Cardboard Box Garage

Funny how sometimes the simplest stuff turns into the most amazing toys! We got a package in the mail and Jatin quickly saw the cardboard box it came in as a possible "garage" for his many cars. His requirements were: It needs to look like Dada's garage! 

So, with a little help of Dad's mini accessories for some model cars, cutting out some car race rugs from kids magazines, hand drawing garage doors, adding coke magnets as a fridge, dowels, tongue deppresors for shelves and some bubble wrap for the floor we turned an ordinary card board box into an AMAZING GARAGE!

Just the right project to do with your kids while their home for summer!

Beautiful Butterfly

Teach your child about the magic of mixing colors with this simple, quick and GORGEOUS painted butterfly exercise! Take a sheet of finger paint glossy paper. Fold it in half. Unfold it so you now have a crease down the middle. Have you child pick out their favorite colors of kid friendly paint and help them squeeze some on different sides of the paper. After you've put a good amount of dots of color across the paper, fold it in half and start pressing and moving your hands over the paper gently to get all the colors to spread and mix together. Slowly unfold the pressed paper and watch you child's face as a gorgeous butterfly appears from their favorite colors. This is a great way to teach your children about color, and the art of mixing colors to get more fantastic colors in your painting! Enjoy :) - Vani

Painted Family Pot

Looking for a creative way to document the cherished members in your family? Many years ago we started a tradition in my home to paint the names of our family on a metallic pot from our home and then we hang or place it in our front door as a "welcome to our home." Over the years, our family has expanded, so I recently re-painted our families names on a metallic pot. It turned out even prettier than before so I had to share!

I started by cleaning the entire pot with warm soap and water. Then I spray painted the back of the pot copper with dark black edging. Once that dried I pulled out my metallic sharpie markers in silver, copper, green and teal.

I hand wrote the names in the center in silver with black accents and then embellished the edges of the entire pot with geometric patterns (free-styled) in a combination of colors!

As the family expands, more names will be added :)

I hope this inspires you to make a family keepsake that is personalized with your own creative touches! I'm sure it will become a tradition in your home like mine for many years to come :) - Vani

3D Name Wall Art

Have you ever flipped through catalogs and said "Wow that's an awesome piece of art for my kids room", and then you look at the price and go "Woahhh - not in my budget!" Well, when I had my first child, being a designer I had very high and sometimes very expensive ideas to decorate the nursery! I quickly started to realize that I would have to come up with some "crafty" and "artsy" solutions at home to create some key pieces to help visualize my idea and make them reality.

The first project I set out was to create was a custom giant name for my son's room. I wanted it to be bright, poppy and fun! I also had one criteria, it had to be something that he could use for many years to come and not just as a baby.

The solution: I found giant cardboard 3D letters at my local craft store. I bought the extra large size for the first initial and then the medium sized letters for the remainder of the name. I then use acrylic paint and a sponge roller and rolled on primary colored paints all over the front panel of each letter. (I did applied 2 coats to really make the color bright!)

Next step: once the letters dried, I took a contrasting color and with another sponge brush scuffed the edges of each letter to add a "vintage" look to the design.

Finishing Touches: I painted all the edges of the letters with flat black to make the 3D design really pop off the wall when hung. I also purchased beautiful painted wooden shapes themed for a boys room: sports, animals and vehicles and glued them on top of each letter.

The finished result is gorgeous and I always get rave reviews from parents and kids who see the letters! The best part is, they are fully customizable and are light weight so you don't have to worry about them falling. The other huge benefit was the cost savings. Each letter runs about 7-12 dollars, and most of us already have craft paint at home. The wooden characters are about 25 cents to a dollar each.

Keep being creative! It keeps you happy :) - Vani

The Rock Family

The Rock Family Adventures! I had seen this concept years ago and never had a chance to make them. I used Acrylic red paint to paint the wings of the ladybugs. and sharpie marker in silver and black for the line and dot accents. I was so inspired with what an amazing canvas rocks make that I started a whole new set using metallic sharpie ink and my classic "Vani line art" to create a modern set of designed rocks! They turned out AMAZING! One of my most fun projects yet! I can imagine an entire bowl with the rocks on display in my home.

Other possible uses? - I can see using them as a party favors or even placing each one on a place setting to dress up a table!

Enjoy - Vani

Fingerprint Animals

What a wonderful and simple craft to do with a child of any age! My kid like all loves to get his fingers dirty with paint! So I let him :) I gave him a simple watercolor set. Added a few drops of water in each color and a white sheet of paper. He had fun dipping his little fingers into the paint and putting his prints down on the paper. Once he had his fun, I told him to let it dry. He said - what is it? I told him that I would make it into all his favorite animals. He said, okay - make a fish, a dinosaur, and a shark! So, when nap time came, I got my Mommy fun time and took a sharpie marker to the dried sheet of finger prints and turned it into a sea of creatures! I left the finished product on my son's desk and he was AMAZED and so excited to see what his lovely art had turned into. For older kids, they can even take a pen or pencil and make their own creatures out of their prints.

Try this technique for a card, wrapping paper, art to frame, a bookmark etc... Have fun with it!

 Enjoy! Vani

Colorful Kids Coat Hanger

Little jackets and sweaters deserve little cute hooks to hang on! So with that said here is a fun project that I did over a weekend morning. I got a unfinished wooden coat hanger from Michaels and hand painted it with some acrylic paint. After that dried I glued on some craft shapes like the stars, and animals. Some were already painted and some I painted extra stuff on. For the finishing touch I took silver sharpie marker and added some curvy designs to the actual knobs of the hanger to ad that whimsical touch I adore! It turned out very colorful, bright, and was pretty simple to make! Now my kids jackets hang in style!

Gingerbread Village 2011

This year we were ambitious and decided to make a Gingerbread Village rather than just a little gingerbread house! I used muffin pans to sort all the candy. Jatin did a fantastic job using creative things like fruit rollups for roofs and cinnamon sticks for firewood on the side of the house! Happy Holidays :)

Wooden Owl Masks

I found these fantastic wooden masks at Michaels Arts & Crafts Store during Halloween. I bought ones shaped like monsters, pumpkins and owls! I personally LOVED the owl one, and was thrilled when Jatin decided that that's the one he wanted to color also!

We used good old fashioned crayola crayons and colored right onto the wood! I stepped away from mine for a few minutes and found him putting multiple colors on my owl - which ended up inspiring the very vibrant version you see below!

An awesome, inexpensive craft for you and your youngster to enjoy!

Vani

Father's Day Canvas

If you have a toddler at home this is such a lovely way for them to create a piece of art that can be hung in your home for years to come! Get a stretched canvas from your local craft store. Purchase a canvas open back frame. Set out lot's of glue, glitter and paint for your child to dip into and smear and paint their masterpiece of colors all over. Encourage your child to add beads and buttons of all shapes and sizes on top of the painted canvas. In the end use scrabble tiles and glue the words Father, Dad, Love etc...on the board. Hang it up in a special place where Dad will find it in the morning! :)