Father's Day Scribble Mug

I'm one of those moms that totally wants to do creative things, but at the same time, hates the mess, clean-up, and usually avoids all the energy involved. But... Father's Day is coming up and well geez, I guess I need to search Pinterest and find some crazy handprint, footprint, messy paint-like activity so he gets something homemade and special. (I totally scored last year with him being in daycare! ;) haha I didn't have to do a thing!)

I also added the flower that was done at daycare for Mother's Day. Cute because as a first time parents we were all like "Awwwww little feet", but lets be real, that is just more mess than its worth. I can only imagine them trying to get my 8 month old at the time to cooperate!

But then I remembered seeing a friend draw on mugs and sell them online. Now I know I am clearly not the first to come up with this idea, but for me, that's when the light bulb went off and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

We have a play group that meets once a week in my neighborhood and I decided this was the perfect activity to host at my house since Father's Day is coming up. Boom... and now clearly I do not have to think about any other sort of activity to try on my own.

Supplies you will need:

• Mugs (As you can see I spent a whooping 99 cents on these bad boys.)
• Foam letters (I got these at the 99 cents store as well. There were about 156 letters a pack.)
• Star stickers or contact paper to make other shapes, numbers, etc.
• Sharpies (Okay here is the deal with Sharpies. You can use regular, or ceramic ones. If you use the regular ones you can only hand wash the mug, but if you use the ceramic ones, after you bake the mug, it will be dishwasher safe. )

Now onto the fun part...decorating! The play group is a bunch of 1 1/2- 2 year olds and yes...shocking I know...we let them use Sharpies! haha. (If you are concerned, use a smock or cut a small trash bag to make one. ;) ha!) Once we put the stickers on for our kiddos, we let them point to colors and reinforced what each was. My kid had a ball, and of course pointed to every shade of "boo", (blue).

After the kids colored on the mugs, peel off the foam letters and stickers. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Wait for mug to cool in the oven before taking it out. This allows the markers to set and become washable. (Remember though if you are using regular Sharpies, you can still only hand wash!)

This was prior to baking but the only chance I could snag before everyone at play group took their mug home to bake. We definitely had a lot of fun doing this and there was really no mess! My fav! ;)

What are some of the fun things you are planning for Father's Day?!?! I need ideas for next year!

Commitment

Gez, I haven't posted a single thing since my son was born. They say life just takes over, and boy they weren't kidding! We had a baby, I left my teaching job, and have moved. I've so missed blogging and have decided to make a commitment to start back up. Now is a good of a time as any seeing that I'm only subbing, yet still creating lessons, on the hunt for deals and steals, and on a new mission ---> EVERYTHING TODDLER!

My latest obsession is painting parties or playdates for kids. In February, we made these heart paintings, (yea I know that was months ago, but remember, it is only now that I am blogging about my commitment, lol). You can do this for anything though, and it is super easy! Here's what you'll need:

Canvas
Contact Paper
Paint
Brushes or Sponges
White Small Trash Bags (optional, I cut holes in them to make a smock, cheap and effective.)

There are a bunch other blogs and sites doing this same technique. I love this one who gives you step by step pictures and instructions:
Heart Art

Steps:
1. Cut the contact paper in the shape you desire. Peel off baking and place on canvas.
2. Paint canvas, and yes, you can go right over the contact paper!
3. Wait till it dries, and then peel off the contact paper to reveal your design!

You know you are loving the trash bag smock now! Keeping it super classy. ;)

Here were two of our own.... and remember these were done by a 1 1/2 and 2 year old!! Total perfection!

Hope you enjoyed this adorable idea. And make sure to keep checking back now that I am back in the swing of things!