Category Archives: We Love Art

Yes, please: Art Teacher Style

October 4, 2012 – 9:20 am

I may be a New Yorker, but I don’t fall for the whole “wear black all the time” thing. If I’m ever wearing black, rest assured my shoes are sparkly and polka-dotted and my handbag is neon green. That’s a given. Here are a bunch of lovely bits I’m currently coveting: bits with bright color, prints, polka-dots and yes, those are foxes. (!!!!) Crazy art teachers can also get away with wearing fancy Parisian chickens. Plus, why not?

Here and There Fox Tee, Anthropologie

The Lia Necklace, Zolie Designs

The Sidewalk Skimmer in Polka Dot, Madewell

Rachel Flare Jeans, Shopbop

Desert Bootie, Shopbop

Charlotte Printed Dress, Free People

Counting Sheep Sweater, Madewell

French Hen Sweater, J.Crew

Madge Leopard Lace-Up Ankle Boot, Urban Outfitters

Tags art teacher, fashion, mom style, yes please | Permalink | Comments (3)

Boston Wanna-Be Martha We Love Art

Getting Crafty at Make Meaning

September 25, 2012 – 11:46 am

We all know how much I love getting messy and making art with LJJ, right? If we’re not out collecting acorns for a wreath or leaves for some printmaking, odds are we’re painting at the kitchen table and sprinkling glitter all over something. Everything is just better when it’s handmade by little fingers. This is why when I was offered the opportunity to go check out the awesome art destination, Make Meaning, I was super psyched.

Make Meaning is a NYC-born art space with 2 locations in Manhattan (often frequented by celeb-tots like Suri Cruise. Swear.), one in Scottsdale, Arizona and one in Dedham, Massachusetts. I’ve been to those paint a ceramic statue places before and liked them well enough, and that’s pretty much what I expected as I parked my Prius at Legacy Place in Dedham.

As soon as I walked through the front door I realized I was so wrong. Make Meaning looks like Willie Wonka made an art studio. It’s a colorful craft explosion of the highest magnitude, and I was blown away.

Here’s a breakdown of the facts about Make Meaning:

They have seven core art experiences you can work on: candles, soaps, glass (!!!!), jewelry, paper, ceramics and cake decorating. How AWESOME is that?! While your kids are loving every second of painting a ceramic dragon, you can make a gorgeous vase or candle for your home. I could have stayed for hours, which is pretty doable since they have snacks to sate the little ones in case they need to take a break.
Make Meaning is membership based: $36 for one year for an individual, or $149 for up to a family of five. That membership includes the “sitting fee”, $25 towards a class, a $50 coupon towards a birthday party, a VIP pass to share with a friend and 10% off retail purchases. That leaves members with only the cost of the activity.
If you’re not interested in the membership and just want to check it out, you can pay a daily sitting fee of $12 + the cost of the activity.
They offer customizable classes for any age.
A birthday party at Make Meaning includes a main event + a side-show, a custom birthday cake, pizza, drinks, the staff, free day passes for all the guests to leave with, and a ton of extras.
Reservations are recommended to get a table on crowded days, but not required. They take walk-ins.

After a quick pit stop for some much-needed coffee, Lotte and I arrived at 10am and were greeted by a group of smiling faces at the front door. We took a quick tour of all the experiences and decided to start with some soap making. I have never made soap, have you? So random and cool. You can make more luxurious bars of scented soaps, bars with little surprises and toys hidden inside of them, or cupcake soaps. With guidance from the instructor, Lotte decided to make a scented kitty-cat cupcake soap. Adorable.

Enamored with the massive array of sparkling beads twinkling across the room, LJ decided to then make a necklace. After initially grabbing one massive handful of about a million pink, glittery beads in a fit of OH MY GOSH MUST HAVE SPARKLY THINGS, I was able to convince her to calmly choose a few different colors and styles and she happily sat threading them on one by one.

For our last art experience we decided to make a candle. By this point the place was hopping with activity and we got to see people rolling out fondant to decorate cakes, trying their hand at glassmaking and painting some bowls about to get fired in the kiln. It was just fantastic, and it didn’t hurt that they had a killer mix booming from the speakers. The second a Matt & Kim song came on Lotte shouted out, “OH, I LOVE THIS SONG!”, and my inner indie-pop lover beamed with pride.

All in all: we loooooved it at Make Meaning and we’re pumped to return to Legacy Place to make a whole bunch of holiday gifts for the grandparents. It isn’t cheap, but you have to realize that this isn’t just about gluing pom poms onto some construction paper and calling it a day: this is a high-end art-making experience. I mean, you’re decorating cakes and making gorgeous serving platters! It’s completely unique and extraordinary in the variety of supplies and mediums. Make Meaning is most definitely worth a visit. We look forward to getting our membership!

[Disclaimer: While I was given the opportunity to experience Make Meaning at no cost, I was in no way compensated for this review. All opinions are my own.]

Tags art, creativity, Dedham, Make Meaning, Massachusetts | Permalink | Comments (12)

Wanna-Be Martha We Love Art

The Blue Macaw Costume

September 16, 2012 – 10:43 am

Okay, okay, I give in! Last year when I put up this Halloween post with pictures of the costume I made for Lotte, I received an insane number of emails asking me how I made it. INSANE number, and in the past month it’s picked up to a few emails a day! A few people even offered to pay me to make one for their kids. I am crazy flattered and so psyched that everyone loves the costume and is reaching out to me, so I decided to revisit it for a second and put up a quick post with some deets.

For those that don’t know or remember, Lotte was a blue macaw from the under-appreciated movie, Rio. We still love that movie, and there is ZERO merchandise available, so I understand the panicked moms reaching out to me when their kid cries out for a Rio costume.

