Sunny Sun Prints

Boo and I have been dashing off a number of sun-prints recently - this is a super cool sunshiney art activity for the summer months with kids.  I had the paper from ages back when I must have picked it up in the UK - its made by Tobar.

This is a quick activity and perfect for baby nap times (we have found).  The paper is exposed to the sun for 2 mins, with objects laying on top...

 

When you first remove the objects after the exposure time, their shapes are darker, whilst the exposed areas have lightened...

 
Then the magic begins... when the paper is placed into a sink/tray of water for 1 min, the exposed areas become darker, whilst those masked by the objects become lighter.

 
When the prints are left out to dry, the contrast increases.  We have found the darkness to be greatest after 1-2 days.

 
Mostly we have been using natural things from the garden as that involves a nice foray into the greenery, and we have a whole multitude of weeds to choose from right now!

 
 
 
However, we have also been trying out object themes from inside the house, like these buttons, and some hairdressing items...

 
We have a few sheets left in our pack, so we'll be hunting out some more good ideas.

Enjoy the sunshine!

The Boo Paper Doll

A little while ago I made Boo a paper doll based upon herself...

 
I drew out some clothes based upon her own wardrobe, some of which I coloured and some of which she coloured.

 
 
 
Can you spot which one she did?!

Today we decided to update her wardrobe as Boo has grown out of all the items we based these pieces on.  Everything went a bit pink...

 
 
The poor girl needed some shoes...

 
... and here are the originals they are based upon...

 
The colouring became a bit cursory as time went on, (Boo not showing any signs of inheriting my love of colouring as yet!), but paper Boo was soon bedecked in Boo's favourite 'Kjitebjorn (polar bear)' t shirt.

 
When I was little I love love loved paper dolls, so I'm thrilled to share this with my daughter (you could indeed ask, who are these for?).  I remember having a very precious box of them and I seem to remember I had some hand-drawn and coloured ones which had belonged to my mum (I will have to check my fact with her here, it's possible this is a fantasy).  There are some great vintage ones available on the internet to print out.

What's next I wonder, a whole family of dolls and wardrobes?

Summer Windows

We are a little behind the traditional calendar beginning of Summer here, but then the weather in Vancouver hasn't exactly been convincing us of the shift in seasons recently.  Finally we have converted our window paintings from spring blossoms and bulbs to bird and butterfly infested green goddesses.  

 
 
Not entirely sure what birds we have here, though one may be vaguely based on the local blue beauty 'Stellars Jay'.  Boo called one of the others a 'crow', but its magenta, so I'm not entirely sure myself. 

 
 
 Boo had the splendid idea of making some green grass at the bottom using some green ribbons/wool from her beloved 'ribbon box' (this girl was a jackdaw in a previous life). 

 
 
The butterflies became a little oversized but who wouldnt love them to be really that big?!

We have done a full cycle now: Autumn; Winter; Spring; Summer and I have to say the appeal has been enduring for Boo, who was shown great enthusiasm for each change.  Will we keep them for another year?  Undecided yet. But for now we will enjoy the fluttering and twittering by our dining table!

Play is the answer

Play is the answer to the question, How does anything new ever come about?

Jean Piaget

 
 

Papier Mache Hot Air Balloon

Somewhere, somehow, in the midst of all these 'I can't get a thing done anymore' baby and preschooler-at-home days, Boo and I managed to fashion something with our hands.  Whoop whoop! 

The other week we borrowed a book from the library called 'Hot air: The (mostly) True Story of the First Hot Air Balloon Ride' by Marjorie Priceman, Simon and Schuster 2005.

 
It tells the story (in a most amusing way) of the (mostly imagined) escapades of the sheep, rooster and duck who were the passenger of the maiden voyage of the hot air balloon. 

I had been thinking for some time that I would like to introduce Boo to the world of papier mache, and this provided the perfect opportunity for a bit of gluey creation.

We used an inflated balloon as the base and layered newspaper and paper paste (about 4 layers) before leaving it to dry and harden.  The trick with the laminating technique of papier mache is to ensure that both sides of each piece of newspaper are thoroughly coated in glue.  Boo and I did the glueing together to ensure that this happened, though I have to say she took to it wonderfully, always eager to get up to her eyeballs in gunk of some description or another. 

 

 
The best bit for the little one was popping the balloon when the papier mache was hard and seeing the shape retained.  It does take a couple of days to dry before you can progress to the next stage.

We then painted the balloon shape using white paint to cover the newspaper and then Boo painted it in her own choice of colours.  I did have ideas of further decoration but baby naptime was over and it just wasnt gonna happen today.

 

 
Finally, a basket was required, so I made an origami one, attached it to the balloon using string, and then we were ready for the inaugural flight....

and Boo chose a cow and a panda (finger puppet) if you can just about glimpse them, to take to the air in our creation...

 
 
It might be good to do this project using layers of coloured tissue paper to achieve a translucent effect.  Maybe next time.  For now, I'm still celebrating the joy of a wee bit of creating.