Tag: creativity
Easy Preschool Crafts – Stamping & Printing with Food
The sun is peeking out from behind the clouds and the air has a hint of warmth in it. All of those fun kid projects that you’ve been whipping up at the kitchen table have as much of an urge as you do to shake off a long Canadian winter and head outside to enjoy [...]
Don’t Be The Grumpy Museum Lady This Summer
We here at OBE like to think of ourselves as pretty darn adventurous parents when it comes to the whole process of kids making art. Whether it be spinning paint, watercolors, sticky glue or paper mache, the fun of making anything is in getting all gooey in the process – right? Well, not so much [...]
Encouraging Toddlers To Get Artistic
When it comes to kids, making art is often left to the school-aged crowd. But, it’s actually toddlers who are masters of visual arts. They love to create and their imaginations are wide open. Give a tiny person a crayon and watch the world blossom. Toddler art definitely has its own unique patina and style. [...]
Rediscovering Our Neighbourhoods – Making Maps
Giving our kids a sense of direction begins with helping them connect to the world around them. It sounds like a huge undertaking, showing them the world. But, for the tiny feet of tiny people the world around them is simply the people they know and the places that become safe, fun and familiar routines [...]
Family Crafts – New Year's Eve Crowns
New Year’s Eve is one tricky holiday to get the family involved with. Most of the long-standing traditions of the event portion of it revolve around activities not meant for kiddos, and generally the big project for this day is finding a baby sitter that doesn’t mind an extra late night. But, around our house, [...]
Everyday Inspiration
After yesterday’s post on the daily trials and tribulations of managing motherhood, it seems most appropriate to take a moment today to share some serious inspiration. One of my personal mantras is to start every day with something provocative and lovely that gives me a bit of sweetness to carry with me throughout the day. [...]
Crafts for Organizers – Fabric Covered Recipe Binder
Editor’s Note: This great project to get you all organized for your holiday baking and making first appeared on Our Big Earth in September 2009. As we start thinking about the holidays this year, the first thing I think about is where are all of my recipes. Instead of digging through drawers for hours on [...]
Creative Kids – Fall Nature Collections
On the eve of Fall, I am feeling the energy inside me turn from summer beach nights to warm and cozy. You can see it in the kids too. They begin the process of preparing for Winter, even foraging and storing things up like the animals in the forest. It’s fun to see the collections [...]
Kids Crafts – Summer Creativity
I am waiving the red flag in the creativity department. Our house has always been one that’s all about art and making things and finding new ways to make art and new things. But, the craft room has seen busier days. Thankfully, I took a peek back through some of the fun projects we’ve done [...]
Technology Bringing Kids Closer to Classic Art
I have never considered myself to be anything more than a stick person artist. Try as I might throughout the years to draw something remotely ‘good’, my hand could never translate what I saw in my mind on to paper. My renditions of Spiderman or Sgt. Rock looked like baby drawings, even in my teens. [...]
Helpful Hints for Art at Home
Editor’s Note: Matisse said Creativity takes courage. He couldn’t have been more dead-on. The ways people get their creative groove on define them in huge ways. They give people courage…a place to let all of their emotions spill out…and a voice to speak out, admire, honour or just simply reveal those things that mean the [...]
The Woman's Room – Every Woman Needs Her Own Ruby Slippers
Imagine having only six items of clothing. For a whole month. Last June, a group of about 100 people, mostly women, voluntarily tried this out, as part of a social experiment called Six Items or Less. Their experiences, recorded on the project’s web-site, are fascinating – the biggest surprise being that other people, including husbands [...]
Sunday Morning Walks – Fall Seed and Leaf Walks
With misty October mornings, a bit of a chill and gorgeous sun breaks settling us all into the Fall season, nothing seems more lovely and even a bit cozy than taking a walk through the forest or along a local creek with the family. The colors of the season, which are just now starting to [...]
Creative Parenting – Fostering Kids Healthy Obsessions
This Summer, I was reading through one of my favorite everyday education websites and came across an article about kids and their obsessions. I’ve always wondered what could possibly be good about letting kids get sucked into the craziness of Webkins, Pokemon, anything at all that sent a kid reeling when they couldn’t have the [...]