I didn’t take pictures of the process, so I’ll try to explain it the best I can. Bear with me.

Step 1: Buy the materials.

a blue t-shirt and some leggings (or maybe tights) from American Apparel (or where-ever)
a ton of felt. Not wool, just cheap craft felt. I chose a few different shades of blue, but make sure you buy enough of 1 color so you have big pieces for the wings. You can order them from here (they’re on sale!).
a glue gun and sticks, if you want to glue everything OR
a needle and thread, if you want to sew
a kid’s cheapo hat. I used a 99cent ladybug helmet from Michael’s. Anything will work.
newspaper or newsprint
masking tape
tin foil
cardboard plates
flour + water for paper mache
scissors. Duh.
paint + brushes + Sharpies

Step 2: Make the wings. Learn how by going to this awesome blog.

Note- I didn’t use those exact measurements. Instead, I held up a big piece of felt between LJ’s shoulder blades and stretched out to her hand. Mark it and cut it. Do the same for the other side. Fiddle with the shape until you’re happy. In that tutorial, they cut out strips of bumpy “feathers”, I did them individually and it took FOREVER. Either works. They sewed the feathers on, I used a hot glue gun and burned the crap out of my hands. Either works. Layer the feathers, starting at the bottom of the wings and moving up. I fastened the wings onto the back of the costume with a few stitches, and made little felt bracelets to attach the wings to her wrists. Play around with it.

Step 3: The body

You can leave the shirt plain, and with those killer wings, that would be more than enough! If you want to go all out, though, I did the same thing as I did for the wings. Layer them, starting at the bottom. Again, I used hot glue, but you can sew. You can leave the sleeves on or cut them off: I think I cut them off and layered a turtleneck in case it was cold.
IMPORTANT! Cut the neck open a little bit wider or they won’t be able to get their head through with all the felt and glue.

Step 4: The head

This part takes some improvisation, depending on what kind of hat you dig up and how much you can freestyle. Here are some pictures of it unpainted, post-paper mache.

First, cover the entire hat with tin foil. Tape it up. It’s doesn’t have to look pretty.
Look at that beak? See how it kind of looks like cardboard/paper plates? I fiddled with plates for quite a bit until I was able to cut the right shape and tape them together. Tape the beak onto the hat. Again, it doesn’t have to be pretty, just stable. Tape the shit out of it.
Those eyes? I balled up some tin foil and taped it on. Seriously. That’s all.
Now the fun part, if you like getting messy. Here’s a simple paper mache recipe. It’s only flour and water! I would also add a little bit of salt. Rip some newspaper or drawing newsprint into strips. Here is how to paper mache, if you don’t know. DON’T GIVE UP!! IT IS SO, SO EASY. Trust me. I do this with elementary-school students. You can do it. Once it’s all covered, set it someplace to dry.

Step 5: Paint it!

Google image some pics of Blue or Jewel and do the best you can. I did the blue first, then the beak, the eyes, etc. Add shading if you’d like. Touch it up with sharpies. Jazz it up with a few feathers if you’d like.
Chin-strap. You might need to improvise some sort of chin strap because the head will be a teensy bit heavy.

FIN! You did it! Fly blue macaw, fly!

Let me take you to Rio, Rio…

Tags Blue, blue macaw, costumes, DIY, Halloween, homemade, Jewel, movie, Rio | Permalink | Comments (2)

We Love Art Wordless Wednesday

Tigers! Penguin! MONSTER! ROAR!

February 1, 2012 – 9:51 am

I can’t handle the cuteness. Please send help before I succumb to 3-year-old sweetness (when I’m not succumbing to 3-year-old psychotic insanity, of course).

“The mommy tiger is really skinny and has a toy for the baby tiger, and the daddy tiger has GIGANTIC PAWS!”

“Happy Feet!”

“ROOAAARR!”

*********************

Linking up with the Wordless Wednesday mamas over at Angry Julie Monday, By Word of Mouth Musings and Seven Clown Circus

Tags art, LJ, Wordless Wednesday | Permalink | Comments (7)

We Love Art Wordless Wednesday

Let them paint! (Wordless Wednesday)

January 4, 2012 – 12:17 pm

We make a LOT of art around this joint. LJ’s been taking art classes since she was about 18 months, and with an art teacher mama, forget it: it’s never-ending. It’s so, SO crucial to your kid’s cognitive development that you let them create art. Did you know that? It is! So what if it’s messy? Clean it up! Please stop buying those stupid markers that only show up on certain paper, or color by number books. Those make me grind my teeth, and that’s not an art activity: it’s a waste of money. You can let your kid make art with absolutely ANYTHING. Look in your cabinets! Look in your junk drawers! Give them some glue, let’em loose and watch them beam with pride at their creations!

Here are some of the things Lotte (age 3) has made in the past year that I particularly love:

*inspired by a millipede (wire and clay)

*inspired by potato bugs (styrofoam and toothpicks)

*inspired by crabs (clothespins and glue)

*inspired by the belly of a newt! (paint, cotton balls, qtips)

*inspired by “snail slime” (google a “slime recipe”)

*fish printmaking

*fabric printmaking (plastic cups, paint, felt)

*printmaking (cardstock shapes, brayer, paint, cardboard)

*food prints (paint, apples, potatoes, mushrooms, bell pepper)

See? You don’t need to buy fancy art supplies! Just some paint and some veggies from the fridge. Some plastic cups from the back of the pantry and glue. Yay art!

“”Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”- Pablo Picasso

*************************

Linking up with the fabulous bloggers over at 5 Minutes for Mom and The Paper Mama.