Jax just got his first set of crayons. He always loves when restaurants give him crayons, even though he mostly wants to hold as many as he can at one time in his little chubby fists. I’m starting to teach him how to color with them, so I needed to find a really great set for him.

I was happy to find out Melissa & Doug make craft supplies. I really like how that brand makes cute, wooden toys more accessible. Most quality, wooden toys are out of my price range. Melissa & Doug can be expensive, but you can find deals on Amazon and use 50% coupons at craft stores that have toy aisles.

I decided to get a set of 24 triangular crayons for Jax. They make a jumbo sized version with less colors, but he hasn’t had any trouble holding regular crayons before. I just wanted something that wouldn’t roll off the table, had no paper wrappers to deal with and wouldn’t break from getting pressed into the paper too hard.

The crayons come in a plastic case with a clear flip-closed lid. This was Jax’s favorite part! He is all about taking out/putting in right now. He had great fun making piles of crayons then putting them back in the case. He was a little rough at times and the crayons didn’t break. They feel very strong!

Oh, we *did* color with them too! They seemed to fit nicely in his grip, though he insisted on holding a couple in each hand most of the time. They felt smooth when I tried them out and the colors were bold. I drew him a cat since his current obsession is meowing at cats (and dogs, heh!) We made a pretty picture together.

And of course we hung his artwork up in his new gallery!

Happy Summer!

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As of 13:16 EDT, it is officially summer! Jax and I took the sidewalk chalks outside to celebrate.

We recently got these Crayola chalks from a craft store with a coupon. They are labeled for 3 and up, but we play with them together and I make sure he doesn’t put them in his mouth. They work well and are thick enough that he hasn’t broken any. They go pretty fast, though.

He is starting to figure out they make marks if you run them on the ground, but he mostly likes to carry and stack the sticks of chalk into piles.

I love his little colored bum!

Grand Opening Giveaway!

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To celebrate the new blog, we are having a giveaway! Most likely, the prize with be a surprise pair of earrings or bracelet handmade by me in your choice of color(s). Perhaps we’ll throw in a drawing by Jax! You can vote on or suggest a prize in our Facebook poll.

To enter, “like” our page on Facebook, then leave a comment below. You must include a valid email address by 6pm on Friday 6/24. The winner will be chosen randomly Friday evening. (We made it to 5 entries, but we added a few more hours to enter!) All my real life friends are welcome to enter!

Sprouts Inside Jax’s Apple

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Not long ago, I went to our fruit bowl and grabbed one of the last apples we’d bought in bulk at Costco to chop up for Jackson’s lunch. I always slice around the core instead of halving in, and I’m glad I did! When I was left with the core, my eye was caught by a flash of green. Sprouts!

I’ve never had an apple with the seeds sprouting inside it before. Have you? I saved the chunk of apple core and planted the sprouts in a little pot I had decorated with puffy paints for Jax at a friend’s baby shower. Oh, and crossed my fingers that the tiny sprouts would take hold and grow!

Finding the sprouts was a super weird coincidence… I recently saved some seeds from an apple I liked and read up on how to grow them. I was disappointed to find how long it would take to get them to sprout and that I wouldn’t get the apple I’d enjoyed so much. I saved them anyway and was letting them dry. So to open an apple and already be at the sprout stage? Wow!

Well, a week after planting them they seem to be doing really well! I don’t have a very green thumb, so I hope I can keep one of them alive to the point of having a baby tree to plant outside. It may not produce apples (or may have apples unlike the gala they came from due to grafting on the original tree), but it would be Jax’s tree.

How wonderful would it be to teach him about giving back to the earth and the importance of planting trees!

Have you ever grown a tree from a seed? How big is it now? I have no idea how fast baby trees grow.

Colorful Playroom Art Gallery

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Our playroom has been a blank canvas since before we even became parents. I love color and painted in a rich blue despite the fact we had now furniture for it. It became the craft room whenever I’d host a party. The room has seen: painting, coloring, photo booths of various themes and even tie-dye (with a tarp down on a hot, stormy day).

