Helping Families to Connect and Thrive

DIY Painted Driftwood Wall Art

05.13.20

A few weeks ago my friend, Kayla Anne, shared the most adorable wooden wind chime she and her daughter made together. They collected sticks, painted each one a different shade of the sunset, and then strung them together into the sweetest piece of art. We were totally inspired and set to work making a beachy version for the wall in the kids’ room.

Supplies Needed:

Driftwood or smooth sticks (1 large and 5-7 small)
Masking tape
Acrylic paints
Paint Brushes
Electric drill with small bit
Twine

To Create:

Enjoy some time outside and collect your driftwood– this is one of the best parts of the craft! You’ll need one larger/longer piece of driftwood and 5-7 smaller pieces of driftwood.

Make sure your driftwood is clean and dry. Set aside the large piece, as you won’t need it until the end of the project.

Apply a strip of masking tape around each end of the smaller driftwood pieces. Once you have the tape where you want it, press it down firmly so that there will be a clean paint line. It’s up to you how much raw driftwood you leave exposed on the ends– we left about 1.5″ on each. Also, if you are painting with really little artists you may want to cover the entire ends of the driftwood, either with tape or wrap them in paper towels, so they don’t get paint on them.

Paint the middle sections of the driftwood thoroughly with acrylic paint and set aside to dry.

Carefully remove masking tape from the driftwood. We removed ours about 15 minutes after we finished painting, so that the paint hadn’t completely dried and the line stayed really clean.

Once the paint is completely dry, drill a hole through one end of the driftwood, approximately 1″ from the top. Thread a length of twine through the hole and knot it thoroughly on one end. Repeat with other painted driftwood pieces.

Lay out your painted driftwood pieces in a line so that you can see how they look together. Mix them up so that you have an arrangement of shapes and colors you like.

Retrieve the large piece of driftwood and tie the ends of the twine pieces around it, keeping the smaller driftwood pieces in order. This was the trickiest stage for us, as it requires a little tweaking to get the pieces to hang just right. Finally, trim all extra ends of the twine and hang your finished piece!

So fun, right?! I think this may be just the beginning of our painted driftwood crafts! Thanks again for the inspiration, Kayla Anne!

Mother’s Day 2020

05.11.20

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the loving, dedicated, selfless mothers and mother figures out there— especially the incredible women who have added so much goodness to our lives! We appreciate you immensely!

The world undoubtedly became a more magical place when Isla and Cole arrived. My admiration for them grows with each passing minute, and I am overjoyed that we get to journey through life together. I am so, so grateful I was made to be their mother.

On Mother’s Day I awoke to the smell of bread baking– I mean, how good of a start to the day is that?! And it just kept on getting better! A delicious homemade french toast breakfast (with the heavenly freshly baked bread), a beautiful wildflower bouquet Isaac foraged and arranged, a leisurely family walk on the beach, a relaxing foot massage, and the most thoughtful and creative homemade gifts.

Our cottage is filled with the most gorgeous flowers right now, including the sweetest little bouquet from Cole and Papa, and a beautiful arrangement from my mom’s garden.

Isla was so excited to celebrate her first Mother’s Day, “because I am a mom now too,” she kept reminding us. We reminisced a lot about last year’s celebration when we surprised her with Charlie.

Meaningful gifting is so special to me, and Isaac and the kiddos knocked it out of the park with their thoughtfulness this year! They created the most amazing artwork that featured phrases the kids use a ton– something my nostalgic heart loves! To honor all of the paper cutting and collage work I’ve been tinkering with this year, they used the same techniques with their gifts. So clever!

Cole saw ONE classic Hulk cartoon months ago, and ever since he flexes his muscles, furrows his brow, and announces that he is the “Green Mad Guy”. It is hilarious! Isaac used Cole’s green painting, the silhouette of one of my favorite Cole photos EVER, and made reference to the Mommy Love Monster drawing Cole recently made me to create this piece. I was blown away!

Isla’s favorite phrase these days is, “Hey, Mom?!” Now I have it as a necklace and this beautiful print– and both are in her handwriting.

Charlie made his Mommy a Mother’s Day present as well– his first (and probably last) painting. She was thrilled! Well worth my ruined shirt and all the clean up.

We wrapped up our lovely day snuggled together on the couch, watching a family slideshow Isaac made of the last 2.5 years. What an amazing treat it was to relive all of those wonderful memories! Thank you to my precious family for honoring me in so many loving, creative, and heartfelt ways. I love you to the moon and back (times a million gazillion).

Children’s Drawing Jewelry for Mother’s Day!

04.17.20

Attention all parents who have a special partner they want to celebrate on Mother’s Day— we have such a fantastic and MEANINGFUL gift idea to share with you! And, if you and your kiddos get to work right away (say, this weekend, perhaps?) you should be able to receive your amazing, one of a kind gift before May 10th.

