Nexo Knight Shields!

Nexo Knights! It's a lego cartoon that my kids have gotten into recently. Really into. And in the show each Nexo Knight has his/her own unique shield and power. So for this weeks challenge we created our own shields with our own special powers. Elliott chose Sparkle Power! Will chose Fist Power! And mom chose Love! It was one of the first gorgeous spring days here in Evanston, so I guess I was feeling especially happy. What's better than making art outside on a beautiful spring day?

Here's the simple supply list for this project: Card board (we cut up an old box), paper, glitter pens, glitter, felt, puff balls, sequins, ribbon, and glue.

Spring Chicks

Even though it still feels like winter here in Evanston, we were inspired to create these spring chickens after a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. They have a hatchery where you can see baby chicks hatch and it is a very memorable experience for kids!

Here is the supply list for this simple spring project:
Popsicle sticks, google eyes, markers, glue, construction paper

Stick Art

Sticks! They are scattered in our yard, on the sidewalk and all over the park. At first glance, a stick doesn't look too special, but upon further examination, a stick can be pretty unique. And if you use your creativity and imagination, a stick can even have magical powers. This week, we collected some pretty ordinary sticks from the park and then transformed them into magical sticks with the help of some paint, glitter pens and fancy patterned tape. You can pretty much use any art supplies to make a magic stick, you just have to believe.

Empty Box Art

This weekend my daughter found an old gift box laying around the house and she had the idea to make it into art. So our challenge for the week began! We collected various supplies from around the house including other empty, dusty old boxes, tissue paper, stickers, markers, glue, buttons, etc. We embellished these forgotten items into very colorful, reinvented creations. I love this project because it shows that everything around us has the potential to be more beautiful, we just have to have the vision to create it.

Giftwrap Art

This weekend was my husband's birthday. The kids picked out a couple of very thoughtful gifts (toys and candy) that they just knew Dad would love! Instead of buying yet another roll of gift wrap at Target, we decided to wrap these gifts with plain white paper and then draw our own designs to create original gift wrap art. It was such fun and I think this will become a new tradition in our house. I tried to talk the kids into using Kraft paper instead of white, but Elliott insisted the markers and crayons would look prettier on white. This challenge was inspired by @poeticfoodie - an amazingly talented artist/mom/designer/cook. Check out her blog at poeticfood.com

Simple supply list for this challenge: gifts for any occasion, paper, markers and crayons.

Lemonade Craft

Ah...summer! With a few 80 degree days in a row, this weekend finally felt like summer in Chicago. We tried to drink plenty of water, but we also mixed in a few glasses of our favorite summer refreshment - lemonade. For this week's challenge we created our own 'glasses' of this tasty beverage. This was a fun, easy challenge and the final products were so colorful and bright, we hung them up in our playroom for decoration.

Simple supply list: colored construction paper, scissors, white paint, a sponge (cut into small squares), glue and straws.

Pasta Necklaces

At our house pasta is on the menu almost every Sunday night. It has been a family tradition since I was a little girl. We make a big pot of sauce every couple of weeks and then freeze the extra to use for the next few Sundays. I am still trying to perfect my Grandma's secret recipe - it just never seems to taste as good as hers no matter how many batches I make. I have a feeling there's a few ingredients that have been left off the official 'recipe.'

This weekend we decided to get creative with the pasta before we cooked it. We painted the dry pasta (Elliott and Will chose mini rigatoni and mini wagon wheels) on day one and then strung our colorful necklaces on day two. We had a lot of fun with this and the kids were excited to wear their creations around the neighborhood.

Simple supply list for this challenge: dry pasta, Crayola Washable paints, paint brushes, and twine.