...I let baby Mod Podge in the living room!

Most of my memories from early childhood involve crafting. My dad was an artist and my mom a seamstress so making things literally came second nature. I've always let the Babe get her hands into paints, glue, dirt...whatever it took to make learning a tactile and colorful experience for her. I'll have later posts on some of the other crafts we've gotten into, but the one I'll be sharing today was something I've been wanting to try for a while:

MOD PODGE VASE!!

Materials:

     -Mod Podge
     -Tissue Paper (cheapie stuff is fine, lots of colors)
     -Scissors
     -A glass vase  (or any jar)
     -A wet rag, and a dry rag

I left out a paintbrush because the bristles sometimes fall out while you're painting the Mod Podge on, and since it dries clear you end up with weird little hairs all over your pretty vase. I just used my finger since that's what Babe would be using anyways. (BTW, the baby is 16 months old.)

Also, you can do this with any size jar for candle holders!

 

 

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STEP 1: Cut shapes out of the tissue paper. I did hearts because it's getting close to Valentine's Day.

 

 

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STEP 2: Cover the vase with Mod Podge, and let the kiddo have at it! The Babe is a pro at putting stickers on everything, so this was pretty easy for her to figure out but she wanted to put the hearts all in one place, so you might want to help out by turning the vase evey so often so you get good coverage!

 

 

 

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STEP 3: Add a top coat of Mod Podge. Don't forget to let the little hands help...they might tear or smudge some papers, but that's ok. It's their art, so let them rip and redesign it all they want! 

 

 

 

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STEP 4: This is the most entertaining part!! Remember how great it was to pick glue off your hand as a child? Did you have any idea it would be even more fun picking the glue off your kid's hand?

 

I thought, for sure, there would be gunk in her hair and on her clothes, but her little hands were so busy with the project she didn't have time to touch anything else.

 

 

 

 

 

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Now for the "Mommy Lesson" I learned from this.

 

We did have a big Mod Podge spill at the very end when she tried to help me put the lid on. About 1/3 of the bottle spilled onto the table. Babe knew she was responsible for the mess and felt bad about it.... and she was looking at my face to see how to react. I had two choices:

1. Go with my knee-jerk reaction to start panicking, reaching for towels and probably spitting out some choice words on how it's going to ruin my carpet if it drips...
2.  Say, "Uh-Oh! It spilled! Let's clean it up!", and then take care of the mess with a smile.

I don't want her to think she needs to panic and I don't want her to get upset when all she really needs to do is help fix it. I want her to learn to stay calm and collected in a stressful situation. I want her to learn to take the time to think about the best way to fix the problem, and to be able to do it quickly.

 

When I said, "Lets clean it up!", that's exactly what she did. She knew to reach for the wet towel, and she smiled while she helped.

 

Now, if I can get her to smile while cleaning a few years from now, that would be great!