You might remember the beautiful hand drawn snowflake necklaces Isla and I created for Christmas? Well, we had the opportunity to partner with Caitlyn Minimalist for a Mother’s Day project and I am seriously giddy about it! I knew personalized jewelry would be so special, but I wanted to think a bit outside the box, and have my children make something that is really specific to our relationships and unique to their current life stages. So, today I’m going to share what we did, as well as a few other sentimental ideas along the same lines:

(For children who can write independently) Have your child write out a short phrase or term of endearment they use regularly with their mom. (If your child is a new writer, I encourage you to consider keeping their inventive spelling!)

Isla, our six year old, says, “Hey, Mom?” about 100 times a day (not exaggerating!), and so I had her write the words in her sweet kindergarten handwriting. I joined the letters together digitally, and her favorite phrase will soon be memorialized as a pendant that I will cherish forever. It’s a little bit playful, a little bit sweet, and being the two words I hear coming from her mouth the most, completely representative of this stage in our lives together.

Use toddler art. Abstract scribbles can make a great piece of jewelry!

Just because it’s a scribble doesn’t mean it can’t be meaningful. Try asking your little one to draw a picture of themselves with mommy, or a picture of a hug with mommy, or any other sentimental concept along those lines– then their intention will exist within the scribble. SO special, right?! But what if your toddler is stubborn and won’t cooperate? Well, we hear you, friend. Patience and creative problem solving skills will be your greatest assets when collaborating on this project (and every other waking moment that you’re with your toddler). Our son, Cole, is two, and not cooperating is one of his super powers. Any other toddler parents out there relate? Right now Cole’s pictures consist of a lot of scribbles. I figured an abstract scribble pendant could look really cool, but I wanted to see if we could set up a scenario in which Cole created a somewhat meaningful scribble. For example, when he signs his name on cards he always says, “Love, Cole” as he makes his scribble mark and it is SO sweet! Of course, as soon as I tried to get him to do this for the jewelry project he refused. Oh, two year olds… All Cole wanted to do was make big scribbles that he said were monsters. It may seem silly, but I was really hoping he would create something sweet or related to us in some way, but monsters were the ONLY thing he would draw. I tried repeatedly to get Cole to draw something different, but several days and 20+ monsters later I was feeling a bit frustrated. Suddenly I was hit with a brilliant a-ha! moment and asked if he could draw me a “love monster”. Cole’s eyes lit up and he replied, “Yes! I draw a mommy love monster!” Compromise to the rescue! The scribble Cole made was so cute and actually kind of resembles a heart, or a baby, depending on how you look at it. Every time he sees it he points and excitedly says, “That’s my mommy love monster!” His meaningful little scribble is also in the process of being turned into a pendant that I can wear and enjoy for years– the perfect reminder of my little two year old monster!

So, now you’ve seen the route we chose to go, but if you’re still looking for a little inspiration for creating personalized art jewelry, here are a few additional ideas for your consideration. Have your child:

draw a simple symbolic picture of a favorite pastime they share with their mom (a flower if they garden together, a book if they read together, a pencil if they draw together, etc.)
write a nickname they call their mom (or a nickname their mom calls them) in their handwriting
write a favorite lyric from a song they like to sing together (if it isn’t too long!)

If your little one isn’t yet able to draw, a similar concept is to make a piece of jewelry of your child’s name in your handwriting. Two years ago Isaac made necklaces for me with Isla and Cole’s names in his handwriting and I absolutely ADORE them!

Also, you don’t have to make a necklace. Key chains, earrings, rings, and bracelets can all be customized with your child’s artwork.

Tips for working with your child to create a meaningful piece of artwork:

first explain your intention– tell your child you want to work with them to make a gift that is meaningful and their mother will love!
brainstorm ideas together– the more ownership your child has over the project, the better!
set the expectations for the artwork– best effort, clean lines, everything connected (if possible)
keep the experience fun and lighthearted– this gift is about intention, not perfection, so allow a safe space (and plenty of extra paper) for mistakes
if you’re working with a toddler or older infant, put on your patience pants, let your child make lots of drawings and choose the best option when they’re all done

