Finally, the Holiday Art Party Post!

Craftiness was at its prime on December 17th, 2011 at Children's Art Studio. 

Great friends, families, and supporters stopped in to spread a little crafty cheer and share local inspiration. See what awesome DIY projects you can achieve with tons of recycling, little to zero shopping, and most importantly, creativity. Enjoy, and please share!

• The afternoon was free to attend, but I wanted to figure out another way to support local kids. Kids 'N Kamp was ideal. Donations to this awesome non-profit were gladly accepted.
•  I found a great holiday punch on my Epicurious App. Cranberry juice, fresh orange and lime with a touch of grapefruit/mango juice was a kiddo favorite.

• Yummy pie from Tee Jaye's was a hit!

 

• By far the most popular craft of the day, guests choose acrylic paint color and poured them in clear plastic ornaments! Added glitter and a ribbon when finished, these were gorgeous :) Thank you save on crafts!
• Just one tip: when you get home, take the "cap" off the ornament and let dry before hanging on the Christmas tree, doorknob, etc.

• Some unbelievable friends displayed their awesome handmade products. Maria makes beautiful jewelry with girly touches of flowers, leaves and bright pops of color. Want to see more of her product? Email me to get her information!

• Joy to the World: easy, cute ornament.

1. Trace a circle on watercolor paper.
2. Paint with blues
3. Add green landmasses with tissue paper and watered-down glue.
4. Write JOY on a rectangle with sharpie.
5. Glue JOY to a red piece of construction paper.
6. Cut out world.
7. Punch hole in top and bottom of JOY and top of world.
8. Add string.
9. Done! 

• Above, Rachel of Artzymorena Designs sells these gorgeous hairpieces, headbands, clips, broaches and custom wedding pieces at her Etsy Shop too. You will love them - "vintage inspired. never tired."

• The project above was another up-cylced creation. Simple, easy, not many supplies, and everyone had success! 
• Elise Blaha at enJOY it creates inspiration and a fab tutorial image. 

1. Cut a circle out of cardboard (a cereal box will do)
2. Cut a whole in the circle so it looks like a doughnut. 
3. Go through your scrap paper bin and old cardboard boxes to cut leaf shapes and build layers while adding glue to your doughnut. 
4. Add buttons for flare
5. Add a string or ribbon and hang. :) Love this.

• Kris Misevski can take photos. I mean, really good ones. Get on it and own one already. Thanks for displaying for the Holiday Art Party, Kris!

• I could never forget that this time of year is not just about Christmas trees and ornaments. I did try and keep every craft holiday friendly, but Christmas time always tends to outshine Hanukkah. Not today, though! These really cute hand-print menorahs turned out pretty well inspired by Little Learners Lounge.

1. Glue a strip of construction paper to bottom of another piece of construction paper
2. Paint hands as shown above - white candles and yellow flames :)
3. Print only ONE thumb, there are only 9 Hanukkah candles! 
4. Add glitter, decorations, whatever you like!

• Just in case there were idol hands that needed a little something to play with, I whipped up some "no stove" playdough. Add a couple dashes of peppermint or cinnamon extract and it will smell for the occasion. 

1. 4 cups flour
2. 1 cup salt
3. 4 tbsp oil
4. 1 and 1/2 cup water
5. Mix until pliable
6. Supply cookie cutters and play on top of wax paper.

• Another amazing local artist, Tia Christensen makes these awesome pillow monsters (with teeth!) and sweet little stuffed owls. Contact me to get more information!

• Okay, the craft above includes paper towel rolls. But what I learned while prepping this project was that spray paint DOES NOT come off of your hands very easily (duh).
• We made these cool little flowers with literally yarn and TP tubes. Check this tutorial out from MakingThisHome dot com.

1. Paint (don't spray paint, it wasn't worth it and didn't stick very well) a paper tube
2. Let dry
3. Cut tube into smaller pieces like above
4. Fold the cut tubes into a V shape and use yarn to string three of these folded Vs into a flower shape...this takes some practice, but you can't mess up, just take the yarn off and try again until you've got it right! (Sorry, it's not easy to write directions to this part, I tried.)  

• One more handmade product to share. My home-made magnets :) 
• See the tutorial and try at home!

Thanks to everyone who made Dec 17th, 2011 a fantastically crafty day and Children's Art Studio's First Annual Holiday Art Party. Looking forward to see what next year will bring...

xoxoxo, Anna