A 2-year-old's first mail art!!!

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My daughter Grace loves to color, play with stickers and pretty much do anything her mommy loves to do...what two year old doesn't, right?  Well, Grace drew a picture for her Memere (her Grandmother) and said, in such a cute and matter of fact way, "now it needs a stamp!"

I started laughing and figured there was no reason she couldn't decorate her own envelope for her Memere.  I also realized that she's really been watching this whole envelope making business.

So below is Grace's first attempt at mail art.  And I, as her mother, think it is absolutely perfect!

FRONT

BACK

This is such a great way to accomplish a few things with your kiddos:

-  It gets them thinking of Grandma, Grandpa or anyone who needs a special surprise from the little ones.
-  They are doing a really fun art activity - maybe giving you a few minutes of uninterrupted cleaning, laundry...or just a minute to sit!
-  If you are working with stickers, this builds dexterity in those little hands.
-  Gives you a chance to talk about mail and, on the most basic of terms, what it means to send someone you love a letter or picture.

I'm writing this as Grace naps so I plan on taking her to the mail box with me so she can put it in for herself.  I know she will get a kick out of that.  I have a feeling this is really going to be the start of something for my little peanut and I.


I also happened to make one of my own over the past three days for a woman in Spain.  Hope she likes it.  The front is adorned with some cute stickers and the back...well...I had a great idea, I just didn't know it was going to take me close to thirty minutes to do it.  It probably could have taken less time, but I'm a perfectionist.  But first, the front...

So for the back I cut out this little image of a little girl dressed as a fairy princess with an exacto knife...I guess that's what she is.  But it was cute and it was kind of going with my whole bubble gum and pink thing.

The image is from an old card.  I save every card that has been given to me.  They are great ways to get really cute images...for free.  There are of course many cards that I would never, ever touch with anything sharp or sticky and those stay in a safe place.  But I love taking the images and putting them on my own cards or scrapbooks.

Another really great idea, especially if you scrapbook, is to cut the card in half (you can also frame them...I've got one card that I plan on doing this too with a shadow box).  This way you can showcase not only the beautiful front, but also the loving message inside, especially if it is hand written.  Also, even if you use the card for it's graphics, you can always keep the message.  Just cut them out nice and neat and keep them in a box.  It's nice to go back and read them and think about loved ones.

Until next time...

Shanna