Tips for creating a successful piece of jewelry with your child’s drawing/writing:

choose a drawing that isn’t too complicated– clean, clear lines are easier to replicate! It is important to communicate these expectations to your child (assuming they are old enough to understand) before they begin creating their artwork
embrace the quirks of your child’s drawings– these are the details that will pull at your heartstrings over the years
make sure all the elements of the drawing are connected in some way, otherwise it isn’t possible to replicate it in the jewelry (for example, if your child draws a face where the pupil is floating in the middle of the eye, the jewelers would either have to omit the pupil from the necklace or move it over and connect it to the outline of the eye)
if your child writes a word/words, the team at Caitlyn Minimalist can help you connect all the letters together
have your child make their drawing with a marker (or trace it in marker) so the lines are thicker and easy to see
think about the style and color of jewelry your wife or partner usually wears because different finishes (silver, yellow gold, rose gold) are available.
photograph your child’s drawing straight on, in natural light
Submit the photo of your child’s artwork in it’s most complete form here and make sure to communicate any additional assistance you might need with the design, such as connecting letters together. These necklaces are currently on sale and shipping is free!
pay close attention to the production timeline– custom pieces often take as long as 4-6 weeks to make, so plan accordingly– Caitlyn Minimalist’s tentative cut off dates for Mother’s Day are April 22 (First Class Mail), April 23 (Express), April 24 (Fedex). Be sure to check in with them before placing your order.

Phew! Friends, that was A LOT of information. Are you still with me? I sure hope these suggestions were helpful to you! Meaningful gifting is a serious passion of mine, and I know there are so many INCREDIBLE mothers out there who would LOVE a piece of jewelry that features their child’s art and highlights a special aspect of their relationship. Please feel free to pass this post on to individuals who are thinking about how they want to honor their wives/partners this Mother’s Day. We’ll post an update with our finished necklaces as soon as they arrive! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave them in our comments. Or, if you’re so inspired, we’d love to know the familiar phrase you’d want your child to write for your necklace!

Easter Fun at the Coast

04.14.20

We have filled the past few weeks with all sorts of Easter fun! New seasonal books, egg dyeing, baking, and lots of crafting, all culminating in a truly happy Easter Day.

Snuggling up to read through a stack of seasonal books is one of our very favorite ways to spend time together any time of year. If you’re looking to update your library with some new spring books for children, we’ve got you covered with some great suggestions!

Dyeing eggs with Cole is fairly fast and furious (mostly just trying to keep him from cracking the eggs and spilling all the dye), while Isla works slowly and intentionally, with a clear vision in mind. Activities like this really highlight the fact that these two little bunnies have their own unique personalities!

I’d really love a peek inside that little mind of his.

Since we were already messy, we went straight from egg dyeing to painting Cole’s Easter egg truck.

…and then he grabbed a freshly dyed egg and began painting with it. As one would…

We love finding fun seasonal shirts for the kiddos, and this year’s spring/Easter designs are some of our very favorites yet! It is important to us to try and support other small businesses as often as we can, especially during this uncertain time. Isla’s sweet cotton tail shirt is from Kind Kids Club and Cole’s oh-so-creative Anatomy of the Bunny shirt is from Itty Bitty Bean Co.

The kids have been crafting up a storm the past few weeks. This collaborative sibling Easter basket project is definitely one of our very favorite creations ever! We transformed one of Isla’s paper weaving projects into the sweetest white-washed baskets and cut out Cole’s paintings into festive eggs. We made mini versions on cards as well and sent them out to family!

We decorated Easter cookies. Which is just another way of saying we spent 45 minutes trying to keep Cole from eating his body weight in frosting and sprinkles!

And then came Easter Day… early morning Easter basket excitement, champagne brunch, egg hunt on the beach (and far too much chocolate consumption!), quiet afternoon, incredible dinner, sunset walk, family call, a little movie time and lots of snuggles. While it wasn’t the big extended family gathering we love, it was still a really special day.

The Easter Bunny had so much fun putting together baskets for the kids– dragons and exploration goodies for Isla, and cars, cars, cars for Cole. Oh, and some new undies stuffed into the eggs, since potty training is in full swing!

As I suspected, Isla zeroed in on the dragon egg IMMEDIATELY! She was beyond thrilled with the tiny little Toothless stuffed animal inside. While I try and limit the number of mass-produced toys like this, I knew it would be really meaningful to Isla, and so this purchase was absolutely worth it.

We managed to find a little blue truck and “lemonzine” for Cole– inspired by his favorite book, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way.

Isaac’s homemade bread, sweet potato kale hash, eggs, hollandaise, and mimosas. Easter brunch never looked better!

The kids’ actual Easter baskets are a little on the bulky side, so I thought I’d have them use these adorable wire baskets Joanna Gaines would be proud of… only to realize the gaps in the bottom were too big for the eggs. Oops! So, random sand pail from the back of the car and big ol’ beach bag it was!

One of Cole’s very favorite Easter books is Owen’s Marshmallow Chick. So imagine his absolute awe and delight when he opened his first egg and discovered his own marshmallow chick! This was one of my most treasured moments of the whole day! Unlike Owen, Cole chose to devour his chick, rather than play with it.

