Last week when U. was out of town on business, Astrid and I went to Color Me Mine, a "paint your own" ceramic arts studio. Here Astrid is proudly holding her plate that she painted (and that we picked up from the store today), with her hand print in the center.Color Me Mine
2284 Honolulu Ave.
Montrose, California 91020
The fee is $6 for kids ($10 for adults), which includes all of the paints and materials (stencils, paint brushes, stamps, sponges, etc). They have over 400 plain white ceramic pieces to choose from, that are blank canvases ready to be painted.
Once you've picked out the ceramic piece you want to paint/decorate, (prices are listed on the bottom of each piece), a store assistant helps you gather all the materials you need and you paint at your own table that has a pot of water sitting on it for you to use.
And then after a week's time, you come back to the store and pick up your finished product that has been kiln-fired.
When we were there, a girl's birthday part was being held. The older girls just loved it. Something to think about for when Astrid is older.
I had heard of and seen this store in various cities, and always thought of taking Astrid here, but wasn't sure if she was old enough to handle the paints without making a big ole mess. That was until I saw the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" TV show on TLC - with the episode of taking the 5 girls to Color me Mine, including 3 girls that were 3 at the time (Astrid's age), and they all had a great time. That encouraged me to finally take Astrid for her 1st visit, and mine too. I'm sure we'll be back, especially before the holidays to decorate a piece for Papa.
Astrid was so proud of her plate, she refused to let us hold it on the walk back to the car (which prompted a number of "be careful" warnings from us), and even in the car she did not want to part with it, but sat holding it on the drive back home. The only thing that got her to let it go was U. telling her that papa would wash it after their nap today, and then she could use the plate to eat later. That did the trick.
I made sure to write Astrid's name on the back with the year - 2008, so she can keep it as a keepsake. With her signature hand print, she'll look back at it and say "my hand was so small - I was just a baby when I made this plate."
Having fun drawing with markers.
I got her this lacing cards arts & crafts set. 
Here she's lacing a shoe string around a wooden turtle piece. 
Concentration.
It's still a bit difficult for her. She can put the lace through, but doesn't understand following the holes around in order, and when it get tangled she gets quite frustrated. I think in another few months though with more practice she'll get better at it. For now I'm there to tell her "okay put it through this hole...good....pull...okay now put it through this hole" - you get the picture.
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