Gray Day 1/21/2016

(This was supposed to post yesterday but THE INTERNET decided differently!!)

It has been a gray day in Atlanta.

All day.

I mean the color of the sky has been exactly the same all day.

You can't tell if it's 11 a.m., noon, or 4 p.m.

(This is the view from Mollie's Midtown office window. She's waaaay up high!)

DREARY.

And our forecast for tomorrow is that "we may or may not have snow."

How's that for succinct?

But, just in case, people here  are buying bread and milk like there's no tomorrow.

We bought our favorite ginger beer (this stuff is the bomb!) for Moscow Mules and salmon and veggies, the stuff to make 3 different kinds of GF muffins and the newly released movie, "The Intern."

That's how we roll. 

The thought of being snowed in WITH bread and milk depresses me. 

We like to party because it'll be over in no time flat.

I know that from the state line of Virginia up they are bracing for a big storm

 ( my parents are getting snow!) 

So I thought I'd post a few of my favorite "snowy" things!

You may have seen this on my Instagram

The Toms Nepal boots are my favorite for keeping my feet warm. 

They are coz-y and I got mine on big time sale with Christmas $$.

And as always, 

someone in need gets a pair of shoes, too!

If you do get snowed in and are looking for something to keep kiddos busy 

using things you have on hand, try this: 

Snowman in a Baggie

There are a lot more snow and snowman projects on the blog!

Check them out!

I think snow is beautiful.

I just like it in small doses :)

Three of my favorite "snowy" places that I have been are:

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Georgetown Colorado.

 It's full of adorable cottages and John Denver filmed a sweet Christmas movie there years ago. We "taped" it with the VCR and it was one of Mollie's favorites when she was young!

 Chamonix, France 

 I have never seen so much snow!!

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and College Fjord, Alaska.

But most of all, when it snows, I like to be at home, snuggled up with my family and pooches.

 The view from my front door during our last big snow in Atlanta!

Stay safe and warm!!

When Life Gives You Snow...

... Stay warm and make stuff!!!

What else can you do?? Here in Atlanta we are not prepared for snow and ice in a way that allows us to go on with school and work, etc. So we just have to go with the flow snow and hunker down at home. Sometimes I clean or organize and I can always still work (thank you for the fact that we have power and therefore, internet) 

but I always see these snow days as bonus "art time!!" 

So I thought that you might like to see a recap of some past snowy art projects and maybe get inspired to be creative if you are stuck at home for yet another snow day!!

This guy is my most pinned project ever. It is crazy - thousands and thousands of repins. He was the result of the passing thought, " I need a simple, inexpensive snowman project using stuff I have and that has a purpose in the classroom besides cuteness!!"  Snowman in a Baggie was born and he has made everyone he meets happy. He has also sparked many other baggie projects that I now do. That could be a post on its own!!

 

 

So check out Mr. Snowman in a Baggie!  

You probably have this stuff hanging around right now!

And sparkly Snow Guys.

A super fun and easy Snowflake project!

And this easy Snowguy project. 

All you need is paper plates, a baggie and "stuff" you have laying around!! 

You can really get creative with this one.

Make these cute puppets and have tons of shows!!!

You can create a larger version of these fun puppets using paint sticks, different sizes of paper plates or paper circles or larger lids like those from coffee cans and sour cream containers!!

Another snowguy project that has been pinned a zillion times. 

A little more involved but he can hang around all Winter

 to keep you company on snow days!!

And, of course, burlap had to be involved somewhere along the way!!

.... and more snowman projects....

Break out the shaving cream again! 

You can keep yourself the kiddos entertained for hours with this concotion!!

It's a sign - literally- that it's snowing!

You can also check out the made by mollie's mom Facebook page.

That's where you'll find this guy:

 

 and this project - super cute and fun to do with the kiddos on a cold, Winter day:

And if you are someplace warm or really just over 

the snowy, Winter thing how about this guy??

 

As for me?? I am painting Spring things. Check it out over on the FB page.

 

or on my Instagram.  I am constantly on IG. Obsessed.

If you are cooped up on a snowy day then I hope these pictures and links inspire you. And if you are somewhere warm and sunny... well, then, I'm just jealous!!

Irresistible Snowfllakes !

Our snowflake paintings are created using a fun masking tape resist technique!

We used a large (16 x 20) Dick Blick Canvas from the Economy Classroom packs. You could do these much smaller - just adjust the size of tape you use. Big is easier for children, though.

You just tape off your design - you can vary the subject matter. I have done this with a class and taped off blocks of color for a lesson on Mondrian. It's cold, so today it's snowflakes!

Be sure to have the children rub, rub, rub the tape down. You will get a small amount of paint bleed and it adds to the design but you don't want all the white to disappear. Make sure the tape is really pressed down.

Then I let them choose 3 colors for their paint "palette" which is a paper plate! I use acrylic for this project so just pull out all the odds and ends of blues and purples and choose 3 or 4. If you are buying paint for a group to do this the Blikcrylic dries very quickly.Then using a 1 inch or so brush they just start brushing paint around the tape lines - gently so as not to pull up the tape.  I show them how to move around the canvas and paint"patches" of the three colors and they start to blend together. You don't want it all 1 color.

When the canvas is painted you can sprinkle on some blue glitter. I used some turquoise Martha Stewart glitter. It's very fine and subtle but adds that wintry sparkle. It doesn't take much.

Let it dry - absolutely the hardest part. You will be going crazy wanting to pull the tape up!! Wait!

When it's dry you can start pulling the tape up for the big REVEAL!!!!

Just continue pulling off the tape. This is always a lot of fun and good for ooohs and ahhs!!

Then, and this is optional but so pretty, you can paint the white snowflake left by the resist with glue or Mod Podge and sprinkle with crystal glitter.

And you end up with a very sparkly snowflake with a beautiful blended color background. It's a fun lesson becaue you paint the background and end up with a snowflake!

**They have gotten lots of "oohhh so pretty" - the picture really doesn't do it justice.

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