When Jax became mobile, it was clear he needed a safe place of his own to play – free from hazards and dogs who steal baby toys (and shred them into 10,000 tiny pieces. Don’t ask.) So we put up some great wide gates (that double as travel gates when we rent a beach house) and got a soft, brown rug from Ikea.

Fast forward to now… The playroom is Jax’s favorite place (besides my breastaurant! Hah!) and he runs to the gate, begging to “pway”. He’s getting old enough to start taking interest in different activities, so as a part of introducing him to art, I wanted to introduce art to his playroom. Back to Ikea we went (with the long drive perfectly timed during nap) where we chose a table a chair set for him to play and make artwork at.

My other reason for going was the great, inexpensive frames they carry. I chose four large frames and four small ones in bright colors. Back at home, I laid them out on the dining room table, along with his first painting and two blank canvas he’ll paint on soon. When I was happy with the collage of frames, I put them up on the wall, eye-balling it, as I wasn’t feeling too particular about placement. I have a feeling the gallery will grow and change with time anyway.

For now, the plan is to rotate his paper artwork in the frames and hang all his canvas art up as well. As you can see, his first painting currently holds a place of honor. I painted over the edges to hide the staples using one of the colors we had used. The bottom half of that wall is going to become a chalkboard eventually. I might have more fun with that than Jax!

How do you display your child’s artwork? I’d love more ideas, as I know I’m going to have a hard time letting go of any of it!

Toddler Canvas Painting

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I inherited my love of art from my mom, even though she passed away of breast cancer just before I turned 5. I have a degree in studio art and make a living doing web and graphic design. Art is something I definitely want Jax to grow up surrounded by!

Jax is 16-months-old and I decided we’d start painting on a canvas every month or so. I have extras in my stock pile and craft stores are always giving out 50% off coupons. It was a hot day, so I chose to try painting instead of taking our after-lunch walk.

Here’s what we did:
I laid out an old sheet in the backyard. Beside it I had our clean up supplies ready to go: a plastic bin of water, paper towels and an old towel. I put the canvas down on the sheet with 4 paper plates of non-toxic paints and some kid-friendly brushes. I dressed Jax in nothing but a disposable diaper. He has a major belly button fetish right now, so I knew his tummy would be covered in paint!

To start him off, I handed him a brush dipped in paint and aimed him towards the canvas. He took to it right away and had a blast! I had to remind him not to put the paint brushes in his mouth, but he didn’t try to eat the paint. However, he did hear me say “brush” and tried to brush his hair with green paint. Oops!

At this stage, I’m still offering him the paint and showing him how to make hand prints and spatter marks. I think it will be fun to see how he progresses each month. Eventually he will be choosing his own colors and techniques.

When we were all done, I let him splash his hands and feet in the bin of water while I washed the paint off him with a wet paper towel. The diaper was so paint-covered it was nearly modern art itself, but we tossed it. And headed inside with Jax snuggled in his towel.

His painting is now hanging in his new playroom art gallery. I’ll show you all the cuteness in an upcoming post!

: The finished painting!

Have any of you done arts and crafts with young toddlers? What was your experience like?

Curl up snug in your water bed

Imagine Our Life

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This blog has been a long time coming. I’ve been creating websites and journaling online since 1997, but I knew as soon as I became a mommy that the focus of my life would be making some major changes.

I wanted to create a separate blog to talk about combining my life as a mommy and my love for all things creative, but it took a while for the name to come to me. Any of you with babies (and many without) know how fast time can pass you by despite your good intentions!

But here we are and here it is, at last! I hope you enjoy peeking into my life with Jax.

To subscribe to my RSS feed in a feed reader, click here. You can also sign up to receive posts from me via email – check out the form to the right.

Please leave a comment if something catches your eye – we’d love, love, love it! I also hope to trade links with others who have either family/parenting or craft blogs. Let me know if you have one!

Babies, Dogs and Allergies

Jax’s First Crayons

Happy Summer!

Grand Opening Giveaway!

Sprouts Inside Jax’s Apple

Colorful Playroom Art Gallery

Toddler Canvas Painting

Curl up snug in your water bed

Imagine Our Life