Coley running off to hide in the dune grass so he can sneak more candy.

I love how cheerful and springy the house felt on Easter! We did a quick mini makeover of the fireplace the night before, and I smile every time I see the kids’ artwork on the mantel. So many of our decorations are homemade, and they make my heart unbelievably happy!

Tulips and paper whites from my mom’s garden, and daffodils from the beach.

Cole’s painting and cupcake liner daffodils.

Isla’s tissue paper and cardboard carrot garland.

As the day came to an end our little stretch of beach was drenched in golden light. So, we took the kitties out for a walk down to the lake and let the sun warm our shoulders. What a perfect way to wrap up the day. Happy Easter, friends!

Collaborative Sibling Art: Easter Basket Collage Craft

04.09.20

We love having Isla and Cole collaborate on artwork that we can display and enjoy, especially during different holidays. I was trying to find a way to combine the kids’ recent painting and paper weaving projects into some Easter artwork and suddenly it hit me– Easter baskets filled with colorful eggs!

We transformed one of Isla’s paper weaving projects into the sweetest white-washed baskets and cut out Cole’s paintings into festive eggs. We made one large 8×10 piece to frame for our house and 7 greeting cards to send to family!

How we made Isla’s paper weaving baskets:

Materials:

Kraft paper (you can use a paper bag too)
White watercolor paint
Paintbrush
White colored pencil
Masking tape
Glue stick

Steps:

Color one piece of kraft paper with the white colored pencil (white crayon would work great too!). Paint a second piece of kraft paper with a white water color wash. We used two different techniques because we wanted our baskets to have a contrasting, white-washed appearance. Isla let the first watercolor layer dry and then painted a second layer to make the white brighter. If your water color set doesn’t include white you could use a white acrylic craft paint, or even just use white paper.
Cut both kraft papers into long thin strips of the same size. Ours were approximately 0.25″. We kept all the colored pencil strips grouped together and all the water colored strips grouped together.
Line up the colored pencil strips next to each other vertically on a tabletop or flat surface. Make sure the strips are right up against each other, but don’t overlap.
Using one long piece of masking tape, secure the vertical strips in place at the bottom edge. Really press down on the tape to ensure the strips don’t fall out.
Weave the water colored strips through the colored pencil strips. Be sure to alternate starting each row with over and under, and regularly push the paper strips close together to ensure a tight weave. PLEASE NOTE: the weaving can take a long time, so feel free to break it up. Isla worked on hers for 5-10 minute sessions throughout the day (notice how the light changes throughout the video below.) If you are totally lost when it comes to weaving, you can google “paper weaving instructions” and find many great tutorials.
When the paper weaving is complete, you should have a rectangular-shaped piece (more or less). Tighten the weave one last time and then use a glue stick to attach a sheet of printer paper to the back of the woven papers (this allows all the weaving to stay together when you cut out the basket shapes).
Cut out your desired basket shape from a piece of scrap paper to make a stencil. We went with a very simple design, but you could certainly create a handled basket.
Use the stencil to cut basket shapes from the paper weaving. We worked around the edges of the paper first so that the tops of our basket cut outs had the raw paper edges.

The water colored paper is on the left and the colored pencil paper is on the right.

The red shape is the basket stencil we made from a sheet of scrap paper. We cut it down even smaller at the end so that we could cut a few teeny baskets from the leftover paper weaving scraps.

How we made Cole’s colorful painted eggs:

Materials:

Colored construction paper
Acrylic paints
Paintbrush (although he used his hands for 95% of the paintings)
Smock and wet wipes to keep things clean.

Steps:

Set up your painting station. Cover the table, put smock on, get tools ready
Choose a colored paper. Squeeze dabs of paint (we chose colors similar to the paper) directly onto the paper and let your child paint with the brush or their hands.
Let paintings dry completely, preferably overnight. Then flatten them for a few hours under some heavy books.
Cut out an egg-shaped stencil from a piece of scrap paper and use it to cut out egg shapes from the finished paintings. Be intentional when you cut out the eggs and look for areas with interesting color mixtures and textures.

Here are some more tips we put together about painting with your toddler:

Finally, assembling the Easter basket artwork is pretty straightforward. Glue the basket to a piece of paper or greeting card. Next arrange the egg cut outs into a little pile that is aesthetically pleasing to you and glue them along the top of the basket. Again, it’s a good idea to carefully flatten your finished collages under some heavy books for a few hours, just so the edges don’t curl up.

Don’t forget to add your children’s name and the date– your nostalgic future self will appreciate it!

So, there you have it. Collaborative sibling art! Have you tried it? Are you interested in more project ideas? I am definitely inspired after this Easter basket collage and cannot wait to help the kids work on some more collaborative art projects this spring.