Over the holidays, we put together about a dozen puzzles. And by we, I mean my husband.

The rest of his helped him. And by help, I mean we searched for the one missing piece.

There’s just something therapeutic about it and it’s a great way to unplug and just be together as a family.

We left out our puzzle card table and decided to create art that was not only therapeutic, but something we could keep forever.

This is not an overnight project. It took us several weeks of working in 20-30 minutes spurts (short attention spans here). But we all pitched in and created something I’ll keep forever!

This is a really easy, affordable project that the whole family (children over 3) up to grandparents can do together.

We opted for a heart…not really to celebrate Valentine’s Day, I just love them. My hubby penciled a heart on a large canvas. I wanted something whimsical (which is another way of saying “this won’t be perfect”).

We wanted to make this easy enough for our preschooler to work on, so we had her color in the hearts. We chose colors that matched the buttons we found on ebay. (Large quantity grab bags are affordable).

Then we started gluing. The basic object is to cover as much of the canvas as you can, so it’s a lot like doing a puzzle. Our buttons were different sizes so we turned and moved until each button found their spot.

And then glued some more buttons.

And more.

And more.

Each of my kids and my hubby and I, worked together and separately. Each of us spending just a few minutes when we could to glue on a few buttons.

And then we were done:

I think you could do just about any shape and it would look amazing.

But this piece has a lot of heart in it.

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We have to make our own snow down here in Texas! Here is a really fun project that is easy for the entire family to create.

Supplies Needed:

• Piece of paper
• Canvas-any size
• Salt
• Elmer’s white glue
• Water colors (can be chalk, liquid, or paint)
• Paint brush and water

We set up a small table as a work area and got our supplies ready.

Steps to Creating a Water Color (Salt) Snowflake: Start here: Cut a large paper snowflake out of computer paper. My kids are actually pros at this and we didn’t use a stencil. But here are a few templates you can print and cut out. Next: Once you have your snowflake cut out and traced onto a canvas, you can follow these easy steps:

1. and 2. Trace entire snowflake with white glue

3. Shake salt over wet glue and knock off excess from canvas (we did this part outside)

4. Mix water colors (we chose to do a rainbow snowflake, but a solid color would look great too)

5. Dip paint brush into water and barely touch the water color to the salted glue

6. Repeat until it’s completed

7. Let it dry and be careful to not tip the canvas, as colors may run

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I wanted our entire family to create a piece of art that was unique and meaningful. Something to hang in a high traffic area, art to remind us of what we are needing, chasing this year. Our word for the year:

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This is something everyone can do! Supplies:

• Art Canvas -whatever size you like (we went big!)

• Vinyl Wall art home -what is your word? You can have any word custom-made.

• Paint-two colors of choice-we love inexpensive, easy-to-clean Apple Barrel Acrylic Craft Paint 

• Materials to create texture-be creative! We used things we had on hand: pencil eraser, palm leaf, rubber bands, etc

1. Apply vinyl to blank canvas
2. Divide canvas into sections; we chose 5 sections because we have 5 people in our family
3. Paint over the vinyl word art
4. Once canvas dries, decide on your textures. Pictured is a square block with rubber bands twisted all over it
5. Use your second color to “stamp” onto canvas. We dipped our block into paint and our youngest stamped in the first column
6. In the next section, my son used the eraser of a pencil to create “dots.”
7. Our third section is stamped circles created from the lip of a coke bottle.
8. I used a palm branch from the front yard to create the fourth section. My husband used a piece of rope in the last column (not pictured above).
9. Once the entire canvas is dry, peel off the vinyl letters carefully.

10. Hang your family art and be inspired!

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Our family loves art and I’m so excited to start a new series that brings families together to create meaningful moments and beautiful art.

And our first project is easy and requires only paper and scissors, and tape (or glue)!

This giant snowflake star  is quick and so much easier than it looks.

Step 1: Cut six pieces of paper (we used a lightweight card stock) into 21 x21 cm squares.

Step 2: Fold over each square into a triangle and cut 3 lines with your scissors, each about 1. 5 cm wide (1/2 inch), paralllel to the short side of the triangle. The cuts should not meet at the end; there is about a 1/2 inch wide strip going down from the point of the triangle to the long side. (first picture)

Step 3: Open the square and bend the cut-out strips over and tape or glue the tips together. Alternate bending them over to both sides. (Still not sure? Here are some more detailed pictures).

Step 4: Once you have the 6 pieces of your star, place them in a line and tape or staple together.

Step 5: Punch a hole and hang to enjoy:

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