The other day I was flipping through my (endless) Instagram feed and a picture of one of my friends and her kids at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter tugged at my momma heart strings. I really want to take the girls there—especially now that Samantha is devouring the books—and they desperately want to go. Disney is on that same list. Unfortunately, our budget and these places are just not on the same level.
Then Amazon Prime Instant Video asked us to check out new episodes of their show, Creative Galaxy. I didn’t think these two things could relate to one another, but they did.
The girls and I cozied up to watch a few episodes. I had a feeling before we started that the girls would be into it. The creator of Super Why!—which Ellie is currently obsessed with—and a couple of other shows they love is the creator and executive producer plus the show is billed as “a make-along, create-along, interactive art adventure series for preschoolers.”
Within minutes, Ellie was responding to the characters’ questions and Samantha was giggling at their adventures. What I didn’t expect was that the show really got me thinking.
The premise of the show is that the main character, Arty, and his pal (pet?) Epiphany travel around the galaxy to solve problems with art. In one episode, Arty’s mom forgets to get goodie bags for his birthday party (um, were they trying to write about my life? Because this could so happen to me). So Arty and Epiphany fly on over to planet Paperia, where Captain Paper shows them how to make planet-shaped papier-mâché goodie bags. Problem solved.
So I started thinking. Could we solve our Universal Studios/Disney problem with art?
I posed this question to Samantha and her eyes immediately lit up. “We could make things!” she shrieked. “And sell them to raise money!”
Like Arty, we headed to our “idea box”—which is basically an overflowing closet of craft supplies and a cart in a corner of my bedroom. After looking through our supplies, we decided that jewelry making was our best bet. So we pulled out some wooden beads, acrylic paints, and smocks and got to it.
Once the ladies were happy with their masterpieces, we set the beads aside to dry overnight. The next day, I pulled out some yarn and some more beads so that the girls could string their creations together. Yarn was a poor choice for wooden beads (it gets stuck on the rough edges of the wood), but we made it work.
They were thrilled with their final products and would like you all to know that you can purchase them for $50 by emailing mommy at jen@cuddlesandchaos.com. I haggled Samantha down to $5 but she was not thrilled with having her one-of-a-kind art devalued. She has already taken to her Rainbow Loom to make a bunch of bracelets and would like you to know that she will take special requests. 😉
Have you ever found yourself solving a problem with art?
I think people with a little bit of craftiness in them do it all of the time—I know I constantly find myself doing it as a way to save money.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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Hi! I'm Jen, a freelance writer and girl mom who loves reading the newest children’s books as much as I love a good psychological thriller. I believe fiercely in the power of kindness, empathy, and really good quality chocolate. When I'm not knee-deep in glittery crafts and girl talk, you can probably find me sprawled out on my couch in the middle of a Netflix marathon with dark chocolate smeared on my face. The struggle is real. 
