If you follow my blog or Facebook page, it’s no secret I am a big fan of Jean Van’t Hul, the amazing author, mother and resource behind The Artful Parent.  I wrote a book review here before we even knew each other in real life/the blogosphere.  Now we’re both part of the RAMS (Rockin Art Moms) and I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of Jean’s latest book, The Artful Year.  I am delighted to tell you about it here.  I’ve been looking through it with my girls for the past few weeks and we’ve been inspired in MANY ways that I hope to share with you.

*This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!

What I love most about Jean’ss book The Artful Year, is that it talks about the importance and value in connecting with your family through crafting.  Being artful and making crafts is not just a way to make something interesting or beautiful, but more a way to spend time with those you love, being creative, communicating and making decisions together.  That’s what I love most about crafting.  For me, we’re creating memories through crafts and that’s something I will cherish forever.

The first activity in the book that caught our attention was making nature tables.  We go on tons of nature walks collecting pinecones, rocks, and flowers in little baskets.  We are lucky to live in sunny Southern California so a walk is pretty much always on the menu when we are looking for something fun to do outside.  It never occurred to me before to extend the activity to create a beautiful nature table with all of our finds.

Nature tables are easy to set up and can be different and unique every time you  make one.  They are also great for all ages, which I love.  Jean gives tons of suggestions on what to put on your nature table and how to make it a fun family activity in The Artful Year.

We had our nature table out for several days and continued to add to it as we found beautiful and inspiring objects.  The painted rocks are from our spin art rocks collection and the painted pine cones were a gift from a neighbor that both my girls treasure.

I highly recommend you check out both of Jeans books, The Artful Parent and The Artful Year.  You will love them both! They both include tons of pics to inspire your creativity and really doable activities you can enjoy with your children today to bring more art, creativity and connection into your life.  Thanks for inspiring us Jean! We love what you do! xo The Cherry Family