll keep working on it and it fills part of the day with learning and fun.

I'll TRY and post some of the art projects.  Here's the funny girl...you like her squint?  :)

.twenty eleven.

A new year...already! To make it short, Eric had to work as usual but made it in time to ring in the new year. We were once again blessed with having neighbors that light off aerials for front row seats to a new Year's fireworks show. Again, like Christmas...lots of fun, good food and family!

Hope 2011 is a memorable and fabulous year for everyone!

that jolly guy brought too many toys

So this is the THIRD time I'm attempting to post this because I would write, save, then it would disappear. So....you guys are getting the super shortened version of the previous writings.

Family. Fun. Food.

One of the main highlights of Christmas was that Eric's mom and grandpa flew in on Christmas Eve so that they could spend Christmas and New Year's with us.  We are soooo glad that they came out and we enjoyed having them here, we just wish it could've been for a little longer.

Christmas Eve we went to Kelli's grandparents house, ate lots of good food, did the annual grab bag/steal/gift exchange, and headed home to rest up for Santa Claus' arrival.

Christmas started EARLY for us.  We went over to Kalaheo to open gifts and have lunch at their annual Soup & Sandwich gathering.  There were a ton of toys between the three kids, lots of wrapping paper, and lots of smiles.  Kaiya got all kinds of toys...two riding toys, learning toys, two play cameras, bubbles (her favorite..."BUBBOSSSS!!!!"), Alphie (mommy's favorite toy when she was younger), and a bunch of other things that I can't remember all of it.  Lunch was fabulous, as always, with lots of food, friends and family.  A great way to spend Christmas.

I apologize for the very shortened post about Christmas, but I wasn't about to write out a whole long thing, only to have it deleted for a third time.  Hope everyone else had a great Christmas.  We wish we could have ALL of our family and friends together in one place, that would be a Christmas miracle.  :)