How to: Make a Big Ugly Piece of Fall Art for Your Wall (with kids)

You too can make a big fallish art piece for your wall in 10 easy steps!

Step 1: Buy biggest canvas you can while it's on sale at Joanne's + fallish colored acrylic paints

Step 2: Find a time when you are ready to tackle a big art project with kids (ie when 1 is napping?)

 Step 3: Have your assistant assist you with prep work such as paint trays, while you section off parts of the painting to look as though you are doing some sort of fancy modern art piece.

Step 4: Go to town on background painting.

Step 5: Once all backgrounds have been painted, let your assistant do printings with handy kitchen utensils (gotta warm up that potato masher for the big day after all!).

Step 6: Let assistant #2 (upon waking) add her own style with various brushes etc.

Step 7: Stop assistant #2 from adding a little too much of her style, wipe up table.

Step 8: Let assistant #1 gather leaves from the yard to use as printing material as well.

Step 9: Listen to the assistants and gauge their interest so that you are able to recognize when the project is done, before it becomes a big sloppy fingerpainting mess. And stand back to enjoy! 

Viola!

Step 10: Ooo, bonus! Inspire you husband to assist in the hanging of your creation, and any future paint overs of this lovely canvas.

A Quilt for Elyse

My childhood friend, my Mom's good friend's daughter, Elyse was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. She's been taking it on full force and doing pretty good, but when I knew she was in town this summer I thought it would be great to see her. So, we went to the annual Oyster Bash party at the Burgett's in Port Townsend.

H and I as seen by Kathy 
During the party she was presented with the amazing star quilt both Mom and I made a square for. Mom's friend Debbie organized and assembled the whole thing, 121 squares and all, amazing!

 

There was also a fund raising party the night before that was a huge success, so I'm pretty sure she's feeling the healing love!

Summer Reads

Just cause my husband thinks I'm a dork by making our mantel look like a library doesn't mean I shouldn't share these:

 (Plus it gives me one last chance to show you the 4th of July garland I made from our "firecracker" paintings)

Of course these are just a few of the vast numbers we've been reading and checking out. I'm using the kids as guinea pigs for some of what we'll be reading in Froggy Holler. Any other "must reads" (kid or adult) you'd recommend this summer?