Family Art Project

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Hello Lemon Tree Readers, we are excited to have Rachel from The Henry Homestead guest posting with us today!

 I am so happy for the chance to do a guest post on Lemon Tree today!  This is my first time being an official "guest" so bear with me as I negotiate new waters.

I've been keeping a blog since my son was born 3 years ago, and what started as a family blog has evolved into a creative outlet.  I've learned so much about myself in the last 3-5 years: how much I love to create and design, sew, and also be inspired by others.  The blog world has opened up (too) many opportunities --- I am amazed at other's ideas!  Anyway, I'm happily married to Simon, and we have 3 beautiful children, a 3 year old boy and 16 month old twin girls.

If you're a mom (and you probably are) then you know it can be hard to involve your family in your creative endeavors.  Sometimes you feel like you're "going it alone" and maybe even feel guilty for ignoring house chores or a screaming baby just to finish that last sewing stitch or paint that last bit of trim.  Am I right?  This project is a great way to get everyone involved, even your skeptical husband!

What you'll need:
Canvases- any size or shape, as many as you want (we use one per person)
Paint- acrylic craft paint, watercolor, or regular latex house paint
Paint applicator- whatever you want! (brush [duh], sticks, flowers, golf balls!)
Patience- when working with your children (or maybe in your case, husband)

I had 3 canvases I got on sale a long time ago, and wanted to use them in our family room*.  My daughters are too young to paint, but my son loves to use watercolors.  We decided we'd each paint our own canvas: but what to paint?!  To take inspiration from nature, we went with good ol' ROYGBIV.  a.k.a: the colors of the rainbow.  Each of us were assigned 2 colors, and the end result would put all the colors in the appropriate order.
My son used a brush and watercolors, for simplicity.  I had to guide him, like, "paint some more right here."  A few times I might have actually moved his arm too.  The great thing is, it doesn't matter how messy or crazy it might seem: it ends up looking like high price modern art.  If elephants can paint it, so can your toddler.

For my painting I used a tissue pom-pom leftover from my girls' birthday party in March.  Using acrylic craft paint, I just blotted paint all over the canvas.  The end result wasn't quite as cool as I had hoped, so I went back over it with a paint brush, smacking and spattering white paint to add some more dimension.

My husband was a little bit psyched about his idea.  Using a mix of latex and acrylic paint, he dipped golf balls in paint, then putted them across the canvas.  He's not normally the crafty/creative type, but you wouldn't know that when it comes to doing these paintings.

Then just hang them on the wall, and you might end up with something like this:

My husband and I did this project a few years ago as well, applying the paint only with objects found in nature.  I used a flower, he used a branch.  He's really proud of that one too.  They turned out like this:

(Also see the 2nd picture in this post to see them hanging in our previous home).

This project is a great way to help each person in your family feel proud of something hanging in your home.  And it's not just something they made at school that you framed and hung up, it is REAL art on a REAL canvas.  The time spent together making them is also part of the fun memory that you remember each time you see it on your wall.

So get creative!  You really can use anything to make these.  Maybe have a theme for the whole family: use all sorts of kitchen equipment to apply the paint, or maybe different food items!

Thanks again to Lemon Tree for allowing me to be a guest.  Have a terrific day, and thanks for reading!


*If you'd like to see the rest of my family room makeover (which I'm still wrapping up), check back on my blog in a few weeks to see the final reveal!

Thanks Rachel!

We'll be featuring guest posters the second and third Thursday of every month, and we'd love to have you join us in the future too! Check here for more details.