Life with my little one can be hectic; with her participation in a couple of extracurricular activities, my hectic work schedule and busy days commuting to and from the city, weekends are … coveted. See, at 3.5-years-old, she has very limited sense of time. So when she wakes up at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning expecting to “do something”, I didn’t know what to say as I hadn’t planned much for us to do this weekend (considering the weather conditions we’ve been experiencing, been raining for a week straight).
We decided to take a trip to Michael’s to get some inspiration and ideas on what to create next. I was mostly interested in simple DIY projects for toddlers. As we walked in I grabbed the monthly event schedule and that’s where I noticed they had a #TrickYourPumpkin art event. I quickly made my way to the nearest register and purchased a white craft pumpkin for my baby girl. The class itself is free but participants had to pay $7 for the pumpkin—all the art supplies and decorative items were included. Sounds like a great deal to me! BONUS: If you submit a winning #TrickYourPumpkin pumpkin, you can win $250 in Michael’s gift card or $500 in craft supplies from Plaid & Decoart! Again, win-win since this little creative nugget of mine can spend all day painting if you let her.
With just four colors—yellow, pink, purple, and red—she was ready to starting decorating her pumpkin. Of course, she would not let me help her at all. All I heard was, “I don’t need help”…or, “no mommy, I got it.” So I just let her do her thing and I just did what I love most, capturing her creative mind at work. This was truly the epitome of our blog–she’s always creating and I’, always right there to capture the moments in pixels. Naturally, the results as usual were remarkable.
Look for yourself….

These colors are from the Michael’s Craft Smart Satin Acrylic Paint collection. They are all purpose and come in a variety of different colors, and the price point is great at just $7.99.

Ah, the first brush stroke in PINK!

My little artist plotting her next move.

She’s in her creative zone. I just love how much she concentrates on her work.

This is one of my favorite shots b/c I just love the vibrancy of the colors and how it just pops on the white craft pumpkin.
Her lashes my gosh! She is FOCUSED!

Color on color on color on color in color dish–love, love!

From my perspective…
The view from above!
It’s all in the details! These fluffy + colorful pompoms and feathers were among the free art supplies that was at our disposal!
Almost done–look at all these colors!

View from the top of the almost finished pumpkin.
Okay, I couldn’t stop taking pictures of her! Shes’ adorable!
Her concentration is so fierce! (hello, Elsa!)
Hello yellow!
An artist and her work from mama’s lenses.

How adorable is this Creatology artist apron, so cute! We got to use for free during the session.
Putting the finishing touches on her pumpkin… I helped her select the pompoms and feathers and worked with her to decide where to place them while employee, Tiffany, was helping us dry our pumpkin using an embossing heat tool. (FYI, Michael’s does not allow customers to handle hot glue guns or hot dryers, etc., those have to be handled by their employee for safety and liability reasons).

She wanted the little poms around the top, feathers on the side, and the four large poms on the ‘front’ of her pumpkin. She choose purple, lime, red and yellow. The large poms did not hold up well with regular art glue so Tiffany used a hot glue gun to attach them.
TA-DA! The finished pumpkin!!
I’d say overall this was such a great experience for being our first event at Michael’s. She loved everything about this event.
That smile–she’s so proud of herself and I’m so proud of her!
Everyone loved it so much, she got so many compliments. Here are some more pictures of her little masterpiece…
Absolutely GORGEOUS! My kid did this!
View from the top looks so fantastic!
If you’re looking for something to do with you little monsters, check-out your local Michael’s Craft store for events on how you too can #TrickYourPumpkin. You can win $250 in Michael’s gift card or $500 in craft supplies from Plaid & Decoart! Also, don’t forget to check with your local Michael’s store on upcoming art and crafts, painting, or knitting classes. It’s a great way to get the kids creating unique artwork and keepsakes that could be shared with grandparents.
Happy decorating!
xo
g