LITTLE PIECES OF EARTH - MY EYES' WINDOW

Planting trees is a nice way of celebrating Earth Day. Today I planted four.  But taking pictures of the delicate and grand beauties Mother Nature has given us is also  a pleasant way of showing Love to our Planet. Here are a few of the ones I took when I found a beautiful piece of Earth along my way.

ALL PICTURES TAKEN BY DANIELA COHEN.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE PROPERTY OF THE ARTIST AND ARE PROTECTED BY THE UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.

YOU MAY NOT COPY, PUBLISH, OR OTHERWISE USE ANY PHOTO WITHOUT THE SPECIFIC WRITTEN PERMISSION OF DANIELA COHEN.

Copyright© 2010. All rights reserved.

This article was originally posted on http://arttipsandthoughts.blogspot.com

Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.

The Art of Botanical Arranging - FREE class at Pottery Barn

Don't know what to do after church next Sunday? Need an excuse to have a nice brunch and spend time with a girlfriend? Need to brighten up your room to welcome the warm season? My favorite spring change in the house is bringing new flowers and botanicals indoors, with real and "I can't believe is not real" plants,  and gardening outdoors!

Pottery Barn has free decorating classes every month! The next theme is flower and botanical arrangement. Classes will be held the next two Sundays, April 25th and May 2nd. You can bring a vase and flowers and they will show you how to arrange them. Click here to  RSVP to your local store.

This article was originally posted on http://arttipsandthoughts.blogspot.com

Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.

DON'T YOUR KIDS JUST LOVE CATERPILLARS?

I am pretty sure almost everyone recognizes the picture above! Yeah! "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by author and terrific illustrator Eric Carle. But does your child really knows what a caterpillar is? Caterpillars are the larval state of butterflies and moths. Show your kids these amazing pictures from Wikipedia! Wow! Aren't they beautiful?  Don't your kids love them? Well, they will if you grow some at home! Simply buy the Butterfly Garden (bellow) by Insect Lore and you too will love them! It is fascinating to see how fast they grow!

Think outside the cocoon! How about having a caterpillar party for your child? You can make caterpillar cupcakes, rent an inflatable crawl toy and buy stickers like these! (or go to ideastudiodesign.com, they can personalize everything paper, from your party to your life!)

Other foods you can arrange and serve as the cute creatures include cookies, crackers and mini pancakes. Basically, anything round! 

Looking for caterpillar wall decoration or paintings? Try the triple canvas one bellow! Or the button caterpillar art!

 

When looking for toys, the choices are almost limitless, but my favorite still is Gund's "Tinkle, Crinkle, Rattle & Squeak Caterpillar" available from tiny to giant!

For girl's clothes you can't beat this shirt and hair clip bellow!

 And of course you can try crafting some caterpillar with your kids by painting some foam balls, gluing pom-poms together (pipe cleaners make antennas and feet) or recycling egg cartoons like this one:

And if you are lucky to found one around, let your little scientist touch it or hold it!

This article was originally posted on http://arttipsandthoughts.blogspot.com

Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.

STIMULATING YOUR CHILD'S IMAGINATION

Nothing is more powerful then a child's mind! Unfortunately nowadays kids spend too much time passively in front of the TV, watching cartoons or playing video games.  Let me guess, when you were a child you spent a lot more time outdoors, riding bicycles, rollerblading and running, right? If you are as lucky as I was you also had a lot fun climbing trees and eating fruit you just picked! Since we didn't have all these toys we have today we had to use our imagination! As parents, we should encourage imaginative play. How? Try to guide your child into discovering possibilities by themselves in a way that they will think the idea was theirs and use suggestion or demonstration with younger ones. With time they will pick up on it and start to be more creative, which is a problem-solving skill that will help them for a lifetime. You can say for example: "I see your baby doll feels cold, what do you think we could use this paper for that will warm her up?" or at the park "Oh no! mommy forgot the toy bucket! What could we do with the sticks of this tree over here?" So here are just a few suggestions:

• Imagination for TV lovers: watch a recorded  program, preferably one that is narrative. Stop between 5 and 10 minutes before the end and make a game of everyone guessing what the end of the story will be, then watch the remaining. This stimulates creativity in a fun way.

• Imagine Paper: with a piece of paper you can make a ball, an airplane, a boat, a hat, a telescope, a clarinet, a blanket or a mat for a doll or fold in a upside down V for a little house. Or if you are really into folding try some origami for kids.

• Imagine Art: Crayons, paint, pencils, markers, glue, tapes, popsicle sticks, play-dough and many others are all known to all. How about magazines? Cut out several pictures from magazines with your children and ask them to choose a few (less for younger ones, more for older ones) and ask them to tell a story with the pictures. They can glue them on a paper if they want to and if they are old enough they can even write the story!

• Imagine Music: Simply put on some music and dance with your child. See if you can close your eyes, hold hands to give your child a sense of security, and ask if he/she can identify the instruments played. Clap, stomp make gestures with the rhythm and of course don't be scared to sing along!

• Imagine at the Park: Do not bring toys, shovels and buckets to the park. Show you child how use a shoe to push the sand around to build a castle or mountain. Use a tree stick as the bridge or the miniature tree for the castle. Use leaves, pine cones or wild flowers to decorate the building! Or ask them if they could use the stick to draw or write on the sand. Or if you really want to have fun build a miniature tree house like the one on the top of this page! Make it a family event and then compare the  similarities and differences of each family member's ideas.

• Imagine on your Backyard: Pretend to be a scientist! Grab a couple magnifying lenses and see what kind of creatures and plants you find. Then talk about them or ask you child to draw them. 

These are by no means the only ways you can encourage your child's imagination, but rather, just a few examples of how you can add some creative fun to your day.
 

Not very creative yourself? Try these:
Free activities for kids

http://familyfun.go.com/playtime/
Baby Center

365 activities to share with your baby  

Handmade Home

Creative Play for Your Baby

Creative Play for Your Toddler 

The Creative Family 

 

”One of the virtues of being very young is
that you don't let the facts get in the way of your imagination.” 

Sam Levenson

This article was originally posted on http://arttipsandthoughts.blogspot.com

Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.

TINY and CUTE WILD FLOWERS OF TEXAS

 

Flowers are my passion. For their shapes, their colors, their smells, their beauty. While the website with my photography and oil paintings is on the works, enjoy some pictures here. These may be tiny wild flowers, but they are great in charm. 

This article was originally posted on http://arttipsandthoughts.blogspot.com

Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.