Project Art Center: Re-post

I finally have a little project to share with you! Yay! I have been doing just a few small things around our home, to create an environment to help Liam feel a little more independent now that he is almost 3 ( a longer mommy post on that transition later). One of the things that Liam loves to do is art, but all of the art supplies have been safely tucked away out of the reach of new walking baby/toddler, then out the reach of newly curious 2 yr old…It occurred to me, my toddler, is almost 3, and we have been struggling. He needs more independence. The first thing I decided to do, is make his simple art table, into an actual art “center”.

Before, his table was, great, but it only held his coloring books, what good is that if all crayons, markers, pencils are under lock and key!! Here is the boring “before”

SO, you can see, there’s not much going on!

Here is what I did to change Liams area:

Switched location! Moved his table and chairs from the boring south,door wall, to the East wall. This gives him more natural light to “create” 😉

I added (5) Tin Planters that I bought from Ikea for $.99 each!! (2) bigger ones and (3) small ones. I hung the tins with drywall screws and…Gorilla glue…that’s right, I said Gorilla glue! The Gorilla glue was an after thought, as one tin ( the paintbrushes) started to droop…this happens sometimes when the walls are plaster! so my fix? slap a little glue on that baby and shove it back in! Worked like a charm!!

Added one more piece of hand made art work! I love this so much. This is the least expensive way to brighten up any children’s area!G is the one who brilliantly thought to hang the bigger one ( I did a post about that here) and so I added this Red Ikea Frame ( $1.99) and a smaller piece to even out that little space.

The Jara Lamp Shade in Navy, on sale for $18, along with the Januari chord set for $9.99. This brings SO much more light to the space. Liam was never using this area at night because there just was not enough light.

The Rocks are Liam’s latest obsession, he sorts them, and plays with them, puts his dinosaurs in them, just loves them. So the little dishes are condiment dishes that we already had.

Lastly, I bought ALL NEW art supplies! this was the best part! New markers, crayons, colored Popsicle sticks, glue, paint brushes, puff balls, and all new paper! I completely changed his area while he was taking a nap last week, and when he woke up, and walked out he put his hands on both of his cheeks and said, “OH.MY.GOSH mama!! Lets build” ?? okay, so we don’t really build there, but I love that he was so excited!! So was I!! Take a look at the “after” What do you think??

Please comment and tell me your thoughts!! I would love to hear if you have done anyhting to help with a little Todller/preschooler independence!!

~K