Tame the Mess! 6 Must-Have Creative Supplies

When I began crafting with my little ones it was pretty easy – just strip them down to their diaper and set them loose! But as they grew and wanted to do art more often, I knew that going clothes-free couldn’t always be the answer to taming the mess. For one, we live in the north where winter is cold and long and we didn’t want to spend a fortune keeping our house at clothes-free temperatures. Second, as my little ones matured, so did their creative tools. Things like beads, feathers, and pom-poms were introduced into the mix, and clothing (or lack thereof) wasn’t going to make a difference with this type of mess! Finally, my kids didn’t always want to be putting on and taking off clothes (would you?!) – it just wasn’t conducive to every-day art making.

This is where some key creative tools came into play.

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In this installment of our Creativity Together Series, I’m going to talk about these key creative tools that I keep on hand always. Now, the creative tools I’m talking about are not those used for art making, oh no – these tools are specifically for taming and containing the mess! You know the one – beads on the floor, paint on the chairs, marker spots on the wall, and you left with a GIANT mess (even if the actual art-making session was fairly short.) Yep, I’m keeping these tools on hand so that my little ones can freely create and I can live in a relatively clean home (hey, I have 2 kids, a dog, and better things to do than to always be cleaning!) Sounds pretty great, right? Well here’s a secret – with the right tools, it’s not hard to do – not at all.

I keep these 6 tools at hand and even keep one in particular in my car! So before you start crafting with one (or many!) little ones, gather up these must-have creative tools to help tame the mess in your own home too. And I almost forgot the best part – these are not expensive supplies at all – you probably have a few laying around your home right now!

1. A CREATIVE APRON

This first tool may be the ultimate must-have and it’s super basic, but completely necessary – the art apron. Either purchase or make an art apron for your little one, then hang it on their easel or close by their main creating area, and you are so much closer to taming the mess! We have two art aprons – one is fabric, purchased for a few dollars years ago. The other is a vinyl apron gifted to my little ones. But you can also go traditional with an old button-up men’s shirt (because you don’t want to be lifting a wet, paint-y shirt over your little one’s head!) If you like to sew, there are plenty of great apron tutorials out there, like this one for an adult and child creative apron or this one that uses up fabric scraps.

2. OVERSIZED PLACEMATS

From coloring with markers and crayons, to glueing and painting, to building with clay or playdough, an oversized placemat is a great, reusable way to protect your table or workspace. Keep a few nearby and you can layer them to protect a larger area. This is a great alternative if you don’t have or want to cover your table with newspaper or brown craft paper – in our home, neither paper option is very feasible and I like the reusable nature of placemats. For the ultimate in upcycling, look for old placemats at your local thrift store, or check out these fun pirate, ABC, or robot place mats – we have a few that have held up for years!

3. TRAYS

Instead of asking what trays can be used for, it may be more helpful to wonder what they can’t, which, as it turns out, isn’t much! Trays are great for corralling perler beads, feathers, glitter, pom-poms and all other variety of creative supplies used for building, creating or collage. We’ve used our trays to hold painting projects that may be messy to paint (the mess stays in the tray) or that have longer drying times (the trays are easy to move). We keep a couple in the car so that my little ones can color while we drive – the lip of the tray holds the crayons in one place and the firm bottom provides a sturdy table-top for drawing. Trays can also be used as integral parts of creating art – place a plain piece of paper in a tray, then add a paint-covered ball, moving the tray to roll the ball around creating some neat free-form art! Now there are art trays specific for creating – we have a set of 4 that we’ve used for a long time (similar to these), but any tray will do! You could also snag a few cheap metal trays from your local dollar store, any tray will do! Basically, our motto is, “when in doubt, use a tray!”

4. SPRAY CLEANER

Even with placemats and trays, creative mediums such as paint and markers often manage to find their way to the table and chairs surrounding your little one’s art making space. Spray cleaner kept close by can help wipe up these little messes lickety-split! As a bonus, by using a relatively harmless homemade spray, kids can also be included in the cleaning. By having kids start helping with the cleaning at a young age, the hope is that as they get older they will start to take the initiative to clean up their rogue messes themselves!

The spray cleaner we keep on hand is homemade. A spray bottle filled with some water, vinegar, sliced lemon (save lemons you use for juicing or zesting), and a couple drops of tea tree oil – shake and use. Another easy version is water with a bit of dish soap. Then just squirt and wipe – the mess is gone!

5. RAGS

Instead of going through masses of paper towels, save those ripped shirts and old towels and turn them into art rags! Use them with your homemade spray cleaner. Before you start your crafting get one or two rags damp with water to clean messy hands before your kids leave the art table. And if an unforeseen spill does occur, you’ll already have them on hand to clean it right up.

6. DROP CLOTH

The last place to protect from art messes is the floor. Move beyond putting down newspaper – which can be slippery and leave ink marks on your floor – and grab a painter’s drop-cloth instead. You can get drop cloths made out of plastic or canvas – either one will work. The plastic drop cloth will need to be wiped up, since things like tempera paint will flake off once dried (which can make a whole other mess). Canvas drop cloths will absorb the paint a bit so that it won’t flake, but don’t worry, the canvas is knit tightly enough so that the paint shouldn’t leak through.

“TO BE PREPARED IS HALF THE VICTORY”

As you can see, the biggest way to tame the creative mess in your home is to be prepared. If you are running to your kitchen for towels or a wet rag, chances are the mess is being made bigger (either by gravity or “helpful” little hands). By gathering these 6 creative tools and storing them close to your art area (this is key), you can take the extra seconds prior to starting your project to prevent and contain the inevitable messes that do (and should!) happen when you and your kids are making art together! And since the supplies are close by, your little ones won’t get bored and restless as can happen if you have to run around your home hunting and searching for these creative tools each time.

So what are you waiting for? Go gather these easy tools, throw them in a bucket or basket, and store them near your most-used art space. Then send us a note telling us of all the messes that have been tamed or avoided, we’ll be right there rejoicing with you!

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