Kids Crafts – Bubbles & Boxes to Beat Boredom
You know how parents always seem to chuckle a bit at how the kids love the big box better than the present that came in it? More often than not, simple is the solution when kids are seriously bored and in need of an imagination adventure or giggle fest. I can’t tell you how many [...]
Paper Craft – Vintage Spool Albums
Editor’s Note: Vanessa Falle is back this afternoon with one of her gorgeous vintage crafts that is all about taking your photography and scrapbooking to the next level. It’s a gorgeous project, perfect for gifting or preserving precious moments. Enjoy. I am a lover of all things vintage. Especially things that relate to real life. [...]
Crafting Supply Box Basics For Any Home
It’s no big news flash that we spend a fair bit of time creating all sorts of fun things around here. Hanging out around the craft table has become a bit of a ritual when it’s time to chill out or spend a low-key afternoon together minus electronics. Crafts can be super challenging to get [...]
Kids Craft – Printmaking for Beginners
Editor’s Note: If you missed out on how you can scoop up free tickets to the Vancouver Island Baby Fair, you can see all the details HERE. Now, here’s Robin with a fun and easy printmaking tutorial. Lately, we’ve been experimenting with some new painting techniques that take our watercolor and other types of basic artwork [...]
Kids Crafts – Octopus Puppets
Editor’s Note: If you missed out on the morning post giving you the scoop on when and where you can ditch your stash of household hazardous waste, you can read it HERE. Now, here’s Robin with a fun kiddo craft tutorial. Here she is: Ever have those weeks (or months) when your creative powers are [...]
Letting Your Right Brain Out To Play
Editor’s Note: This morning Marcie Dumais shares her quest to find the artist within herself and how she plans on encouraging her boys to explore their artistic interests and abilities. Here’s her story: I really believe there is an artist inside all of us. I know that sounds cliché, but it is true. For some [...]
Nature Journal – Finding Art In Nature With A Camera
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Jocie Ingram is on site today with a look at getting creative with a camera outdoors and tuning into your artistic side. She has some great tips for us. Enjoy. Here she is: I’ve always been drawn to the arts, be it visual art, music or literature. My other passion (which [...]
Paper Crafts – Welcoming Spring With A Wreath
Editor’s Note: Crafting queen Vanessa Falle is back on site with a tutorial for a lovely spring themed wreath. Enjoy. Here she is: As winter’s chill leaves the air and the sun’s rays invite the blossoms to come back for another season, I find that few things inspire me more than the beauty found in [...]
Nature Craft – Sticky, Easy, Framed Nature Collages
We are spring wildflower crazy around here these days. With the weather warming up and blossoms starting to bloom, afternoons are spent in the garden, wandering through our neighborhood park and returning home with pockets full of cool things we collected along the way. The problem with pockets full of anything is that, really, once [...]
Advocating for Arts Education
Good Morning. Usually Tuesdays are reserved for all things fun and creative. But, today I thought it may be time to get a bit more serious about arts and crafts. For as long as I can remember – but even more so recently – it seems that the news about public education in B.C. is [...]
The Gift Of Imagination
Editor’s Note: Happy weekend! This morning Rebecca Watkin is back on site reminding us of the importance of imagination. Enjoy. Here she is: “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world” – Albert Einstein I’ve been thinking about [...]
Easy Kids Crafts – Homemade Pompoms
Good Morning. I don’t know what it is, but I can go all year without a single pompom and then, when spring hits, I always seem to be in need of these fuzzy things for some creature making or other fun. Then, I head out to the store and leave gasping at how crazy expensive [...]
Greet Spring With A Paper Posie Bouquet
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Crafting goddess Vanessa Falle is here with a fabulous paper and button flower tutorial. Enjoy. Here she is: This time of year is so dreary and drab up in Canada’s frozen north. We’re still buried under a blanket of snow and it’s so disheartening to hear of the buds and blossoms [...]
