Author Archives: Stephanie

Sprouts Inside Jax’s Apple

Not long ago, I went to our fruit bowl and grabbed one of the last apples we’d bought in bulk at Costco to chop up for Jackson’s lunch. I always slice around the core instead of halving in, and I’m glad I did! When I was left with the core, my eye was caught by a flash of green. Sprouts!

I’ve never had an apple with the seeds sprouting inside it before. Have you? I saved the chunk of apple core and planted the sprouts in a little pot I had decorated with puffy paints for Jax at a friend’s baby shower. Oh, and crossed my fingers that the tiny sprouts would take hold and grow!

Finding the sprouts was a super weird coincidence… I recently saved some seeds from an apple I liked and read up on how to grow them. I was disappointed to find how long it would take to get them to sprout and that I wouldn’t get the apple I’d enjoyed so much. I saved them anyway and was letting them dry. So to open an apple and already be at the sprout stage? Wow!

Well, a week after planting them they seem to be doing really well! I don’t have a very green thumb, so I hope I can keep one of them alive to the point of having a baby tree to plant outside. It may not produce apples (or may have apples unlike the gala they came from due to grafting on the original tree), but it would be Jax’s tree.

How wonderful would it be to teach him about giving back to the earth and the importance of planting trees!

Have you ever grown a tree from a seed? How big is it now? I have no idea how fast baby trees grow.

Colorful Playroom Art Gallery

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Our playroom has been a blank canvas since before we even became parents. I love color and painted in a rich blue despite the fact we had now furniture for it. It became the craft room whenever I’d host a party. The room has seen: painting, coloring, photo booths of various themes and even tie-dye (with a tarp down on a hot, stormy day).

When Jax became mobile, it was clear he needed a safe place of his own to play – free from hazards and dogs who steal baby toys (and shred them into 10,000 tiny pieces. Don’t ask.) So we put up some great wide gates (that double as travel gates when we rent a beach house) and got a soft, brown rug from Ikea.

Fast forward to now… The playroom is Jax’s favorite place (besides my breastaurant! Hah!) and he runs to the gate, begging to “pway”. He’s getting old enough to start taking interest in different activities, so as a part of introducing him to art, I wanted to introduce art to his playroom. Back to Ikea we went (with the long drive perfectly timed during nap) where we chose a table a chair set for him to play and make artwork at.

My other reason for going was the great, inexpensive frames they carry. I chose four large frames and four small ones in bright colors. Back at home, I laid them out on the dining room table, along with his first painting and two blank canvas he’ll paint on soon. When I was happy with the collage of frames, I put them up on the wall, eye-balling it, as I wasn’t feeling too particular about placement. I have a feeling the gallery will grow and change with time anyway.

For now, the plan is to rotate his paper artwork in the frames and hang all his canvas art up as well. As you can see, his first painting currently holds a place of honor. I painted over the edges to hide the staples using one of the colors we had used. The bottom half of that wall is going to become a chalkboard eventually. I might have more fun with that than Jax!

How do you display your child’s artwork? I’d love more ideas, as I know I’m going to have a hard time letting go of any of it!

Toddler Canvas Painting

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I inherited my love of art from my mom, even though she passed away of breast cancer just before I turned 5. I have a degree in studio art and make a living doing web and graphic design. Art is something I definitely want Jax to grow up surrounded by!

Jax is 16-months-old and I decided we’d start painting on a canvas every month or so. I have extras in my stock pile and craft stores are always giving out 50% off coupons. It was a hot day, so I chose to try painting instead of taking our after-lunch walk.

Here’s what we did:
I laid out an old sheet in the backyard. Beside it I had our clean up supplies ready to go: a plastic bin of water, paper towels and an old towel. I put the canvas down on the sheet with 4 paper plates of non-toxic paints and some kid-friendly brushes. I dressed Jax in nothing but a disposable diaper. He has a major belly button fetish right now, so I knew his tummy would be covered in paint!

To start him off, I handed him a brush dipped in paint and aimed him towards the canvas. He took to it right away and had a blast! I had to remind him not to put the paint brushes in his mouth, but he didn’t try to eat the paint. However, he did hear me say “brush” and tried to brush his hair with green paint. Oops!

At this stage, I’m still offering him the paint and showing him how to make hand prints and spatter marks. I think it will be fun to see how he progresses each month. Eventually he will be choosing his own colors and techniques.

When we were all done, I let him splash his hands and feet in the bin of water while I washed the paint off him with a wet paper towel. The diaper was so paint-covered it was nearly modern art itself, but we tossed it. And headed inside with Jax snuggled in his towel.

His painting is now hanging in his new playroom art gallery. I’ll show you all the cuteness in an upcoming post!

: The finished painting!

Have any of you done arts and crafts with young toddlers? What was your experience like?

Curl up snug in your water bed

Imagine Our Life

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This blog has been a long time coming. I’ve been creating websites and journaling online since 1997, but I knew as soon as I became a mommy that the focus of my life would be making some major changes.

I wanted to create a separate blog to talk about combining my life as a mommy and my love for all things creative, but it took a while for the name to come to me. Any of you with babies (and many without) know how fast time can pass you by despite your good intentions!

But here we are and here it is, at last! I hope you enjoy peeking into my life with Jax.

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Please leave a comment if something catches your eye – we’d love, love, love it! I also hope to trade links with others who have either family/parenting or craft blogs. Let me know if you have one!