{kid craft} Watercolor bunting

We have some birthdays coming up this weekend. And you know there's no birthday party without at least a little bit of decoration. Preferably homemade. So when Rebecca posted her pretty patterned hearts for Valentine's day last week, I knew we had to do something like it. Except we were going to make regular bunting instead of hearts.

We got some new watercolors. Serious watercolors. Not the cheap kind that looks pastel. Nope, we needed the bright ones.

So little brother set right to work. The concept of using just one or two colors so it would look pretty and match decorations did not really appeal to him. Sigh. Sometimes I'd like to "art direct" and tell them what to do so I can have a pretty result. But in the end, we're doing crafts for them and for their creativity. So I let him do whatever he wanted and ended up saving the picture for daddy as a present.

Getting those brushes clean.

Big brother also needed to try all the colors first. Oh well.

Eventually though he decided to help me out as I had started to make simple, monochromatic patterns. No idea if he thought it was fun or if I just looked desperate.

But we ended up with quite a few sheets. We did some in red and some in blue to use for different decorations.

Since I try to keep little brother off naps in order to have some quiet time at night (and not a wide awake toddler running around at 10pm), his attention span is about a nanosecond. He quickly got bored with the watercolors and switched to cutting things up. He loves cutting things up. I usually choose not to look to closely because he cuts the paper in teeny tiny bits and then goes on to cut those. No way I would have let big brother handle scissors like that at that age. But if I ever want to get any of these weekly projects done, I have no choice but to let little brother cut up paper to make mail for mommy. And he's really good at it, even without a nap.

The next day, we cut them up using my slightly crooked trusted template. We? Well, mostly me. Big brother helped a little.

It was already getting dark by the time we had taken a break for some fresh air and finished cutting and stringing them onto white twine.

Blue ones and red ones. I love the red ones.

But the blue looks good for tomorrow's Bavaria themed party.

Oh, and then big brother really got into it and made some bunting for his doll. Little brother also loved cutting up the scraps. And cut some more. 

I still haven't cleaned the house and the cakes aren't done yet, but at least my presents are wrapped and the decorations are up!

Have a good weekend,
Swenja