painting Archives — Thrifty Mommas Tips

Easy Colour Blocking Art Canvas To Make Now

Paula — Tue, 05 May 2020 15:33:24 +0000

I take absolutely no credit for this colour blocking art project. Well, maybe just a little bit of the credit. Both of my girls have been crafting a lot and doing all sorts of art projects to pass the time during the pandemic. So, I have been ordering the supplies and occasionally running out to do a curb-side no contact pickup from Michael’s or order from Amazon. So, that’s basically my role: I am the provider of supplies. Post contains affiliate links as a service to readers. I receive a small commission on purchases made via qualifying links. How to Make This Easy Art Project I feel like these gorgeous colour blocking art canvases made by my youngest daughter are worth sharing here. The project is super simple and creative. Plus, it works brilliantly. I think we might just put these up in Ainsley’s room. My oldest has also made a few of her own. But, most of you know she’s 18 and she does art all the time, so arts and crafts projects are all over her room. Anyways, this requires only a few supplies: What You Need to Make A Colour Blocking Art Canvas: Art canvases. I recommend the 8 X 10 or 9 X 12 canvases. These are the ones we are partial to using. Acrylic Paints – as many colours as you want. We like these Craftsmart acrylic paints. Some paintbrushes too. Also Craft Smart paintbrushes work well. Masking tape. Useful for so many things and art projects too. That’s it! Seems simple, right? Instructions: Pick a canvas and your colours. Is this to suit a specific colour scheme or a room? Then take that into consideration. Do you simply want to make something geometric and cool using a colourful range of shades? These days, that works just as well or better. Anything bright and cheery gets my vote right now. Once you have the canvas and the colours chosen then you need the masking tape. Tape random lines on diagonals all over the canvas. We did between 6-10 on the larger canvases. Actually, we did similar on a smaller canvas too. Paint inside the sectioned off shapes. Don’t worry if you paint on the tape at all. It’s all going to come out in the wash, as they say. When the canvas is dry you can remove the tape and check your work. Ours are not perfect, but they are pretty great in my books, because there’s a pandemic happening and frankly the kids are keeping themselves busy so hurray for art projects and Michael’s and Amazon right now. Hang these on the wall with a smidge of 3M’s Command strips which we love for the girl’s rooms because they will not damage the walls. How is Your Pandemic Art Going? How are you doing during the pandemic? Any great art projects happening at your house?

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Embracing Art with DK Canada #Giveaway #ad

