canvas + maps = art

Life has been a little busy here with a new baby, new house, and new church responsibilities!  I have been trying to decorate the house using as little money as possible which causes a challenge!  This project was inspired by Pinterest but I put my own twist to it.  For this project you only need a few things:

canvas

maps

spray paint

mod podge

 Before you can get started you'll need maps.  I decided I wanted to have one where my husband and I met, the next where we married, and the last where we live now.  All the maps were free . . . you just have to hop onto that state's travel website and order travel information.  They always include a map.

Once I had my maps I was ready to go.  First I painted my canvas (with some leftover spray paint in my stash).  While I was waiting for those to dry I cut my maps into hearts.  I wanted to make sure they were all the same size so I found a template online and printed it to use for my maps.  

Now that my paint was dry I positioned my hearts onto the canvas.  I just eye-balled it but I think they came out pretty equal.  Then I mod podged them on . . . just a thin layer on the back of the map and a thin layer over the entire canvas.

That's it!  Ta Da!  Now I have something nice and meaningful to hang over our bed.  And since I had everything except the canvas on-hand (and I got those for 40% off) this artwork cost less than $10!

Art Kit

One of the hardest things for me is picking out gifts for my boy's friends.  I don't want to be too cheap but I also don't want to spend a fortune.  And I want to get something that the child will enjoy.  

Mr. W is really into drawing lately--it's all he wants to do!  So when he was recently invited to a birthday party we collaborated on a perfect gift . . . an art kit!  

We bought a clear plastic box and filled it will art supplies.  During the fall "back to school" sales I try to stock up on a few things--notebooks, crayons, markers, etc.  So most of this gift we already had on hand!  Here is what we put in our "art kit": a notebook, ruler, water colors, pencils, markers, and crayons.  The great thing is that you can add anything you want!  A few more ideas would be: pompoms, glue/glue stick, googly eyes, construction paper, scissors, or play-doh.  

To make it a little more personal I cut the friend's initial out of contact paper and added it to the box.

Mr. W was thrilled with the gift and said that his friend loved it too.  Score!

Super Hero Puppets

My boys are obsessed with super heroes.  Are yours?

Way back in March for J's 4th birthday I threw together some super hero puppets and a puppet theater.  They were fairly simple (although a bit time consuming) to make and my boys love them!

If you can't tell, I made Superman (who actually has a red cape, not pictured), Batman, Spiderman, and the Joker.

I was informed that they needed some more "bad guys" to fight.  So I'm thinking that more puppets are on the list of gifts to make for Christmas.  I have a great idea for some Star Wars puppets.  We'll see!  I can't wait to see what puppet shows they come up with for me to watch!

Most of my details are free-handed but when I get around to making more I will try to make a simple tutorial if anyone is interested.