Paint Party turned Canvas Art {Color My Home Summer Blog Series}

Hi guys! My name is Jen and I blog about my (usually frazzled) life over at Cuddles and Chaos. When Ashley said she was starting a summer series on color, I was so excited! I don't know about you, but in my life summer and color are directly related to my messy little girls.

We had a couple of really nice (albeit steamy) days here in New York last week and I decided to get my ladies out in the sunshine while doing one of their favorite things: getting crafty.

I grabbed an old sheet, washable paints, brushes, paper plates for mixing, some canvas and left over kraft paper and set it all up for what I called a Paint Party (I made sure to call it a party so my wild things knew it was something special and not an every day activity--I may be crazy, but I'm not cleaning this kind of mess regularly!). I put the girls in old bathing suits (just in case), slathered them in sunscreen and let them have at it.

At first they went at it timidly, picking up the paintbrushes I had laid out and painting in a very civilized manner. But after a couple of accidental spills and the realization that I really didn't care if they got messy, they lived up to their mess maker reputation.

First, hands and feet went into the paint and eventually they started using the brushes to paint their bodies instead of the canvases. I filled a bucket with water so they could rinse themselves and their brushes when they needed to. It was a big hit... until Ellie dumped it over.

When it got close to dinnertime, we picked everything up (and when I say we, I mean mostly me) and I hosed them down. Amazingly, the paint washed off of their bathing suits pretty much immediately (it took a little rubbing to get it off their skin, which might have something to do with the number of layers they used on themselves!).

My favorite part about all of this? The girls made pieces that we can actually use instead of throwing into the pile of crafts in the basement that I can't bring myself to part with. We used the kraft paper painting to wrap a birthday present (which I, of course, forgot to take a picture of).

As for the canvas, when we started out there was a big tape letter in the center of each. Samantha promptly ripped hers off and painted her own S, because, well, anything I can do she can do better. Ellie left hers there and painted all over the place. The result is cute letter art that they can use for their bedroom (tip: if you don't want their art to clash with the colors of their room, only give them colors that match the palette you're going for).

This canvas art could be done just as easily (and way less messily) inside--but where's the fun in that?

Thanks so much to Jen for sharing her fabulous idea with us!  I love how she turned a really fun kid art project into pretty artwork for your home!  And aren't her girls just adorable!?!  Be sure to visit Jen at her blog Cuddle and Chaos.  

I would love for you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pintrest and via email.
I participate in the link parties found here.