Paula — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 13:03:27 +0000

Embracing art is a great way to expand our children’s horizons. The arts are an important part of mental stimulation. Participating in the arts or just appreciating them activates different parts of the brain from other forms of education interaction, and it’s really quite beautiful. My oldest daughter is an artist, and she’s always buried in either her sketch pad or an art book. She’s been taking a lot of art courses, so I thought a few books from DK Canada would encourage her love of art and make embracing art a continued part of her daily life. Embracing Art with Great Books from DK Canada If you’ve read my blog at all, you know that DK Canada is one of my favorite book companies. Their absolutely enormous line of educational books run the subject gamut. From comic book art and history to the arts to undersea life and more, DK Canada has just about anything to interest kids or adults. This time around I got two books on art and one book on optical illusions. I know my daughter will love all three, and the optical illusion book is just fun for everyone! The Arts: A Visual Encyclopedia If you want to make it easy to get your kids excited about embracing art, this book is the one for you. It’s a visual history of the arts, tracing the development of painting from cave drawings to current forms, as well as information on music, photography, dance, and more. Here’s what DK Canada has to say about the book. The most visual and comprehensive encyclopedia for children that charts the evolution of the world’s greatest cultural achievements in painting, music, photography, and dance, supporting the arts in STEAM education. Kids can trace the development of painting, from prehistoric cave drawings to the Mona Lisa to contemporary street art; read the story of music, from classical and jazz to rock and roll; find out about photography, from the early pinhole camera to digital imagery; and put on their dancing shoes for some ballroom, ballet, modern dance, and more. Stunning full-page images bring each subject to life, and clear text and annotations provide comprehensive, age-appropriate coverage. Artists: Their Lives and Works This is one my daughter is sure to adore. This book explores the vision and techniques of over 80 great artists from the Early Renaissance to present day. It’s a book any budding artist will devour. My oldest is getting this one for Christmas. It should be perfect timing since she’s starting grade eleven art in February. What DK Canada has to say about the book. Exploring the vision and techniques of the greatest painters and sculptors throughout history, Artists tells the fascinating stories behind each masterpiece, including the historical context in which each artist worked, their influences, creative development, friendships, loves, and rivalries. From Donatello to Dali and Giotto to Giacometti, Artists showcases key examples of work by each artist as well as images of them at work in their studios. Optical Illusions While not officially about embracing art, everyone enjoys optical illusions. And when you think about it, there IS an art to optical illusions. I mean, it takes some major thought and visual prowess to make them. Everyone in my house loves optical illusions, so I knew this was a book I had to get. Here’s what DK Canada says about the book. With the dynamic interactive Optical Illusions, each time readers turn the page, lift the flaps, or pull the tabs, they’ll be confronted with an even more amazing optical illusion!This guide to the world of eye-tricks is fun for the entire family-providing new and gasp-inducing moments on each page. Along with the illusions, which include a spinning thaumatrope, a stereoscope, and an entrancing 3D sculpture that “follows” you around the room, readers will welcome learning the latest theories about why illusions fool us. Embracing Art with Books that Inspire Imagination Although my oldest is the biggest artist in the family, my younger daughter also enjoys drawing and creating things. These books will be enjoyed by everyone in our home. Remember, embracing art doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be an artist. It just means you’ll learn to appreciate the beauty of art and the skill and vision it takes to create it. If you want to encourage embracing art in your family, these books are a great place to start. For even more books that make embracing art easy – and for books on many other subjects – head over to DK Canada today. For purposes of this post I received product. My opinion is all my own and it is also truthful. DK Canada has also offered one book for one lucky reader too. Follow the instructions for a chance to win. This post also contains some affiliate links. Entry-Form

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Painting a Room – 5 Steps to a Better Experience #ColourMeHappy

Paula — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 01:25:32 +0000

I have partnered with Sherwin Williams to colour our space beautiful and make it ours. We have been here 1 1/2 years in our new house and we love it. We redid two closets and completely outfitted my home office. But now it’s time to make our house a home. We are tackling cosmetic home renovations here at my house. This week while the kids are at camp we are going to start painting a room. First up is my daughter Payton’s room. Painting a room is one of the easiest ways to completely change the feel of the space. And while it’s the cheapest and easiest, it requires a little prep to make it happen. I’ve laid out 5 tips on preparing to paint a room that can make the process easier and much more effective. 5 Steps to Painting a Room Like a Boss The Drop Cloth Fist things, first. Unless you have no desire to keep any of your furniture or your flooring, you need a drop cloth. I know it seems like this shouldn’t be included, but I’ve seen several people paint without one, thinking that all they had to do was be careful. This is a bad idea for a couple of reasons. First, you can never be careful enough. Secondly, the amount of time you waste trying to be careful is absolutely insane. Spackle This is another one that seems like a no-brainer. Again, I’ve seen lots of people get down to painting a room with little holes all over the place. The most common thing I’ve heard is, “that paint will just fill it in.” That never works. You’ll have little holes again in no time, so spackle up those little holes and sand them smooth. Truthfully this is my favourite part. Tedious, sure? But I like doing this. It’s my thing. Wash the Walls You’re about to spend some time painting a room, so you’ll want to begin with the best canvas possible. Washing the walls is so important. Take a damp cloth, and starting from the top down, wash the walls. This gets off any dust, fibers, or hairs that will gum up your paint down the line. If you skip this step, you’re going to end up with fuzzies, and other undesirable junk stuck to your walls. Painter’s Tape Painter’s tape is your best friend. Whether you’re painting stripes, color blocking, or just doing trip, you need to use painter’s tape. Painter’s tape is designed to form a barrier between one paint and another to give you crisp lines or to protect your walls when you’re panting trim. Just remember that although painter’s tape is designed to pull away from paint easily, you want your base paint to be totally dry to avoid any paint pulling up with the tape. Ventilation This is one of the most important preparation tips for painting a room. You need proper ventilation. Even if you use water-based paint, it sill has an odor, so always ventilate well. Crack your windows for air flow. Even on a hot day, you need some form of ventilation. For water based paint, a box fan in a window might cut it, but for things like enamel, you’ve got to have those windows open. Painting a Room – Prep is Key If you approach painting a room with the proper prep, you’ll have no problem making walls you can be proud of. Just remember to prep your surfaces, protect your surfaces, and tape your surfaces, and you’ll be painting a room like a boss in no time. Want to see how it turned out? Here are the before and after photos of the teenage girl’s room makeover. Thanks to Sherwin Williams for supplying all of our paint for this project. Sherwin Williams newest fun colours are available at Lowes in Canada. My opinion is all my own and it is also truthful.

