Summer break is over and the kids are back at school, but today I wanted to share one of our Summer traditions. It's a fun indoor activity for any time of year and a great tradition to start.
With the long Summer break here in the US I'm always looking for fun things to do to keep the kids occupied. There are certain activities that are a Summer tradition - going to camp, heading to the beach, spending time at the pool, playing in the park... And then there are the activities that have become our very own Summer traditions.
One such thing is our annual visit to Brushstrokes Studio here in Berkeley. Every Summer break the kids and I spend an afternoon at Brushstrokes painting a ceramic plate each. It started off as a one off, but when I realized how wonderful it would be for the kids to each have a collection of their own hand painted plates when they're older I decided that we'd make it an annual tradition. We've done it five Summers in a row so far, and even just in that short amount of time it's amazing looking back at how the kids' artistic skills have developed. It's also fun way to keep track of their interests at the time.
This Summer break the girls couldn't wait to head to Brushstrokes and paint their plates. They had been coming up with ideas for quite some time and were eager to set paintbrush to plate. Here's a look at what they created this year.
This year Ava stuck with our regular theme of a self portrait. Every year she has painted a portrait of herself on her plate and it's fun seeing how her illustration style (and hair color) has changed over the years. She is somewhat of a perfectionist and likes to take her time to get every line just right.
Once the girls were done with their plates we left them to be fired in the kiln. A week later they were ready for us to pick up. I love seeing the transformation of the plates once they have been fired. The pastel matte paint becomes vibrant and glossy. Here's what the girls' plates looked like before firing...
And here's what they looked like after firing!
Such a transformation, right? Luckily Brushstrokes have sample chips on display so we never have to guess what the colors will look like after firing. The chips show the color after both one coat and two coats so the girls always know how much paint to apply to get the desired color.
Here's a look at Ava's collection. She has painted a self portrait each year and I love that she included her purple hair the Summer that it was purple. For her cup and saucer she decided to mix things up and painted Cookie Monster devouring cookies on the cup and herself enjoying a hot drink on the saucer.
Lola also started out painting self portraits but then switched things up a bit the last few years with a flower and emojis. She painted a cute sun and rainbow for her cup and saucer. I love the simplicity of the rainbow striped cup.
I can't wait to see how the girls' collections develop over the years. I love the idea of them being able to use these plates when they move out of home (a long way) down the track. Or they can keep them as mementos of their childhood instead.
Do you have any fun traditions that you have started with your kids?
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