Decorating Onesies at the Pregnancy Support Center

Earlier this month, Artsy Mamas volunteered to lead a onesie/t-shirt decorating activity at our local Pregnancy Support Center. Word has it that as soon as they put out the sign up sheet, all six slots filled up. I can honestly say that it makes me so happy to know that people are benefiting from the efforts made by this organization. All of those signed up came to decorate a onesie or a t-shirt for their unborn child. We provided a variety of sizes of white onesies and shirts. Also, we provided iron-on transfers, fabric paints, brushes and stencils. With the sticky stencils, this activity was super simple and everyone was quite successful. I loved learning how easy it was to decorate my own cute shirts for my kids. All of the moms were excited about Artsy Mamas and asked when we might be doing something similar to this in the future!

Apple Art Date

First, we gathered apples in my front yard! Then we took them to the back porch for apple painting (similar to marble painting only with apples) and for apple print making. Check out the photos! We had a blast!

Check out that cool star pattern that the inside of the apple makes!

BOLD Red Tent East Nashville

Together with Krystal Kinnunen and BOLD (Birth on Labor Day), Artsy Mamas helped promote a "Red Tent Event" in East Nashville. You can see what the event is all about here but basically, a bunch of mamas got together and shared our birth stories. I found the experience to be very empowering and I hope to offer a similar event through Artsy Mamas here in Murfreesboro in the near future. Only I'd like to incorporate the arts into our event. Check out these glorious photos of moms expressing themselves through movement and sharing their stories of giving birth.

Dinner at the Center

On Friday, August 22nd, Artsy Mamas, in conjunction with Center for the Arts, hosted the very first Dinner at the Center. You can read more about the concept here. I, personally, had a blast and I'm looking forward to the next event! A big fat thank you to Adam Selzer of Adam and the Couch Potatoes for coming all the way out to the Boro and entertaining us! We really appreciated it!

Christmas in July

Back at the end of July, Artsy Mamas celebrated Christmas a little early by making ornaments and decorating cards. Fun was had by all. Thanks to the Boro Book Warehouse for letting us use their space.

Come on Get Artsy: Clay Day!

On Monday, August 4th, we got our hands dirty with several different types of clay. First we rolled, cut, shaped, squished, and maybe even ate a little of some home made play dough. The recipe can be found here (it is the first one listed called "Cooked Play Dough").

We also played with some brightly colored fun clay that does not dry. Seriously, guys, this stuff is all over my house. And I say that begrudgingly. I'm not sure if it is the most kid friendly clay on the planet but I really liked the colors.

For our video, we watched "Wallace and Grommit". The kids seemed pretty excited by the video tutorial on how to create the clay rabbits from the movie.

Finally, we made pinch pots with red mexican clay. This did dry and now I personally have two red clay bowls in my house... and they are simply marvelous.


Personally, I really enjoyed working with so many different types of medium. Exploring such a variety of clays was truly interesting and in the future, I'll have a better understanding of what I will need when I go to pick out supplies for projects!

Thank you so much to Hobby Town for donating our supplies. You guys rock!!

Come On Get Artsy: Week 2, Puppets and Drama

Our second week of Come On Get Artsy had the theme of Puppets and Drama. We started out the morning with a few drama games led by me. I adapted a well-known drama game called Mirror by taking away a few of the "rules" and allowing the moms and kids to just simply take turns imitating one another. Kids love to be copy cats so this is a sure-fire winner! We also used our bodies to show our emotions. Most of the kids seemed to understand what we were doing and they got into it. After the drama games, we created puppets. Artsy Mama Michelle dropped by and helped us make paper bag puppets. The only materials you might need for these are brown paper lunch bags, glue, scissors, markers/crayons, and construction paper. While we worked on the paper bag puppets, small groups went to a table and created their own personalized sock puppets. We were also able to make some Disney finger puppets. Michelle also showed us how to take photos of the illustrations inside of our kids' story books, print them on our computer, and then laminate them (with packing tape) and attach them to wooden sticks. What's so awesome is that these little guys can be stuck right inside of the books so that they are readily available at story time. We took a tour of the Green Room and the Costume Room. We also got to check out the inside of the theater. Before lunch, we did a few more drama games... this time we actually acted. We became pigs in mud, bears, princesses at the movie theater, and pirates at the grocery store. I am pretty sure that I had more fun than any of the kids!