Art to Love

The first time I saw Beth Parrocha-Doctolero's art was at Chocolate Kiss at Roces. That was about two years ago. I instantly loved her work that I had to know her. We sort of became e-mail buddies, and last Saturday at Salcedo, I finally met her. I'm sharing with you some of her works (posted with permission).

Highlights of the Week

Last week, Brenzie "turned" 180 degrees.  So, from the lying down position, he turned to the tummy down position on his own, lifted his head and looked at me.  So cute!  I’m so proud of him.  Tsk.…tsk.... the beginnings of a naughty baby!  But I so don't mind at all.

I bought art for the first time last Saturday at the Salcedo Art Market and it was exhilarating.  I finally met gifted Beth Parrocha-Doctolero and I LOVE her work. Looking at her drawings gives a happy and peaceful feeling.  I now believe that art is really for the heart and soul.  The picture on the right is one of her works.  Lovely, isn't it?  Check out her gallery at www.bethparrocha.com.  I've posted her other works in the Photos section of this site as well.

Trixie loves art

Before going to bed, Trixie usually spends time with Brandon doing all sorts of art. (Notice she's wearing PJs on both occasions.) She just loves doing art so for her birthday, I got her an easel board to expand her horizons.

Recipe for Finger Paint

Weeks ago, I was searching for finger paint in bookstores and toy stores in malls, and I had a hard time doing so.  If not out-of-stock, it's way too expensive (imagine, 4 tiny cups put in a fancy box sold at P600 plus!!!).  There must be a home-made version of finger paint that's cheap and non-toxic.  A quick search led me to www.creativekidsathome.com, and Trixie and I made the original fingerpaint.   Bottles of Wilton food color from my cake decorating days came in very handy, and I was able to make six full cups.  A note though, this finger paint is best used the day it was made--- the paint thickened and jellied up a day after.  It's still fun to use, but it wasn't gooey anymore.  Since the recipe below contains a bit of sugar, store the paint in tightly sealed containers to keep them from nasty ants! I'll make a different version next time to see which is better.  For now, I hope this recipe will help moms like me keep their young ones happy and busy!

Original Fingerpaint

Ingredients

1/2 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cold water
food coloring

 

Directions

In a medium pan, mix all the ingredients together to make the finger paint. Cook over low heat 10 to 15 minutes. Keep stirring the finger paint mixture until it is smooth and thick. After the finger paint has thickened take the pan off the stove and let the mixture cool.

After cooling, divide the finger paint into storage containers depending on how many colors you would like. Add a few drops of food coloring to each container. Stir the coloring in to the paint to determine the shade of color. You're ready to finger paint! Cover tightly when storing.

Finger Painting

To appease my bored little girl, I decided to make finger paint at home- much to her delight! I actually tried it myself and I must say it was a lot of fun, especially mixing the colors. While we were doing this, we were singing Barney's song "When you mix blue and red it makes purple... red and yellow it makes orange....blue and yellow it makes green! When you mix these two you'll see a new color magically!" To see the recipe for home-made finger paint, check out my blog entry.