Halloween 2015

 For this year's Halloween, Tiger decided he wanted to be a ghost.

MIL was totally against the idea because Chinese associates ghost with death and it's taboo.

I thought it was very brave and him, so we went ahead with the idea anyway.

We had to go to the nearest shop and bought 2 metres of white cloth for rm 6.50.

I thought it would be easy peasy but still it took me two hours just to cut a hole,

sew the seams and a ribbon around the neckline. =.="

In other words, I really sucked at this but here's the lil Casper.

Dragon Girl, was a nurse...outfit from Winnie since I didn't have time to prepare.

Tiger didn't put on his outfit 90% of the time.

That's Dexter as an overweight Batman.

Us acting crazy.

Some sweet pics of the girl.

This year's party was very last minute decision...but the usual suspects turned up anyways!

Corynne prepared this setup.

And the parents all brought food.

For games, we had a 'pinata' balloon.

That's darling Dee Dee who was a firewoman.

Winnie bought some pre-cut crafts to keep them entertained.

This fugly shot makes me laugh every time.

Our host Corynne and her Superboy!

Hubs was late as he went to collect fried chicken and some nasi lemak.

Of course, he irritated our girl with his kissing.

Thanks to everyone who came despite only having a few days to prepare!

On a side note, there is no more ghost in my bathroom and bed, according to Tiger.

He left, it seems. 

:) 

First acrylic & rock painting

We were inspired by this book to try some rock painting.
Written by Linda Kranz, it's filled with beautiful illustrations and artwork of rock fishes.

Our poster colour simply won't do, so I got us some acrylic paint.

Have you ever painted with acrylic? No?

Neither have I.

I didn't know the paint dries quickly, so basically you can paint your designs
over the base colour in one sitting.

Tiger was in awe and my cool mom status went up several notches *ahem*.

For our first trial with acrylic, it went well.

 If you compare his purple and black fishes with the ones on the cover...very close, aren't they?

 Art is subjective. Don't judge. Haha.

Since he already smeared paint on the paper,

I suggested an underwater background instead of throwing it away.

We added some details together. I drew a submarine and some plants.

He added his deep sea creatures by Safari Ltd.

These creatures are the coolest.

The Buncho poster paint was used to paint the deep dark ocean floor.

I hate to say this but I couldn't remember their names :p

Thank goodness he made some name cards for the set a few months ago.

Weird names:  Gulper eel, hachet fist, dragon fish, giant imopod...

 

For children five and above, acrylic paint is great. It is going to be a staple in our art pantry.

For kids like Dragon girl who likes to paint on walls and floors, I would wait a few more years.

So, what other medium should we try next? 

We've tried air dry clay but he didn't enjoy it much.

Not even when I presented it so nicely.

These kids have no idea how lucky they are to have a crazy mom :)

Christmas Crafting Time!

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It's almost Christmas!

Crazy, right?

Our tree is already up, as you can see on Instagram.

I just need a new phone for better Instagram pics :)

*wink wink wink* to hubs...hehe.

We have been spending much of our time preparing for his YAMAHA concert, 

so I did not prepare ANY Christmas trays!
So lame, I know...

Luckily for Tiger (and I), we received a My Creative BaoBei Christmas Play Bag.

With pre-packed activities, we can just grab and play :)

It comes in a lovely felt bag that you can reuse as a gift bag during Christmas.

See my son pretending to be malu-malu

"Come on, show me your giant ears"

I took out all the prepacked activities and asked him to choose one.

There were 3 products plus one free activity.

 He was immediately drawn to the glitter glue/snowflake activity.
Nothing spells FUN like messy play, you know :)

 I drew an outline with pencil since perfection is important to him.

For the designs, I referred to the pictures provided on the information leaflet.

Otherwise, they will all be round or square or diamond..hehe.

After the craft, we read The Friendly Snowflake by M. Scott Peck.

Bought this book years ago when I was still in high school! 

Pic from Amazon.com

The next activity took a two days because we had to roll up little balls of tissue paper.

This one is hard because you have to make a gazillion balls.

OK, I exaggerate, It was probably closer to 150.

Tiger was like, "You can do it."

"Don't talk so much. Work faster a bit."

What a pushy boss he'll make!

Purses lips.

In the end we had some 'boulders' left over and he was inspired to make a racecar.

Guess who is the lucky person who gets to fix up the car?
=.="

 

Last but not least, we have a Santa Clause for weaving.

He did this at snail speed over several days.

So, the activities lasted a loooong time :)

 

 

 He thinks his papa is Santa Claus because they have the same sized belly!