Spring Break 2010 – Craft Roundup
Good morning. You have to admit that the weather report is not looking up for the next couple of weeks. That could spell some serious trouble for getting the kids out of the house more than once or twice for an outdoor adventure. But, that doesn’t mean that you are stuck with screaming, bored children. [...]
Watercolor Painting In the Waldorf Style
Editor’s Note: If you missed Robin’s review of Canadian author Wayson Choy’s fabulous novel All That Matters, you can read it HERE. This afternoon, we have Waldorf educator Rebecca Watkin back on site with a look at the Waldorf method of watercolor painting. Here she is: A Painting Verse The sunlight shines into each day [...]
Kids Crafts – Making Magic with Apothecary Boxes
Good Morning. Oh how we are having fun making cool new stuff for our magical world. After the fairy bowls, we definitely decided that the Land of Purple Unicorn Fairies (LOPUF), as it has now been deemed, definitely needs some storage with lids. This isn’t heavy-duty, big storage. But, more a need to have cool places [...]
Getting Kids Into The Olympic Spirit at Home
Editor’s Note: Good afternoon. If you missed this morning’s interview with Canadian cookbook Wise Women Shannon Loeber and Mary Edwards talking about their sexy take on food, folklore and sparking that magic (we’re giving away copies), check it out HERE. Now, it’s time to get our families into the spirit of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic [...]
Kids Crafts – Making Fun Fairy Bowls
As our “magical world” project continues this year, we are still super focused on the fairy forest part of that imaginary adventure. The tiny person is so excited about creating the bits and pieces that line the path to her castle and lead the way along the path into the fairy forest, that we found [...]
Paper Crafts – Valentine's Day Treat Holder
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Vanessa Falle is back with us in time for Valentine’s Day. Today she leads us through a fabulous paper craft. Here she is: I don’t know about you, but I love to make special things for my kids. They know how much time and thought I put into each one of [...]
Kids Food Crafts – Painting with Jello
It has been so crazy dreary around the Comox Valley the last couple of weeks that we have been super dug in at the craft table and looking for ways to combine all sorts of things like food and paper into good fun. Jello isn’t something we regularly eat around here. But, it is super [...]
Crafts to Build Fine Motor Skills – Hand Sewing For Kids
They say knitting is the new yoga and sewing is the greatest happy pill out there. If a needle and thread can sooth the savage beast, fork a whole pile over to me and the 4-year-old. Both of us are searching for that quiet, peaceful truth these days! And, lately, it seems that those wives tales [...]
Year in Review – Best Crafts of 2009
Good Morning. As I looked back through some of the creative projects we took on this year, it was great to check out how much fun we had learning about and discovering nature through creativity. There was lots of painting and gluing for sure. But, I’m wondering which project you all liked the best this [...]
Kids Rock – Music Lessons Are Not for Every Musician
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Bobby Herron is on site today talking shop about why music lessons work for some kids and not for others. Finding creative ways to help your kids learn all kinds of things is a bit of an art in and of itself. One that is different for everyone. Here he is: Music [...]
A Peek Inside A Celebration of Comox Valley Spirit
The day didn’t necessary start off on the brightest foot. Rain, rain, rain – that was the forecast for Sunday. But, with a 40X40 heated tent, happy spirits and a sense of creative flexibility we headed out for a day of celebrating our heritage. Thankfully, the sunshine made an appearance just about the time we [...]
Green Learning – Reinvent by Reusing
Editor’s Note: Good afternoon. If you missed us this morning, you can check out Pauline Rae’s informative story on Montessori education HERE. Now we have Gayle Bates with some highly creative tips on reinventing old household items. Here she is: Aaaah November – the month between the crazy consumption potential of Halloween and the even [...]
Gather for a Family Heritage Experience
Editor’s Note: If you missed this morning’s AMAZING nature journal, you’ve got to go check out Jocie’s fantastic post on identifying slugs HERE. It’s fantastic. This afternoon, we’d like to extend an invitation to families of all ages to join Our Big Earth and The Filberg Heritage Lodge and Park for the Family Heritage Experience. [...]
