Create Town

Blinged-Up Cowgirl Hats

2010-02-26T14:31:00.010-05:00

On Playhouse Disney this morning, it was a Western theme. My older daughter was smitten with Minnie as a cowgirl, and said, "mommy, can we be cowgirls too?" She ran and got her pink cowgirl boots that light up. These are such a hoot--my sister in law gave them to the girls for Christmas.

I remembered a very "preschool" way of making a hat that uses one of those sentence strip thing-ys, and the hat pic on the front. Off to google images I go. I found this template from a promotional products type company. Scroll WAY down to the cowboy hat.
Next I cut it up so that our hats would have a more realistic "layered" look to them. I had to add some to the bottom of the base hat so that we'd have space to glue the brim.
Then we of course had to do pink bands--and of course put LOTS of glitter on them!
Then we just glued the band on the hat part, and the hat onto the brim. But my little one said, "What about bannanas?" After a while, I figured out she meant Bandannas!!! We didn't have any on hand, and surely didn't have any pink ones...guess we'll need to make them! So I grabbed 2 damp paper towels, and some red and pink markers. We just dabbed the towels, to create a pattern.

And then I rinsed them a bit and squeezed it to let the colors run.

When these were dry (and we used a blow dryer to speed that up), we were all set. Just grab the pink horses (okay, one is a unicorn, but that is just fine) and off you go into the sunset!!!

Creative Cream Cheese

2010-02-23T10:37:00.004-05:00

My daughter LOVES bagels and cream cheese. She would probably eat if for every meal if I let her. I get a little bored with plain 'ol cream cheese however. And--to my dismay--I couldn't find any *special* flavors in the lower cal kind. SO---I made my own!!!! It was quite simple. All I did was let the tub sit out for a bit, then dumped it into a bowl. I added honey and chopped up nuts. Stirred it up, and plopped it right back into the tub. Wha-la!!! That was it. Tried it a bit later on my bagel and it was yummers!!!!!

Think of the flavors you could do---mash up some strawberries; put in some hot chocolate (gee--that sounds healthy). Grind up carrots and other veggies in the food processor to make your own 'veggie" flavor. I really think you could make some delicious home-made flavors. Ask the kids....i'm sure they'd come up with some *really* great flavors!!!

Olympic Masterpieces

2010-02-18T10:27:00.001-05:00

We have been doing a lot of watching and talking about the Olympics around here, but not a whole lot of "doing." SO--we are having our very own Olympics in this house later on this week--will let you know how it goes! Here is one of a few posts I found to DIY Olympics: http://www.education.com/activity/article/challenge-family-olympics-home/ I also decided it was time to get going on an art project.

I wanted to do something where my kids could really pay attention to the detail of the sport in action. For this project you will need:

::printouts of Olympic sports ( I just did a Google image search)
::heavy-ish white paper
::pencil, white crayon, and watercolors
::daylight

First, you need to tape the image and paper onto a window, so the child can trace the image of the athlete in pencil. They can be as detailed as they like, but not all details are necessary. In fact you can talk about "stylized art" here to show it is okay to not be exact. (Always a hard point to get across in my house)

Now, go over the tracing with white crayon--press firmly.

Next, bring out the paints. One good thing to do when using watercolors--is to try to wet the palettes first with just a dab of water and let it mix into the paint. The white crayon acts a resist for for the outline. Gives the athlete that standout look they deserve!

If painting a sky, it is fun to dab away some paint with a paper towel to create clouds. These are really fun, and the kids were glad we FINALLY did an Olympic project.

Chinese Dragon Handprint

2010-02-14T10:42:00.001-05:00

We love celebrating holidays in our house! I did this super cute project with my younger two girls. They had lots of questions about Chinese New Year, and I got to learn a lot as I researched the answers to their questions. Art has such a wonderful way of teaching about life!!!

Materials
::12x18 paper
::Paint--we used red, yellow, orange and green
::google eyes (optional)
::little hands that are willing to get messy

First, we looked at pictures of a traditional Chinese New Year dragon costume. We talked about the bright colors, and how the person wears it, and the parades they dance in. Have your child draw a line on their paper that mimics the curves of the long dragon.

Next, we are going to "follow" the line with our hands. Do this first withOUT paint. Next, you will help the child paint colors (one at a time) on their hands and they can continue to follow the line.

