Crafting with Kids: Flower Art

"What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you. "

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before."
Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I love these quotes from this talk. And lately I have felt in a rut- feeling stuck and I knew what I should do. I created. Well Alex and I created.

I found this idea on Pintrest-- the idea originated on the blog Multiples and More. I thought this would be the perfect thing to hang in Alex's room.

Supplies:
Canvas 8X8 (any size you want would work)
Buttons
Scrapbook paper in several coordinating colors
Craft Paint- blue, couple shades of green, white
Paint brushes (sponge brush, big round brush, 1/2" flat brush)
Pencil, scissors

I was going to have Alex sponge or dry brush in the sky, but when I turned around to get some more supplies she had already jumped right in, I was good though and just let her go for it.When the blue dried I had her dry brush in some clouds with white to make it not so flat. She also dry brushed in the grass with a couple of different shades of green.

Dry brush: Dip the tip of your brush into the paint and then dab on a paper towel or plate several times until hardly any paint remains and then dab onto canvas.

While the paint was drying, Alex picked out three different colors for each flower.
The paper we used came from a book of papers- so all of the colors already coordinated. I then drew a large, a medium and small circle on each paper and she cut out the circles. The circles do not need to be perfect at all- the only thing that matters is that you have a three different sizes for each flowers.

I took over for the next part. I had trouble with the original instructions; I painted modge podge on the colorful side of each flower and lay them over some large paint bottles- but I realized they would be backwards. I ended up painting modge podge on a circle and then cupping it in my hand, pushing up on the sides. I only had to hold each circle for about 30 seconds then was able to lay it down to finish drying and it maintained it shape. I only modge podged the front side.
While these were drying, Alex painted the stems for the flowers using the flat brush. She started at the bottom and pulled up.

After the circles were fully dry, about 20 minutes, maybe less, I sewed the three circles together using a four hole button. I could not find my glue gun so I used crazy glue- worked like a charm.

And the final product...
Alex loved it!

In case you haven't heard of pintrest- it is awesome! It is kind of a bookmarking those great things you find online/social network site. If you pin- come follow me User name Emmymom2- and I will follow you back as I am always looking for new things to repin. And if you want to join-as you need an invite, just shoot me an email emmy (at) emmymom2 (dot) com and I will invite you.

I am linking up this post on some great craft blogs I have recently discovered.