Kids Crafts – Day of the Dead Skulls
I love Halloween. But, one of my favorite celebrations every year is the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), honoring our ancestors, heritage and the renewal of life. This gorgeous celebration is one that we had the honor of participating in for years when we lived in California – learning [...]
Spooky Crafts – Owl Luminara
Good Morning. Halloween is creeping up on us and here at OBE headquarters we have an annual tradition of coming up with something we can light on fire. Pumpkins shmumpkins. Yeah, they’re totally fun to carve and we love our ghoulish globs of orange madness. But, there’s something super eerie and a bit fun about [...]
Family Voyage Project
When Meg Cursons first handed me the book Six String Nation, I nearly cried. Having claimed Canada as home well into my 30s, my sense of cultural identity had not settled in much of anything traditionally Canadian and I’d been feeling a like a bit of a loner in terms of discovering my sense of [...]
Halloween Crafts – "Stained Glass" Sun Catchers
As much as I insist on denying the loss of sunshine, it’s definitely Fall around these parts. A few weeks ago, the tiny person and I took a look around a house filled with Summer craft projects. We figured it was time to get going on something a bit more rustic, harvest-like and spooky – if [...]
Found-Object Food Jar Terrariums
Science in a jar is something that scores me some serious cool points in the scientist in training universe. That’s especially true when it means that we can head out for a walk around our local park – or even the backyard – with express permission to pick up, handle, pack away and take home [...]
Nature Crafts – Plaster Fossils
Science girl has decided that her major professional interests are learning toward paleontology of the late – so much so that we are in full roar around here in terms of dinos, digs and – of course – fossils. We’ve spent most of the Summer on the hunt for the coolest rocks and the collections [...]
Back to School Crafts – Clipboard Organizer
Editor’s Note: Crafting guru Vanessa Falle has come on board here at Our Big Earth to take us on a funky project-focused journey in the land of the creative. She’ll be here once a month bringing you cool ideas on how to make just about anything fabulous, and the major bonus is that she also [...]
Summer Crafts – Backyard Paint Party
Good morning. Just back from our brief, yet very go-go-go staycation in Victoria, we are all over the play-where-you-live theory on breaking now as we got deals all over the place, explored far-off worlds and ate at one or two of our favourite spots in the process. I’ll be back later in the week with [...]
Foodie Crafts – Seashell Maracas
Editor’s Note: Good Morning. If you are looking for something fun to do in the local food universe today, be sure to head over to Brambles to meet the folks from Hazelmere Farms. Their unusual and tasty greens are a treat at any dinner table. The demo runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meanwhile, [...]
Foodie Crafts – Homemade Dyes
Editor’s Note: Good Morning. It’s time for a mid-week meal as part of the 30-Day Food Challenge. I think I may try to talk the hubby into sneaking off to Bisque with me this afternoon. Locals and Anderton Bistro-Pub are open today too. I’ve been cooking up a storm at home these last few weeks [...]
Foodie Crafts – Homemade Stickers
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Today is kind of chill in the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge universe. So, if you are thinking local, make some plans for a leisurely lunch or dinner at Anderton Bistro-Pub, The Great Escape, Bisque (I think we are headed that direction) or Locals. A lovely meal is the [...]
Foodie Crafts – Macaroni Necklaces & Musical Beans
It’s no shock that I am knee deep in the foodie universe right now. Between the garden, the food challenge and the general joy of eating when all of the goodness that is Vancouver Island food is in season, I can’t help myself. The same seems to apply in the kid-style creative universe too. Seems [...]
Backyard Craft – Butterfly Feeders
Editor’s Note: Good morning. We’ve got a fun craft for you this morning. But, it’s this afternoon that brings big news here at Our Big Earth. It’s a deliciously detailed dish comes with a month’s worth of community goodness, family fun of the foodie kind and the chance to win nearly $3,000 in tasty treats. [...]
Eco Crafts – Egg Carton Shadow Boxes & Rock Gardens
So, I have to say that it’s a good thing that the only people who have been subjected to the condition of our house lately are my sweet friend Kathy and her family. While she might think “Oh my God, don’t touch anything!” and her lovely little girl did actually ask if she could help [...]
