Coffee, Caramel & Cream

My girls LOVE to paint. At least once a day one of them comes up to me and begs me to spread newspaper on the kitchen table, bust out the paintbrushes and let them create swirly masterpieces. They make a huge mess, and love every second of it.


In my dining room I normally have a big canvas of painted waterlilies. I had the idea to have the girls paint a picture that I could hang during the holidays, not only to add to our holiday decor, but also to have a special keepsake of their "talents".

                                 

Since my girls are only 2 and 4, I had to think of some way to make the art noticeably holiday-ish, but not to be too restrictive (there is no way my 2 year old could paint a Christmas tree... or even color inside the lines of a Christmas tree.)

                                  
Using painter's tape, I spelled out the word "Joy".  Then I went around the edge of the letters with scissors to make them smoother.

First layer, green. Let dry

                                      
Then red. Let Dry.

I tried to teach the girls how to make "swirls" with their brushes to get a marbled effect. I was only semi successful. In fact to be honest, the perfectionist in me kept loosing my temper and wanting to take over to make it "perfect". But then I kept looking at the word "Joy" and needed to remind myself that this painting wasn't supposed to be "perfect".  It was about them, and the joy they bring to our lives. They were having a blast, and that is what I will always remember when I look at this painting, not that the swirls aren't evenly distributed!

                                       
Then gold. Let dry.

                                        
Then if you really want it sparkly (you know I did), do a layer of silver.

                                
Once that was fully dry. Peel off the painter's tape.


You could just leave it white (which was my intention in the beginning) however, I felt the white seemed a bit too graphic and "cold". So I painted the letters in the same green I used for the first layer.

                                   
(It is very hard to get a photograph to accurately show the texture and color of  how it looks in real life. I am not a great photographer and took about a million pictures of this and I think the closest representation is the picture with the "Joy" letters still in white.)

Here is a close up for you to really see the marbly texture.

                                      
This may be my single favorite decoration in my house. It's always shimmering and serves as the perfect reminder to take comfort in the big and small joys in life.

                                       
Joann's almost always has their stretched canvas 40% off. I got that huge one for only $23.00!

Even if you don't have kids, you could make (a much more polished) painting using the same steps. Try the words "Love" or "Hope"for a picture to keep up all year long.

Although, I may keep this one up all year long.

It's the most wonderful time......of the year  :-)

                                                            Take care, friends.