Hooray for fall break…and 2 whole uninterrupted days with my Little Man! I’d take him the whole week, but his other grandparents would surely not agree! Yesterday was mostly spent in the outdoors doing ‘guy stuff’ with his Pa. But today was mine! We played Star Wars, and grocery shopping, raced with Finn, played a game or two with Uncle Alex…and had plenty of time left for some art!

I found these little burlap drawstring bags at Hobby Lobby in a pack of 4 for around $3.

We had a few ideas of what to do with them…but decided on making a stuffed scarecrow face for Levi’s fall tree.  I sectioned off a portion for the hat, then Levi drew a face on the bag with chalk…following a picture of a scarecrow in a book. Chalk is good for an initial outline, as it wipes off easily. He then drew right over his chalk lines with his Crayola Markers. Grabbed the fiberfill and filled the bag…then tied it off with a tight knot. It looks great on his tree!

You could get darker colors with Sharpies…but they bleed through burlap…and I really don’t like using Sharpies with children.  They stain their fingers and everything else they touch.  And, they stink!  Now, I use them all the time…but with Levi…not so much.  You could even use craft paint and get a better coverage…but, we wanted a quick and easy project and paint is more tedious.  And, there are days when tedious is NOT a good thing!

I also found these great raw wood pieces with an easel back…Hobby Lobby, $4, differing sizes.

I bought them without a project in mind…knowing they could be painted all sorts of ways. Levi decided on a pumpkin. Again, we used white chalk to draw first…erasing with a wadded up paper towel. Took him a while to be satisfied, but once he was, we used a chip brush and acrylic craft paint.  I showed him how you use red and orange and yellow to get variations on the color.   After it dried, I showed him how to take off a little of the paint by sanding lightly with sandpaper.  This helps the wood to show through in spots and gives a nice look…not so shiny!   I think he did a great job with his design and his painting.

Well, the title got a little wonky…but it only adds character.  Right?

Another Lulu/Levi project.