Art Projects!

Two of my favorite things ... the standing double art easel by Melissa & Doug and recycled blueprints.

The double easel works well for the boys for obvious reasons ... they each get an activity. Once side is a chalk board, the other side is a dry erase board with clips to roll paper over for painting.

Jared gets pretty excited whenever I am about to break out the art easel. He was able to paint on a similar one at a preschool we visited several months back. I know he associates getting to paint on the easel with being big enough to go to school. Cute.

It's funny to hear Jared navigate this two-sided deal with his brother as I am setting up the materials. The conversation goes something like this,

"OK, Baby, you will do the chalk and I will do the paint. OK? OK, Baby?"























Sometimes, though, they do negotiate a compromise whereby they switch and Will gets to paint. Granted, this usually means more unwanted painty fingerprints in obscure parts of my kitchen, but Will does like it. For a minute, at least.

































I've found a good use for these little Barrett masterpieces, too. My previous two options were store (not practical) or toss (kind of sad).

Now, I cut these paintings into smaller sections and mount on card stock to make the backdrops for homemade cards for family and a few lucky friends, as shown here:

The boys love giving their paintings as little gifts and (I think) grandparents love getting them, too.

Another one of my favorite things is recycled blueprints.

Having come from a family who has always made their living in construction and development, we always had tons of blueprints on hand. Still do have tons on hand, given both mine and my husband's professions. I hate tossing all these rolls of paper, but once a construction project is complete, there really is no need to keep all these hundreds of sheets of large paper. The just take up space.

No more.

Now, we use these old blueprints to cover tables and do more art projects. One side is white, which makes for great, large practice area to practice our writing and drawing. The other has the writing, dimensions, etc. on it and for some reason, this is the side Jared prefers. I guess it's sort of like a large coloring page ... or maybe he is already getting acclimated to the family biz.

Either way... it makes for an easy activity and great (cheap) table cover for crayons, paints, play doh, you name it. And ... I don't feel bad tossing it back into the recycle bin when we're done.




















































































These Barrett boys love them some art projects.

They definitely keep me on my toes as I plan activities for them ... but, as I always remind myself ... planned activities are way preferable than too much free time. Too much free play time for toddlers = an inevitable decline of behavior = requiring discipline. So much better (for all of us) if I can keep them busy!

PS: If any of my mommy friends needs blueprints, let me know. I can surely get my hands on some for you.