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:

via

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!!

via

via

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!!

Showtime!!!

One day down and one day to go !

Here is my little booth. I was worried about having enough stuff to fill it but it worked out. Most of my "art" is made from recycled and found items, scraps of paper, fabric and ribbon, etc. so I decided my display would be the same. I gathered up all my galvanized items from the house and porch and a galvanized ladder from the backyard. The "filler" around the base of the trees is shredded newspaper and the tags are paint strips - may I say that I have used paint strips for art and gift tags since before anyone even thought up Pinterest :)



This was first thing in the morning!

 

 By late afternoon all the pumpkin stakes except one lonely guy were gone along with the snowman and gingerbread ones !

 

I sold most of these long signs and took some orders, too.

 and people started to ask : Are you going home to paint some more tonight??

I decided to be wise and go out to dinner with a friend instead!

I was pooped - Craft Shows are fun but they are work!!!!

I'm off to the show... have a great day!


Linking up:



Button Up...

... busy, busy and using lots of buttons! 



I love buttons!

 

Pumpkins and Snowmen and Spiders, Oh My!!!

... or another title might be " What's on the Work Table Right Now!" 

I asked a while back if you were started on Halloween or Christmas Crafts yet??

Well, I had to get started this week because I signed up for the WWIT Craft Show.

It's not really called the WWIT Craft Show. I just call it the  " What Was I Thinking" Craft Show. It has a much nicer name and it is a lovely weekend planned by the ladies at church.

 
I call it that because, well, what was I thinking?? I signed up back in February or March and it seemed so far away :) I saw a little boy in a t-shirt once that said, " It seemed like a good idea at the time"  I think that I need that shirt. 

I haven't done a craft show in probably a decade.
 I am enjoying getting started on all these ornaments and doodling ideas for the rest of my "creations."  But what was I thinking??

 

And if your work table is all tidy and organized ( unlike this one ) when you create please don't share that little tidbit with me!

I'll keep you posted on how it's going... at least I have until October :)

 

 

Linking Up:

The Point is...

... to learn about Pointillism and George Seurat. He made his very large pictures by painting lots and lots of dots. We call him "Seurat the Dot!!"
 We started with a canvas. I used two sizes of cupcake liners to mask out a snowman shape. We used q-tips and 3 cool colors on our palettes ( paper plates! Haha!! ) to dot our background. Then the magic happens. We carefully peel off the cupcake liner circles and the positive shape that is left is a snowman.

Then , we used white and sparkly silver paint to paint our snowman. You can hear those q-tips dot, dot, dotting on the canvas. This is a good project if you've been cooped up a few days. I have the children stand to do this and get their whole arms moving!! Play some music and you can really get that dotting rhythm going. Wonder how Seurat did those big paintings without Pandora???

Then we made 2 dots for eyes with black paint, 3 dots for the nose with orange paint and 4 dots for the mouth ( Counting in Art class... makes those cross- curriculum folks happy !)

And then we painted as many buttons as we wanted!! A sprinkle of crystal glitter and this guy is spunky and sparkly.

Guys with Sparkling Personality!

Remember the Sparkly Snow Guys??

 Well, the children came to Afternoon Art Camp and took a blue canvas, added 2 big white circles and went from this ...

to these Sparkly Snow Guys with lots of personality!!

Aren't they cute?? And the best part was that we used a ton. seriously, a ton. of sparkly crystal glitter!!
They were so proud of their Sparkly Snow Guys!!

Snowman in a Baggie!

I love "baggie" projects - so easy and, again, practically free! For this one all you need is a baggie, peel and stick fun foam scraps in black, regular fun foam scraps in orange, silver glitter if you have it and some shaving cream. A Dollar Store can of shaving cream is enough for a whole class.

Cut 2 large  (about quarter sized) circles and 5 smaller circles from the black peel and stick foam. These do not need to be uniform or perfect circles. No tracing needed. They are "lumps of coal" for the snowman's face so any lumpy shape works. Makes this project easy for all ages.

Stick the circles to the outside of the baggie in the shape of a snowman's face.

 Leave room for the nose.

Add a generous sprinkle of glitter into the baggie. This is optional.

Put the orange triangle nose (cut from regular fun foam- not peel and stick) inside the baggie.

Add a generous squirt of shaving cream and seal the baggie zipper. Fold over and tape closed for added security.

Then you just squish that baggie around and try to line up the nose in the right place on the snowman's face!  

What a great manipulative toy! All ages love this.** It's great for a rainy, dreary day when you can't go outside. It helps with the wiggles to keep those little hands busy. You can squish and wiggle that snowman all afternoon.

** When I go to training events I often let the teachers who are attending make one of these and they LOVE them. They have a blast. If I have teen helpers at church when I do this project, they all want to make one too!! You can't go wrong with this snowman project and it costs pennies!!

 Linking up:
http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/