HO! HO! HO!

No lar...I take that back...must be nice for a new phone.

Because my kind, darling husband got them early Xmas presents.
*sweet smile*

There is also a felt sticker activity that we are saving for rainy days.

Image from CreativeBaobeiPlayBags

If you are interested in getting a bag for you little one, 

you can check out CreativeBaobeiPlayBags here.
They are only rm 28 each.
But wait!!!

Leave a comment here to win a Buy1Free1 promotion.
I have 3 vouchers for you to win!

This is perfect as Christmas goody bags or gifts for little kids :)

Winners will be selected randomly and announced on 5th DEC 2014

The voucher is valid till 31st December 2014.

You can follow CreativeBaobei on Facebook here

It's so yummilicious looking I feel like eating their page :p

Painting areas for the kids

I used to love art until I attended art lessons...haha...the irony :)
I just didn't enjoy being told what and how to draw 'correctly'.
So, no art lessons for my children until they are ready to learn some techniques.
And only if they are invested in the idea wholeheartedly.
Honestly, I would prefer to pay for golf lessons.

I am so, so grateful to have the Internet at my fingertips because it helps me understand my children so much more. Who needs a diploma when I have eyes to observe my own children?
I love this article that explains the stages of painting.
Dragon girl is at stage 2, drawing circles and Tiger is at Stage 4, drawing creepy people.

Currently, this is how her atelier looks like. I am so inspired by Meri Cherry's blog
Our space changes all the time, depending on her needs and interest.
I leave everything out in the open for her except glitter. God forbid they should blind each other with those stuff.
We display her art on a string and as you can see, she uses different materials and papers.
On the IKEA easel is her current work. I'll only change the paper after she tells me it's done.
Otherwise, she will layer her painting like real artists :)

Sometimes, she prefers these foldable tables to the easel.

I am so trilled that she finger paints!

You know, like a normal child, unlike Tiger :)

Finger painting is a sensory experience on top of artistic expression.

Love it!

Besides paint, she loves these disgusting black whiteboard markers...sigh.

The good news is, she rarely stains her clothes nowadays.

So, I just close one eye la.

After about a year of  "Don't paint the walls!!!!"

I actually get some poster moments like these.

Oh, speaking of walls...Dragon hasn't been redecorating for some time now :) 

They also have another art area outside.

It's their outdoor learning area but they mostly paint, play bubbles

or make a mess at the water table.

The toy kitchen doubles as storage for my bags of organic soil and fertilizer.

 The old wine rack is perfect for displaying their stuff.

Some balls, art material, sand, explorer's basket, etc

In the drawers: Uppermost 2 drawers are laundry stuff and rags

Lower levels are their bubbles sand/water play stuff  

PS:

You see the little green pots?

They are environmental-friendly biodegradable plastic pots.

I have quite a few because ermm, I kept killing the herb plants for some reason. 

Upcycled into art containers! 

 I loved the old wine rack because the back doubles as a blackboard!

So glad I didn't toss it out.  I am such a thrifty mom.

My husband is a very lucky chap...sigh..

  

The most important part? Painting to promote peace and teamwork!

Most of the time, they fight like cat and dog because the girl is so ferocious.

See Tiger's unhappy disgruntled face? Hehe.

Learning to share is good.

 

 Tips for sanity:

1. Start with a small number of items on display. Some crayons, papers, stickers.

Then you can gradually introduce paint, clay or playdough.

We are at expert level with sand, scissors, loose parts and wires for their use.

When I add glitter, you will know I've totally lost my sanity :)

2. Buy washable paint

I buy Crayola because it really is very washable.

We no longer wear smocks because the kids dislike having their movements restricted.

The paint is still cheaper than their bajus.

When they are older, I am buying tempera and ugly aprons.

3. Soak the used art stuff in a large container overnight

 I dump all the palettes and brushes into a water filled container and wash the next day.

Minimal scrubbing and water saving.

4. Stock up during sales

Occasionally, I can get 30%-70% off Crayolas during Toyrus Warehuse sales

Otherwise I'll just have to hold my breath and buy them from Art Friend for 10% disc.

5. Minimizing wastage

"Mama, I need help please. I poured too much paint. Sorry"

That will be my son, Tiger.

"Muahahahahahhaha"

That will be my daughter. =.="

 

In cases like the above, I will scoop whatever I can back into the bottle or tube.

If there are some leftover on the palette, I will wait for the kids to fall asleep, 

make myself a cuppa green tea, sit at the easel and paint.

When was the last time you painted?