Canvas Art with your Kids

Summer is here and I don’t know about you, but we enjoy doing crafts together. And with gas prices the way they are, finding things to do with your kids... at home and with on-hand supplies is even better!

Not long ago I was blog hopping and came across a fun kids project by Arounna Khounnoraj at the Book Hour Craft Projects Blog. She created this amazing Alphabet Poster using old wood typeset letters & numbers. Such a simple, but beautiful piece for any wall and I was instantly inspired. What a fun project to do yourself and have your kids make one too!

At first I thought we could use some of the alphabet stamps I already have so it would be similar. But then I came across the large, 8 inch chipboard “M” by Making Memories that I bought forever ago. Who knows what I had planned for it way back then, but I’m glad I saved it because now I had the perfect project for it. It inspired me to do a monogrammed canvas instead! Isn't it funny how inspiration works!

Then the fun began with digging through all the chipboard, metal and other fun M’s that I could find in my supplies. I dug pretty deep, because if you've been scrapping for a while, you'll notice some older products on there too. Here's what I was inspired to create. A simple, colorful monogrammed piece of art.

My canvas is 14" x 18" and I have a pretty big variety of products on there. The largest M is from Making Memories. I think I've had that for at least 2 years, so I'm not sure if you can still find them or not. The large green M on the top right is from Creative Imaginations Bare Elements line and the pink M is a felt one that I picked up on clearance at Joann's. There's pretty much a little of everything on here. I even painted a few of my chipboard pieces with Twinkling H2o's. Just have fun using what you have on-hand!

I started with the large 8 inch “M” and then worked my way around it until I liked the way everything looked. I then took a photo so that I could refer back to it as necessary. Next I painted the bare chipboard pieces and my canvas. Once everything was dry, I started gluing.

Here’s the one my 9 year old son, Tyler made and he loves it! I kept his a little easier to manage by having him work on a 6 x 8 canvas. It was a Target $1 spot item I already had in my supplies. I then had him stick to mostly alphabet stickers, using just a few larger chipboard pieces. He sure had fun going through all of my alphabets to find what he liked! I really like the tan color he used for his canvas and the green he chose for the large T inspired me to use that color too.

You can find lots of fun & inspiring projects on the internet for all ages, including the one I linked above. And remember, your local library is always a good source for some kids craft books.

Go find something that inspired you and enjoy doing something crafty with your kids this summer!