Light Up Christmas Tree Canvas

With Christmas around the corner we have turned our attention to gifts that Adam can make for friends and family. Over the past few months we have created several styles of artwork. For today’s masterpiece we decided to combine a few of our previous methods to create a Light Up Christmas Tree Canvas.

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From our Name Canvas painting, to egg splat painting with Humpty Dumpty and Ghosts to our light up Twinkle Twinkle Little Star canvas – Adam has a wall full of artwork.

When creating our Name Painting we used masking tape to outline Adam’s name. Today we used this method to make the outline of three Christmas Trees. I cut the masking tape whilst Adam placed it onto the canvas with a little support.

When Adam painted his Name canvas he started with a variety of colours. However, when the paint mixed together on the canvas we were left with a yucky brown. I didn’t want a repeat of this. Two years ago we explored non-messy paint mixing and the paint merged rather than mixed together. We placed two colours of paint in a zip-loc bag and Adam used his fingers (and cars) to push the paint around. We also tried this method on a large scale during our Remote Control Car Painting Tuff Spot.

For today’s masterpiece I couldn’t find a zip-loc bag big enough to place the canvas in so I used cling film instead.

I squirted a variety of blue and green paint across the canvas and laid cling film on top. I didn’t secure the cling film but this may have been necessary if you feel your child will move the cling film around too much.

Adam loved moving the paint around underneath the cling film. He isn’t a huge fan of messy artwork so this method suited him. I had originally been worried that I had squirted too much paint onto the canvas. In the end it turned out that I needed to have used more.

When Adam pushed down on the cling film the paint spread out across the canvas. The shades of blue remained in tact and only combined slightly together when they touched. Even the green grass and blue sky remained separate.

Once the canvas was covered in paint, apart from where the masking tape remained, I removed the cling film. I placed the cling film into the bin and then left the canvas to dry. This took a day. It is important not to remove the masking tape until the canvas has dried completely.

The next day I removed the masking tape. I started at the top of each tree by removing the two top branches and then removing the tree trunk. Some of the paint had gone underneath the masking tape. However, I feel this adds to the character of the masterpiece.

We could have left our Christmas Tree canvas there but there was one more element I wanted to add from Adam’s previous artwork. With our Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Canvas we added battery operated fairy lights. I used a screw driver to make small holes in the canvas and then pushed coloured fairy lights through the holes.

I secured the wires at the back of the canvas using sellotape and placed the lights’ battery pack underneath the wooden frame.

Our Light Up Christmas Tree Canvas can be admired both during day light and at night time. During the day we can enjoy seeing the mix of colours. When dusk falls we can turn the battery operated lights on and the colourful lights add a different element to the painting.

Adam thoroughly enjoyed creating his kid made Light Up Christmas Tree Canvas.

Today I’m taking part in the Kid Made Gift Series hosted by Teach Me Mommy. Over the next few weeks, 24 bloggers will be sharing fun ideas for gifts your children can make for friends and family.

Equipment:

* 11″X14″ Stretched Canvas

* Masking Tape

* Variety of blue and green paint – we love Ready Mixed Paint from Baker Ross

* Cling Film

* 20 Multi Coloured LED Battery Operated Fairy Lights

Are you looking for Christmas Ornaments crafts to do with your children? Then take a look at Red Ted Art’s Christmas Ornaments ebook. Find 30 festive easy-to-do ideas all in one place. Click here to find out more.

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