Summer Projects- A Lot Late

 This was my all time favorite little project that we did over the summer.  We did it on our trip to Utah with David's family.  These are plates made out of melamine- perfect for kids!  My sister in law made them with her kids years ago and uses them exclusively in the summer as a special treat.  She wanted to make more now that her kids are older and thought we would love doing it together--SO right.  This is right up my alley--I know you all know by now how sentimental I am.  I love that these are useful, precious, and my kids own artwork.  I am not an artist- but I had a very particular idea of how I wanted my plate to look- and it was emotional to me.  I wanted it to be perfect.  I practiced a lot and I can't tell you HOW much we laughed that night as it got later and later.  So fun to have a serious case of the giggles with people you love and never get to see enough.  I LOVE how my plate turned out!!!  I especially love the little addition Natalie made to the bottom. 

 LOVE this one of Natalie's!!

 Can you guess who did this one?  Not me.

 Awww, my little Stephen.

We have fun doing our art projects...

I love this- I love his face and the look on Natalie's in the background.

So this is my other big project of the summer. 

I got the idea for this when we were on the beach in key west...

And these are some of our cool shells from The Keys...  I am in love with handprints!!

These are handprints made out of sand--I used the sand as if it was glitter.  I made everyone dip their hands in glue--they LOVED that.  I also did all of our footprints and then we spelled out their names with coral that we found on the beach.  I'm not sure why I didn't take a picture of it, but I am kind of stalled on the project because I'm trying to decide if and how to put on some of the other shells we collected.  Once I finish it I will post a pic of the final product. 

 Before we went on our trip, we had actually made these plates.  They were just a craft set from Michael's.  They turned out cute, but they are cermaic and not as conveniant to use as the other plates.  I love how the colors are more vibrant on the other plates too- it just doesn't compare. 

Turned out so cute!

Painting her little tea cups.

 Fun but messy!!