Mrs Accident is a crafty minx

Peanut has decided she is ravenously hungry today. So, instead of my usual wordy post, I am going to give you a tour of our arts and craft centre. That way, when I jump up every three seconds to make her yet another sandwich, I won't have a complicated train of thought to derail.

To make it interesting for those less kid-craft-inclined, I'll insert the content of Peanut's snack breaks at the intervals they interrupt me trying to write. Cause that will be sure to keep you reading...

First up, lets talk location. Banana.

Our craft table is on tiles, and close to the kitchen. This makes clean up wayheyhey easier. Craft and carpet don't mix. (Unless your craft is carpet weaving.)

We have a kid sized table that can be wiped clean, and four kid sized chairs. Bug can use them comfortably already, and I can still sit on them too. They're just the right size. For women. Mr Accident looks like he's Gulliver on a good day.

In the photo up there you can also see a wipe-able, splash proof picture I have stuck to the wall by the table. It's saved our wall from sticky fingers and flung paint many times over.

Now, onto the contents of our shelves.

When it comes to art supplies, I like to give the girls the real deal. Glue that actually sticks, real oil pastels, proper water colour paint. I also give Peanut real scissors, mandarin, but I keep them up out of Bug's reach.  

Here's our paint stash. I normally keep it in one of Mr Accident's old protein buckets (man drinks a lot of protein) but I took them out today to show you. We have poster paint and finger paint. I always buy the biggest bottles I can find.

The girls love this shelf. Cotton balls, match sticks, foam shapes, patty cases, paddle pop sticks, feathers, pompoms and beans. Some of the containers are divided, so we also have googly eyes, glitter and pasta hiding back there. Peanut-butter and sultanas on a big corn cracker, times two.

Our play dough shelf. We're using pink at the moment, you can probably see some caked on the utensils there. I wash the gear when I change the colour, it's a good prompt. 

Chalk, crayons, textas and pencils. Another cracker like before - that makes three! I'm going broke here, people. Our pencils and textas are well used, and as a result they have been decimated by Panzer. Seriously, that dog has chewed one in ten. It's impossible to expect Bug to keep them all on the table, but every one that falls to the floor is cactus. You can see a lidless marker in the box there. I HATE LIDLESS MARKERS. I can feel an eye twitch developing...

Our nature shelf. There is normally a magnifying glass here too, but I have no idea where it's gone. Perhaps off studying nature on its own. Maybe on the front lawn. Probably starting fires... I might need to go find it before we have another sunny day.

The little tin boxes hold our seed and nut collection. I try to keep the decayables out, but it's a challenge. Only the vigilant will win! I did find a worm in there one day, that was a treat. Cashews.

Our stamp collection. (The interesting kind, philately was never my thing, although my mother tried to encourage me. I like the messy ones better.) We have big stamps for little hands, littler stamps for the more dexterous, and a random Hello-Kitty-in-a-plane. I have no idea where that one came from. I should check the airport arrivals board. 

Brushes, sponges and other paint smearing utensils. I keep the shaving brushes there for Bug, she finds them easier to manipulate. On the paper, that is, she's too young to shave. 

Apple and a chocolate cookie. Finally, we have the easel. It's a whiteboard on one side, chalk board on the other, and I keep the clips to hang large paper when we head outside and paint "plein air". Ahem. Bug has eaten more chalk than she's even drawn with, and I fear the day we see her on "My Strange Addiction." 


And that concludes today's tour. Thank you for joining us, and I hope to see you next time, when I show you the contents of our bathroom cupboard.

Kidding!

You hope.