I have always loved art ever since I was a young girl. I would rock out those group projects in grade school with my art skills and then continued it all the way to Art Institute for college. I wanted to be an animator for Disney. I mean what art kid doesn’t?? Of course life took me through working in web design, graphic design, photography and other art mediums. My kids are starting to follow in my footsteps with their love of art. Everyday it is something new. A new painting, new drawing, or a new quilling piece.
I found that during the start of the pandemic in 2020, being at home 24/7 increased our art times. I didn’t want to do any in-person shopping, so I would browse on Amazon looking for new art products. Since my current stash dwindled quite fast, I was open to new projects and with that came new supplies. Paint pouring became one art medium Jewels and I love to do as it’s so relaxing and abstract. Quilling, which is the art of curling strips of paper and gluing them into designs, has become one of our favorite new art projects. Quilling projects sometimes take days at a time but so worth it. Check out our Waffles and Mochi set for their official instagram fan art Friday.
Here are some art supplies for these projects as well as products to keep the mess at bay.
{GETTING STARTED & AVOID THE MESS}
We went years messing up shirts and pants since we didn’t have these Aprons. We recently bought them on Amazon and it was a great buy. Not only do the kids shirts stay clean, but they now say the apron is their new canvas and like to see what marks they got on it after each art project. These are extremely affordable and come in multiple sizes.
These activity trays you will find yourself using everyday. I find I use them for the kids art projects like painting, playdoh, jewelry making, and sand art. For myself, they are great for when i make headbands, paint small projects, or do quilling pieces. They come in a pack of four so sometimes I let each kid have one and I use the other two.
Don’t know how my parents painted with me without these mess savers. These spill-proof paint cups are especially useful when your littlest kid is on zoom pre-school and has to paint for her activity. The last thing you want is for water or paint to get on your computer!
{PAINT POURING}
These art pieces I have admired for a long time, but never knew how easy it would be to make it myself until I tried it. My very first paint pour was just okay. Why was it just ok? I tried mixing the glue and paint myself and lets just say I will not do that again. After I found these ready to pour sets on Amazon I was like, “These are amazing!” They make the project so much easier and the silicone dropper it comes with will give the cell effect which I didn’t know I could do.
These ready to pour sets come in multiple color options and a silicone bottle dropper for the cell effect.
I always like to purchase canvases in a pack and Michaels has a great deal you should check out.
{QUILLING}
Jewels and I really enjoy the art of quilling. We came across this art form during the pandemic. To take strips of cardstock and a little bit of glue and turn them into beautiful wall decor has for sure taken our art skills to a new level. We bought this quilling tool set, which was under $10 and started cutting strips of paper and curling them. For Jewels who is 7, she loves learning the different ways to pinch the circled circles to make different shapes.
Below is one of the quillings I did of Waffles & Mochi. It was featured on their instagram’s fan art friday. The heart was my very first quilling piece. Might not be the most perfect heart shape but I was pretty proud of it being it was my first completed piece.
The tools below are some of the products we use to make our art pieces.
This 8 piece set has everything you need to start out on your quilling journey. The only thing I found that doesn’t work too well, but still worth the set is the funnel. You can use the white glue squeeze bottles directly into the glue bottles.
If you are like me and want to cut your own strips of paper instead of buying the pre-made quilling strips, you will need a cutter like this one.
{Drawing}
I’m honestly not sure what made me purchase these markers, I’m just glad I did. If you love blending these are the perfect markers for you. There is also so many colors to choose from and the price is so affordable.
When I was a kid I loved drawing in my sketchbooks and to this day I still have those sketchbooks. These are the perfect size for traveling, or everyday drawing with your kids.
I love to outline my drawings and sometimes a sharpie is just too fat. These hand lettering pens are not only for calligraphy but also for everyday drawing and outlining.
Having taken art classes for most of my school life, I know how important having the right pencil is to draw with. These are by far my favorite pencils to use. They have all the right darkness levels and don’t break easily which makes them last longer.
{Kids Art Sets}
Jewels and Heart both have their own art sets. This one here is Hearts. Her favorite thing in the set is the watercolors and she will sit for ours just going through all the different pencils, markers and paints it has. The case is durable and there is a good number of supplies.
Jewels loves this set and the paper it came with. The art pastels are something she loves to experiment with and blend together. Good size art set with another durable case.