Canvas toddler art

Oh, hi! I'm cleaning out some of my blog posts that have been gathering dust in draft status. Want to see something we made almost a year ago? OK, good.

One of my friends from the Mommy/Baby group we attended when Elle was an infant posted a photo on Instagram that inspired me to unleash Elle's inner Picasso. I had been plotting my own craft, and she was interested in "Mommy's project," so while we were at Michael's picking up my final supplies, I grabbed a few things for her.

The materials and actual process are simple, it was super cheap and Elle points out "I made an 'E'!" on a regular basis.

My friend used a large canvas to capture her daughter's nickname, "Mac." I went with smaller canvas for a simple initial but took advantage of a two-for-one canvas deal, so I can craft with the other 8 x 10 canvas in the future. I taped off an "E" using blue painter's tape that I had, and then I stripped Elle down to her diaper and let her go to town. I bought pink and green acrylic paints (on sale!) to match the basic decor in her room. I was going to have her do one color, let it dry, then follow up with the other color on another day, but at the last minute I decided that it might be more fun for her to mix the two colors.

I gave Elle two foam brushes, which she used for part of the time, but the majority of the artwork was created with her hands. The middle stroke on the E got some heavy paint action (and subsequently seeped under the painter's tape Elle was very intent as she painted, and she was super excited to see the results the next day after I peeled off the painter's tape.

 
I hung up the E over her changing table, and Elle loves to look at it. She always tells me it's pink and green, and I love that she created some of the coolest art in her bedroom.