confession: i love when i get to create + paint + design with kids. no joke, it is just so much darn fun. to see their excitement, to answer their questions, to see their faces when their hands get a little messy. ahhhh….and a couple of weeks ago, when our family was in the countdown to my sissy’s wedding, i got to take a few minutes, and go in to little mr. re-nest #1’s classroom and create with adorable, inquisitive, polite little ones. #bestday

and, no, it wasn’t to become their new art teacher! every year, our school has a casino night fundraiser, where each class in pre-school through eighth grade makes something….art, a picture, a collage, something, which is part of the silent auction portion of the evening. guess who raised their hand to help with first grade? (in case you’re not yet following, that would be me.)

we needed something simple, and easy for the kiddos to do. i started getting some inspiration on pinterest. after looking through a ton of ideas, i kept coming back to the idea of a butterfly. the symbolism of the butterfly + our sweet first graders….that each day, they are growing and blossoming and becoming more of who they are going to be….kind of like a butterfly does. and, then i found the most perfect quote that clinched the whole butterfly idea…”you are free to fly.”

i decided on a 12″ x 12″ canvas, and a large butterfly die-cut out of white paper. but i needed to figure out how the kids could put their personal touch on it. thumbprints seemed perfect. and, we could be really colorful with them, and we could also mark their names on their thumbprint. my day at school came and the kids loved doing their thumbprints and making out butterfly into a beautiful little creature.

little mr. re-nest #1 chimed in with the idea to paint the background of the canvas a bright yellow, and the rest was kinda history. i so loved this piece, and i know the home it’s going to will love it too. it’s just such a great reminder for any of us…that no matter how old we are, spreading our wings to fly is always a necessary in our lives.