Card-tastic Creations with the Cousins!

What is up guys!! Welcome back to this week's post on my blog where crafting occurs in ALL forms and fashions! SO, I have been babysitting my cousins this summer- babysitting, playing around, hide and go seek, outdoor adventures, baking, all fun things. They are super cute, super creative, and they love to EXPERIMENT. I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to create a craft that's not only fun, but an activity that everyone can do together no matter age! The craft, can you guess? ...CARDS! Positivity cards! I have been posting lots about cards, notes, just building a field of inspiration for the Noted Challenge, so here is an extra special idea that you can make with your fabulous family!

Our Process: This is how we created out cards, your set up might be different, and that's okay! We used supplies I found lying around my house: pom-poms, twirly wire pipe cleaners, markers, Crayola washable watercolors, and LOTS of colored paper! You can really use anything- some sequins, glitter, paint, hole punches, pens, etc. if you have it. The four walls of your house is your limit and your mind is limitless, so be creative! We sat down at the kids table and got to work- folding the paper hamburger-style, grabbing some glue, deciding who each person was creating a card for, and we couldn't forget the water for the watercolors! Creating here we come!

One of my cousins stuck with a marker approach; at school she learned how to spell some words, so her card was embellished with words and small icons. My other two cousins, younger, went with a pictographic approach. The older of the two made a BEAUTIFUL abstract out of watercolors- he definitely has a style; so super awesome! He couldn't quite spell, so I helped him write out the message he wanted to say in the middle of his card. The youngest began with marker, but finished with watercolor dabbing her brush in water, then paint, water, paint repeatedly until she found the paper. They were working so hard and it was so sweet seeing their little minds spinning as they created their cards.

After writing and drawing, it was time to go 3-dimensional! I'm pretty sure THIS was their favorite part; it definitely was mine! The oldest started dressing up her card with pom-poms creating a SUPER fluffy base. Feeling inspired the middle child did the same thing. The pom-poms flew by- if you decide to do this at home, make sure to have PLENTY of pom-poms! The youngest used only four pom-poms, but aligned them evenly along the bottom of her card. After sticking on the colored fluff balls, we turned to the pipe cleaners. I showed them how to swirl the strands around their fingers and after a few attempts, they had swirls glued all over their cards! (I recommend using a lot of glue because 3D elements like to fall off!)

We set them to the side to dry, cleaned up all of our supplies, and we waited. Waiting, playing, experimenting, it wasn't until I left that they were finally dry. Dry, beautiful, and ready to share!

Here is a gallery of our fun adventures:

Above is just a few pictures of their beautiful creations, and below is a time-lapse! (I've never really done one before, but it is super fun and very neat!)

The end products turned out super cute, and super happy! Doesn't this just make you smile! I know they have inspired me! I went home and created some cards myself- you'll find the jpegs that you can drag and drop at the bottom of this post!

Kids create- if you think about it, we all our children and not just in the biblical sense. As a species we all age, we all gather 'wisdom through our years,' yet we never stop building our lives- asking questions to better society, asking questions to better ourselves, experimenting in order to learn more, and living by learning. We craft knowledge, cards, homes, lives that bring joy to others, but most importantly lives that bring joy to ourselves. We 'grow up,' but we are all children just looking to create our next adventures no matter how big or small and at the end of the day you might just end up with something that in itself is beautiful inside and out!

Keep creating this week, next week, and every week for the rest of your lives!

Have a Be-YOU-tiful day!

Your Girl,

Mel

Here are the JPEGS! This week I dabbled in acrylic, so I hope you enjoy, share, and spread kindness!