When I was a young child living in Hawaii (my Dad was in the air force during my early years) , my mom would take me to a local park for “play mornings”. I don’t remember much about it, but I think it was like Gymboree or Mommy and Me before there was such a thing. Anyway, at play mornings we got to do all sorts of fun things like painting and playdoh. My mom took those ideas home with her and I remember many childhood days of arts and crafts at home, my mom cooking playdoh on the stove for us or creating tabletop easels. The other day, I asked her how she made those easels so I could make one for Ellie. A couple of days later she showed up with this box, all ready for some contact paper to complete it.

She took a large box and cut it just so, to create a triangular shape, one side being larger than the other.

Then I added some pretty contact paper to cover all of the sides of the box. And then cut two slits in the top for the clothespins to attach.

I set the easel up outside (because it was such a lovely day and for easy clean up). Ellie wanted to use finger paints and not the paintbrushes so I placed the paints in a plastic bin (her palette) and let her do her thing. As you can see, she enjoyed the process very much.

Thank you Gramma (Mom)!  Just like I so enjoyed painting on an easel like this one so many years ago, I’m certain Ellie will enjoy her experiences with this homemade easel as well!