Holidays

Isaiah has REALLY enjoyed learning all about the Christmas Star this year. Actually, he’s rather obsessed.

He and I have a Christmas song we share together. It’s a special one–one that I rocked him to when he was just days old (since he was born on Christmas).

It’s called “Follow That Star” by Cindy Morgan. Have you heard it? Definitely worth a download if you haven’t.

It talks about following that special star throughout our lives–letting it lead and guide us. Such a wonderful message for Advent, and every season that follows.

Isaiah has come to know that song as his own–and even insists that I put it on repeat for him as he falls asleep each night.

And when he started drawing Christmas Stars in his free time, I knew it was time for a project. ;)

I saw an adorable tutorial for snowflake art a while back, and fully intended on making some with the boys. And then it hit me, why not put our own little spin on it and make our very own Christmas Star?

A dear friend had recently given the boys their very own nativity set. So we set out to make the perfect backdrop.

This project was so stinkin’ easy. And Isaiah was so proud that he made it ALL BY HIMSELF.

It might be our favorite project together to date…

 

To make, you will need:

• canvas (Size is up to you, we chose 16×16.)

• blue paint (Again, specific shade is up to you. We chose Martha Stewart craft pain in “Slate Gray.” )

• masking tape (or painter’s tape)

• Paintbrush

 

I arranged the tape into the shape of a star like so. (Just make the shape of a cross, then add an “x” over the middle.)  You’ll also notice I angled the edges of each piece of tape…this really helped give it the twinkling look.

Then it was time to paint. I chose to use craft paint and a brush because we were going for a specific look. But you can definitely use finger paint if your kids are younger.

And P.S.This was Isaiah’s first time painting on areal canvas. He was on cloud nine!

While the paint is still wet, peel the tape and set the painting aside to dry. (The hardest part was the waiting!)

As soon as the canvas was dry, we arranged our Nativity in front of it. Isaiah was SO very proud. And of course, so was I.

His first real painting. And how special that we’ll get to display it every year at Christmas, and remember the fun we had making it.

My heart skip a beat just thinking about it.

I love you, sweet Isaiah. You’re my Christmas baby, and you always will be. Thank you for being such a light in our lives.

 

The Fourth of July is just around the corner. We already have plans to head down to the farm. I’m taking the camera with me this time and I can’t wait to get some “real” shots. It’s been so long.

A big part of our “Farm Fourth” is setting off our own fireworks. A tradition that I’ve always loved, until we had little boys. Don’t get me wrong, I still look forward to it. But I’ve always known that the clock was ticking, and that one day Isaiah would be “big enough” to want to set some off himself.

(Cue the panic attacks)

To get in the holiday spirit, we decided to do some firework art. If you remember, we made these glitter fireworks last year. So this year I wanted to do something a little different.

We looked around the house for something (anything) that could pass as a firework stamp. Behold, the dish brush!

We used white acrylic paint, because that’s what we had on hand, along with some crayola finger paint (in red and blue). Any paper will do, but we did ours on kraft paper because I love the look. ;)

I made the sample while they boys were napping, and when they woke up it was their turn. Samuel is still a little young. But he watched from the sidelines and happily stuffed his face with Cheerios.

The only real guideline: do the white fireworks first, then follow with the red and blue. And don’t forget to wash your brush in between colors (not absolutely necessary, but it helps).

The best part about firework art with boys? The sound effects. Girls just don’t do that. At least, I didn’t. It was a regular firework fest with louder than life crackles and explosions. Every time the brush hit the paper = sound effect.

It was perfection.

And once again, Isaiah’s finished product put mine to shame. I thought mine was sooooo artistic–fireworks on the top of the page to represent the night sky. Isaiah just went for it.

In terms of a real firework show, let’s just say mine was the opening number and Isaiah’s was the FINALE.

Yeah. He smoked me.