Post title: Magic With Watercolors

Hi there! My name is Franchesca, and I write a little blog called so this is love about family, faith, loss and the capturing the big and little moments in between. I love instagram, finding toy dump trucks in between couch cushions and the watching the sun rise (though I am not a morning person so it doesn't happen often enough!). I have to say I am loving Pinterest more and more these days. What started out as another overwhelming social media outlet, is becoming my go-to for recipes, decorating ideas and one of my favorites... art projects to do with my little man. I saw a pin a few days ago and was instantly reminded of my days student teaching in an elementary art class. The project that day was 'magic with watercolors'. I can still remember watching the expressions of the small children as they watched their words and drawings 'magically' appear through the paint. This is so simple, it's ridiculous! 

What you need: +paper +watercolors (I used watered down acrylic paints, but watercolors work best) +paintbrush +white crayon or oil pastel

1. Write our your valentine's day message, or drawing, with a white crayon. Be sure to go over it a few times so that it will really pop. 2. Begin painting over your words/ drawing and watch your message appear. If you are like me and used watered down acrylic paints, you will want to pat your paper softly with a paper towel to pick up some of the extra paint. 3. Let your paper dry on a flat surface. You can frame your beautiful piece, or fold it up and make it into a card! Happy Heart day friends! xo fran

sidewalk chalk painting.

post by COURTNEY of once upon a canvas  

Chalk on the sidewalk reminds me of breezy summer evenings when I was a kid. Barefoot. A piece of chalk in one hand, a drippy Popsicle in the other. Carefree. Happy. Everything childhood should be. Add a little water to the mix, and you've got magic on the pavement.

What You'll Need: 

+ Sidewalk Chalk. 

+ Water. 

+ Paintbrushes. 

What You'll Do: 

+ Use a little water and a brush to blend colors. 

+ Or, simply dip your chalk straight into the water, and paint away.

Sometimes, two brushes are better than one. And, when it comes to sidewalk chalking, going barefoot is a must around here.

Sidewalk Chalk Painting can make any ordinary day feel just a little bit like Summer.

COURTNEY of once upon a canvas 

HOMEMADE BATH PAINT TUTORIAL

COURTNEY of once upon a canvas 

 This projects teaches: 

Learning Colors Primary Colors Mixing Colors 

 This project encourages: 

Exploration & Learning Through Play Development of Fine Motor Skills Recommended for ages 12+ months.

Homemade Bath Paints are so simple and inexpensive to throw together (all you'll need are a few things you probably already have around the house, anyway), and they're wonderful to have on hand as an easy learning activity, a welcome distraction for a cranky toddler, or every night bath~time fun for your little ones. 

 What You'll Need: 

mall Containers to store your paints in (recycled baby food jars work well). 

Plastic Paintbrushes (so they won't rust in the bathwater). 

Food Coloring: Red, Blue &Yellow (you can mix any other color from these three Primary Colors). 

Your favorite bottle of clear Baby Bubble Bath. 

 Three small bowls to mix your paints in. 

Three spoons to mix your paints with. 

 What You'll Do: 

Pour a little Bubble Bath into each of your bowls. 

Add Food Coloring (I used 6 drops of each color for each bowl). 

Gently stir the Food Coloring into the Bubble Bath.

 Pour the mixed Paints into your containers, and you're all set! 

 At bath~time, brush a few swatches of each color onto the side of the tub, and let your kiddos loose with their paint brushes to create, learn, mix colors & play to their little hearts' desire ~ well, at least 'til their fingers and toes are all wrinkly.

Oh, and don't worry ~ even though it looks like a disaster of a mess, it's really not. After all, it's just soap.

POSTED BY COURTNEY of once upon a canvas

Handprint DIY for Little Ones

Read more Here:

Handprint Painting DIY

simple color.

via: 1, 2

I adore the colors & simplicity in these designs. 

Lately I have a huge desire to paint all of the walls in our home white and "simplify" our look. I love the idea of having a plain white wall with a piece like this hanging. The combination of colors could not be any more beautiful in my opinion! perfect :).

I was thinking about doing some modern works with the kids. You could just "tape off" various parts of a canvas, have them paint with this color scheme/ let it dry. Then continue to fill in various shapes until you guide them into creating a beautiful modern piece for your living room or a playroom. 

fish & island fun.

(via)

This week of summer camps is "fish & island fun"! 

We sought inspiration from the top tutorial (found on pinterest) and made our own jellyfish. We also have done various fish paintings and paper collages so far this week. 

We are having tons of fun "under the sea"!

giraffe paintings.

Today we took the last group of kids outside to paint their giraffe pictures. 

We took them step by step through the drawing process and then painted around the oil pastels with tempera water colors. 

They turned out so beautiful, I adore all of the colors!

bird paintings.

Today we started off "jungle/animal" week with abstract bird paintings! 

One of the artists we love to talk about during jungle week is the famous Henri Rousseau. Here, at A Little Artsy, we help the kiddos see the sunsets and movement of plants in a unique way. They did a fabulous job today, the paintings turned out gorgeous!

flower paintings.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child” pablo picasso

These are beautiful flower paintings, painted by some of the children of A Little Artsy! Deb took them through a process to help them create these beautiful pieces on canvas!

adult nights.

Tracy, one of our fabulous teachers- also a freelance artist, taught a fabulous mixed media painting that was Matisse inspired. They did fabulous! 

I love the idea of mixing painting with layers and cut out collages. Absolutely beautiful!

picasso portraits.

When Jeremy contacted us asking if we ever did "corporate gigs" we said YES! We decided it would be fun for them to all draw names of fellow co.workers and draw picasso inspired portraits of each other for the office. They had a blast and the pictures turned out amazing!

we are back! and a project.

We have made the switch back to blogger and are so excited to keep you updated with fun projects, DIYs, studio news and more!!

xoxo

An easy art project to do with kiddos is anything "artist inspired"...it is a way to incorporate art history with their lesson!