Retro Saturday – Natural Nature Journals
OK, I concede. I’m EX-HAUSTED. There’s this great delusion in my head that if I just keep going my energy won’t realize that it has been non-existant since July of 2005:) Anyway, I logged 13 hours of sleep last night (about 3 times my normal) and the price was no e-mails answered, no posts written, [...]
Nature Craft – Flower Chains
Good morning! It’s that time of year where the big debate in our house over what flowers can and cannot be picked rages wild. Pretty much, our kiddo would prefer to pick every flower in sight. Wild, someone else’s, grandma’s favourite in the garden – it doesn’t matter. Flowers should be for picking, she believes. [...]
Crafts for Boys – Adventure Belt
It seems like FORVER since Ken jumped in here with another one of his boy-focused Craftizmos. April was one big adventure in exhaustion and good times with Earth Day events. So, busting out the duct tape and whipping up a very cool outdoor adventure pack (which could double as an awesome tool belt), got the [...]
Earth Day Craft – Recycled Paper Bag Puppets
Editor’s Note: For the next few Tuesdays, we’ll be featuring art projects that you can come out and do with us at Earth Day events that Our Big Earth is taking part in. Today’s project – recycled paper bag puppets – will be one of the fun projects your kids can try out when you [...]
Crafty Imagination – Easter Masks
Is anybody else dealing with some seriously crazed kiddos lately? I’m hoping there’s something in the air and our tiny person hasn’t gone completely bonkers because she’s more than a wee bit wound up these days. Normal, relatively quiet crafting that would normally take place around our house is not even an option at the [...]
Crafty Imagination – Cardboard Cameras
If there’s one thing our daughter could spot a mile away, it would be a camera lens. For the last 3.75 years, she’s had that thing in her face nearly non-stop without much complaint at all. In fact, for most of that time, she barely noticed the thing constantly hanging around mommy’s neck. Unlike most [...]
Art Project Books for Kids All About Science and Math
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a kid who wanted to move her life to one centrally scientific and seriously fun location – Science World. Somewhere between the dinosaurs and Lego land, her brain engaged the science universe (or at least the serious fun universe) and now there’s no [...]
Crafts for Boys – Marble Mech
Just call him the gadget man. If there is one thing Ken has always loved, it’s figuring something out. He’s not a guy who gets under the hood of a car or hides out in the garage building things. But, he digs figuring the science of things out – especially when it looks a little [...]
Preschool Craft – Marble Painting
As the tiny person and I keep going down the road of fun painting adventures that have no fussy mommy factor and a huge preschool messy factor, we have discovered the art of painting with marbles. We got this idea from one of our recent trips to Becky Wortman’s Creative Exploration art classes and had [...]
Preschool Crafts – Salad Spinner Painting
Editor’s Note: It’s no news flash that we are big fans of art around our house. But, I have to admit that I’ve been finding myself in serious need of inspiration and a little artistic freedom that the dining room table just isn’t currently capable of offering. So, our daughter and I have been hitting [...]
Crafts for Boys – Recycled Space Robot
Need I say more? The Dad in our house is here to share. He’s all imagination, goofiness, a love of recess and the reality that Star Wars will never die. Have fun with our first project… …and take the Craftizmos ROBOT CHALLENGE! Make your own version of this creature from the Planet Recycle and win [...]
Family Craft – Keepsake Flower Petal Valentines
M and Ken wandered into the recovery room after my surgery nearly three Fridays ago with piles of flowers and a Tim Horton’s Boston cream doughnut. The doughnut lasted about 30 seconds. The flowers, a fair bit longer. When it came time to empty out the vases, I couldn’t bring myself to just ditch them. [...]
Family Craft – Paper Tulip Garden
One of my major small successes during the doldrums of any dark and rainy February is to brighten up the house with signs of Spring in any way humanly possible. If I could paint sunshine and blue skies on all of the windows and not know that if I went outside the sky would be [...]
Family Craft – Paper Robots
Another snowy morning in the Valley means another day at the craft table for us. The cold and our daughter have no issues. As for me, I prefer a cozy blanket and a cup of tea (actually, back to coffee) right now – and she’s currently very accommodating. When we got back from Victoria, she [...]