For the head, we just painted the palms of the hand.

To finish with the legs and the furs around the head, the girls dipped just their fingers in to paint these parts.

After it was dry, they went back in with a white crayon and drew teeth. We also added google eyes on pom-poms. This part can be omitted--gives it a bit more of a "crafty" look, but the girls loved it!!!

This one is by the two-year old!! Not Bad.

Bendaroo Bonanza

2010-02-09T23:01:00.002-05:00

After MANY days of being indoors due to this loveley snow, we continue to come up with fun things to do. Today, two year old found the Bendaroos box and I CRINGED. The last time we had these out was all about frustration! They didn't do exactly what the commercial showed; or someone didn't like the colors; and another didn't like the way they felt. Well...this time it was *magic*! We decided to do them on the walls! My kids made Bendaroo murals...and they were SO into it. The ideas just kept flowing, and I was not about to stop this almost 1 hour time of sanity in the cabin!!! One note, however, is that they can leave a bit of waxy residue on the wall--it comes off easily enough with some wiping.

The final creations--YES, we did do this in our PJ's--and NO, it was not the morning. What better way to do a fun project during a blizzard!!!

The Grandparents Montage

2010-02-07T10:23:00.001-05:00

Do you always get a bit of...ahem...pressure to send more of your child's artwork to the grandparents? Well--we SHOULD!!! What better audience is there than an adoring grandma or pop-pop! They can put it on their refrigerator for all the visitors to see :-). Another idea we at Simply Create have come up with is the Grandparent Montage!!

You can send the G'parents one of our regular montages with your child's artwork, OR you can have them each create a special drawing OF Grammie & GrandPaPa. This can then be turned into a very special poster they will proudly display in their home. It is so personal and touching.

Contact Simply Create

2010-02-05T22:10:00.001-05:00

email: waisley AT simply-create DOT com
(email address is written this way to prevent spammers)

Frequently Asked Questions

2010-02-05T13:37:00.003-05:00

Helpful Tips for Getting Us Your Child's Artwork.

You need to take a digital picture of each artwork, save it to your computer, and then email it to the address given upon receipt of your purchase.

Be sure your camera is on the medium or high resolution setting.

If you can take the picture in natural light (i.e. by a bright window or open door) that is best. Shooting in direct sunlight can cause harsh shadow--move a tad over to the shade NEXT to the sun. If you need to use flash, do not get so close to the artwork as to wash it out.

It is best to photograph the artworks on a solid light colored background. A large piece of poster board is a great way to do it! Have a a good background, allows us to work our "magic" on your final print without any "clutter" in the way.

If you can, stand either directly over, or square in front of the artwork. Try not to shoot at too much of an angle.

Don't worry too much about the "perfect" image--we are here to help with that!

IF you prefer to send us your artwork to photograph, that can be arranged!

About

2010-02-03T14:54:00.002-05:00

Simply Create celebrates the simple magic of childhood. Here at our blog, we love to give you ideas about ways you can enrich your child's creativity. We also want them to be PROUD of their work. That is why we started the "Masterpiece Montages." These gallery-style posters are tasteful ways to showcase your child's art in your home. We give the "little artists" a "big artist" presentation. Included with each poster is a place where you can record what your child has to say about each work. These memories that can fade quickly as they grow, will be recorded forever. Imagine stepping back into your childhood artist-self--what insights we would all find!!

Johanna Waisley-Founder
I am a mother of 3, portrait photographer, and former art teacher. Making sure that children's creative lives are celebrated in an artful way is my passion. As Picasso so poignantly put it: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up," My hope is that by documenting the little artist, we will can cultivate that creativity to become "big" artists!

How to purchase a Masterpiece Montage

2010-01-30T13:37:00.001-05:00

Simply Create designs custom gallery-style posters with your child's artworks.

We have just set up a shop at Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/simplycreate

Here you can see some of the offerings of the Masterpiece Montages. We currently offer small which is 11x14 with 9 works of art, and large which is 16x20 with 16 works of art. We are happy to do custom work for any of your needs.

Another great idea is to use these for school auctions!!! This is one we did last year with photos and ABC's! Contact us for more information.

Blog Home to Montage Masterpieces

2010-01-30T11:18:00.001-05:00

Custom Artwork from your child's finest works