Egg cartons brought double inspiration our way at Charlotte’s 9th birthday today. Knowing she loves owls inspired crafting them as the party’s “ice breaker” activity when kids arrived for party fun.

I knew just how we would create fabulous little owls using egg carton parts thanks to a lovely owl that hangs in the tree at CReATE made by a very crafty Meg earlier this spring. 

These little guys were so easy to make! We Dissected the carton into two halves, then used half the top for the body and cut two side by side cups from the egg side for eyes, if you lay the egg section face down the cups look especially like eyes and a beak! the party girls embellish with their favorite owlry goods for cute and crafty friends!

Owl Buddies

Charlotte’s 9th Birthday Gang

Dream…

When you have a message in your heart you want to share it, remember it, live it.

Sophie loves to dream and thinks it is a natural match to displaying it’s message in her room. Speaking of natural, she sought some of the more natural looking materials in the studio to help convey her beautifully simple message beginning with an artfully bowed branch.

With the branch as her anchor she began seeking scraps of burlap, linen, felt and sheet music helped to convey her message. The suede string was perfect for hanging  her message from and little metal office clips were just the right twist of real life in her natural story.

Thank you Sophie for reminding all of us to add that lovely idea to our everyday.

Dream

Sophie, 9yrs

When James received his homework assignment from his M.A.T.E.S teacher to make a Diorama for his study on snakes his Mom knew just where to CReATE it!

As we talked through what snake material options to explore the possibilities grew into the Horned Viper slinking through the desert that he had learned about in school. Butcher paper helped the viper himself take shape and before we knew it there he was, horns and all, slithering his way through a sandy desert locale looking for lunch! What a Win/Win!

Horned Viper Diorama for M.A.T.E.S

James, 6yrs

Sebastian wanted to make a spider with his MOM earlier this week so they began searching through bins for the perfect parts of an arachnid. Stumbling on plastic easter eggs in the seasonal bin during the process Sebastian was inspired in a new direction, on more closely linked to the egg- a Humpty Dumpty!  He put a fresh spin on his eggy character by  layering up the egg parts to make a much stronger body as well as creating a new twist to an old story, no falling down here!

Hip Humpty Dumpty

Sebastian

5yrs

At our Style Your Sole event yesterday there were shoes painted in every style, blank canvases being altered into works of art by wonderful artist volunteers.

A young Brody and his mom came to the studio to create during the event but were quickly drawn into the fun of painted shoes. Brody wanted to paint his own in the splatter box, from there he decided to get a little more direct in working with his canvased shoes and painted wholeheartedly, and what a wonderful job he did! No doubt these painted treasures will be saved for all time.

Soleful TOMS

Brody, 4yrs

School projects have a great creative mission to connect kids to what they are learning about at school by calling on their knowledge, imagination, and inventiveness to bring the learning to life through the project itself.

A.J. and his classmates learned about different animals and were then assigned to choose one to make at home using recyclables. Having chosen a lion he took an opportunity to bring it to life CReATE style with all the fixins’ Roar! A win/win for all!

Lion for E.A.R.T.H Elementary School 

A.J. 8yrs

A flip through the idea book is all it took to set Sydney’s creativity in motion. She loved a whimsical shadow box idea she saw and had to make her own.

Taking a box lid and some eye catching trinkets she found in the various material bins she set in motion to compose a little scene with a story to tell.

Looks like an ode to a favorite St. Bernard.

Doggy Day

Sydney

9yrs 

An idea can be such a strong force that no limitations can prosper.

On Samanta’s first visit to CReATE she strolled the studio taking in all the bins of materials and photo creations on the Wall of Wow when she was struck by an idea she was sure she could make!

She gathered a few socks, some fluff, a little basket and a piece of mesh that used to house potatoes! 

She set to work for nearly 2 hours rounding out her vision with paint and a few extras such as yarn to serve as an earthworm dinner that brought her Mama Blue bird and baby egg scene to life, art imitating nature.  

Blue Bird and Baby

Samantha, 9yrs

Now that spring is here, with birds singing and flowers blooming we have natural inspiration calling out to us everywhere we look! The Conejo Valley Homeschool group who created many fun friday morning treasures in our workshops together made easy beauty from everyday plastic water bottles. A few snips in the plastic here, some craft paint there, a fluff ball,  some feather and of course hot glue were all they needed to create these fanciful flowers. 

The sight of these petaled wonders delights our eyes with their pop of brilliant color and fanciful layering with every glance!

Pretty Petals

CVH Kids

6yrs-9yrs

While on a CReATE STUDIO  on the road event yesterday, I became smitten with these creations and the way in which they came to life.

A dad walked into my booth and said…” Hey son, we can use all these things to make something, come on-I’ll make you a dinosaur!”

It was like watching a skilled ballon artist create a detailed balloon animal the way he twisted a piece of paper then cover it with masking tape and straws. Will you look at that, it’s a Triceratops!

Now to move an animal like that you need a big vehicle, how bout we make a a dump truck, he might have said.

The wonder on the boys face as he watched his dad shape a few everyday household items into a dump truck and Triceratops was priceless and the highlight of my day with visiting creators!

Triceratops & Dump Truck

Dan and Son