This weekend I was thinking of activities to do outside to get myself and my little one into that beautiful spring sunshine – and I remembered one of my favorite crafts from summer camp. Swirling paint art! It’s a good way to spruce up some common household items (or even things destined for the recycling bin!) and a great way to spend a few hours being creative and outside.

For this project, you will need an old bucket or wide pan that you won’t mind getting paint on, a few cans of spray paint (I find that silver and gold metallic paint make an interesting contrast when used with regular colors.) You will also need access to a water hose or other source of water. What you will want to do is to gather some bottles, jars, paper, rocks, or anything that you or your kids think could be beautiful with a little decoration. (Remember – let the kids tell you what THEY think is art – don’t be the boss at craft time!)

Fill the bucket or pan with water, and spray several colors of paint on the surface. The paint will float on top of the water, and make really neat swirling patterns. Take whatever object you want to paint and, holding it by a corner or using tongs, dip the object through the layer of paint and into the water. Pull it directly out and re-dip if you missed any spots. Set the painted objects on a piece of newspaper to dry – then enjoy your new, beautiful vases (bottles,) pencil cups (jars,) or notecards (card-stock.) For younger kids, I find that it’s easy for them to dip bottles, especially when you tie a string around the neck. This way, the paint never touches their fingers! Genius!

Happy Crafting! Check back next week for a new, exciting craft idea!