Sir Ken Robinson – Creativity, Crux of Education
A few weeks ago, as he often does, Ken slipped me a link to a www.ted.com talk on creativity in education. Ted, Ken and I have developed a long-standing mutual affection. So when I saw the link wasn’t a Saturday Night Live skit from Youtube (Ken likes to send those along too), I snuggled up [...]
Family Craft – Glitter Mushrooms
We are having more than a wee bit of trouble getting our rears out of bed the last few days, and this morning was no exception as all of us rolled over at about 8 a.m. But, the one thing that seems to get us over the perpetual mist and gray is our “Family Tree” [...]
The Best of A Crafty 2008
I never really thought of myself as a crafty sort of gal. Seriously, I have long lived with the crafty curse, trying many a Martha-centric project and failing in expensive, ugly sorts of ways. I very much admit that my mom got the short end of the stick when it came to these sorts of [...]
Nature Journal – Winter Tracks
Up earlier than anyone in the house this morning, the tiny person sprinted to the window, wrenched on the blinds and gasped that stunning “Oh my goodness” moment when she realized that yesterday’s snow hadn’t washed away. Nearly impossible since we got nearly a foot – with a bit more on the way I’m told [...]
Holiday Books to Warm the Heart and Learn To Bake With
I like to think of our family as a crew of non-traditional traditionalists. We love Christmas and birthdays, presents and sweets. But, in ways that present the age-old traditions of those times with a classic sense of heart, not necessarily a classic point of view. After falling hard for Eve Bunting’s holiday gem The Night [...]
Make Your Own (reusable) Advent Calendar
Editor’s Note: Usually the last Friday of the month is reserved for Bevin Clempson’s witty Green-e-ology column. Not to worry, she’ll be here on Sunday talking about her conversion to reusable water bottles and coffee mugs. But, today we have a bit of a special feature that couldn’t wait. Vanessa Falle of Lotus Paperie – [...]
Making Paper Beads
If there is one thing our daughter ALWAYS notices about anyone, it’s what is around their neck. A cool necklace could be a mile away and she would spot its shiny glint, stopping the person in their tracks to make sure she told them what a gorgeous piece of jewelry they were sporting. “That’s a [...]
Make Some Forest Fairies
We have always been into the lives of forest fairies around our house. From some of our earliest days of walking the trails, it didn’t take much convincing to make us believers that some forests are truly the land of fairy people. It’s one of those things that we casually weave into stories about the [...]
Books that Make Home Life Inspirational
I have a crush. Not really on a person, but a lifestyle – a way of being that is both simple and magical. It pulls together all of the homemade goodness of our childhoods with the purposeful parenting partnerships of today’s generation of moms and dads. It’s one of those things that I’ve been in [...]
Family Craft – Waldorf 3-D Butterflies
Our kiddo has never been into doing the girlie girl thing. We instituted the no-pink, no-ruffles rule (applied loosely). She loves bugs and snakes, Roberto Luongo and digging in the tide pools for creatures of all kinds. But, lately, our house has gotten very fairy tale, very pastel, very soft and pretty thanks to the [...]
Family Craft – Waldorf-Inspired Watercolors
The gig is up. Our kiddo is a painting maniac. Seriously, the older she gets the uglier public painting becomes. Just the mere mention of tempera paints and paper sends her into an uncontrollable frenzy during which she paints every inch of her body – and anyone standing within swiping distance, gets a gooey paintbrush [...]
Easter Tic-Tac-Toe Craft
How about that sunshine? The gray is back. But, we’ve had a great couple of days hitting the beach, wandering the trails and lounging in the backyard playing dominoes. I even hung a load or two of wash on the line. I am so ready for a return to full-time sun. That’s pretty darn evident [...]
Family Craft – Pop-Up Thank You Cards
Before the husband and I took off for some time on our own this week I knew there was one thing the tiny person and I had to finish – the thank you cards from all of the great holiday gifts that showed up at our door this year. If there’s one thing I am [...]