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How do you Make Painting Easier? #Giveaway

Paula — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:07:23 +0000

My husband is a handy guy. Thank goodness for that. He paints and builds and fixes. That saves a lot of money over time. Sadly we don’t always have the time for him to do the big picture projects, or even the emergency plumbing kinds of things, but he is the go to guy for helping. He lends himself to friends and family for wallpaper and painting and general fixit carpentry kinds of things. He is also very good at painting. He has a really old painting and wallpapering tray and kit and it sits in our garage waiting for someone to use it. That thing gets used about once a year and then we have to store it. It is messy and unsightly, but I had grown used to it until I saw the Roll and Stow. Roll & Stow is a compact all in one storage, mobility and anti-drying unit. Roll & Stow is a great tool for people like my husband because it helps to make painting easier. It helps to make a big job more efficient. Did you know that painting is a top do it yourself job for Canadians? It is relatively inexpensive and painting can give your home a fast facelift. Speaking of which, we are about due to have some painting done here. We moved in about one year ago and have settled in and spread out but there are a couple of things I’d love to tackle. I’d love to paint the girl’s rooms in a cheery shade that makes them feel like the space is cozy and all theirs. I am still narrowing down the shades we would like for Payton’s room. But I think that when we finally pick the colour for in there and commit to painting in the spring or summer, then the Roll & Stow will be put to the test. Although painting is one of the top cosmetic do it yourself tasks for Canadians, the process is not without challenges. Moving the trays of paint around the room can be perilous. Obviously you tarp off everything and put it in the centre of the room, or move the furnishings out of the room, but still you need to be cautious with the paint trays and cans. Even with drop cloths spills can occur. Carpet and hardwood can be damaged. The new Canadian Roll & Stow acts as a painting work station, holding various sizes and models of paint cans. You don’t have to pick the Roll & Stow up and risk making a mess; instead you roll it to the new location. The Roll & Stow moves easily across carpet and hardwood. The tray doesn’t roll away as you load paint onto the roller either. This handy tool comes fully assembled and carries up to 40 pounds of supplies and tools. About 150 pounds of containers and objects can be transported using the base which has sturdy wheels. The Roll & Stow is like a toolbox for all your painting needs. I like that it helps to keep all those messy painting rags and rollers organized in one spot. The Roll & Stow is good for many uses and tasks around the house. You can use it for washing the car, sealing the driveway and even pool maintenance (which would be useful here.) The Roll & Stow is excellent for staining a deck. Too bad we didn’t have it last year when we stained the deck here. The Roll & Stow is available at Home Hardware locations across Canada and also at BMR and La Maison du Peintre. It sells for about $47.99. I am also gifting one as a giveaway prize to one Canadian reader. Please follow the directions below to win. Good Luck! Entry-Form

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