paint cut paste

rainy spring days are enough to leave any mom wondering what to do with a toddler who will be bouncing off the walls after a couple of hours indoors. i remembered an article i had seen a while back in cookie magazine, which i’m convinced is actually hip as far as parenting magazines go..? (oh, humor me.) anyway, i broke out the water-based markers and some coffee filters. my daughter and i colored all over the coffee filters with the markers. (i used mr. sketch markers because i’m partial to the scents – the turquoise mango one is the best!) we put the colored filters on an old cookie sheet.

colored coffee filters

then we donned our raincoats and ventured outside to place our tray out in the rain (and splash around for a while.) after about 30 minutes of puddle play, the rain had sort of tie-dyed our filters. we brought our wet tray inside and observed how the colors had run together so beautifully.

wet and smeary

i lined the bottom of the bathtub with old towels and rags and strung a piece of yarn across the tub. there we hung the filters to dry.

dripping dry

in the afternoon, after nap time, these works of art were dry and ready to be transformed into beautiful flowers! we attached green pipe cleaners to the coffee filters to create stems, and voila! a lovely rainy day bouquet! this makes such a cute everyday addition to N’s playroom!

Related posts:

1. clothespin butterfly
2. big butterfly
3. hearts: make ‘em, don’t break ‘em
4. color saturation
5. coffee, cupcakes, and snowflakes