Laura Tried It: West Seattle Art Nest

In March, I worked with the West Seattle Art Nest to put together a special deal for Nanny Parent Connection members.

Last week my kids were on spring break from school and I had the week off from work. It was a perfect time to load up the crew and head over to the West Seattle Art Nest! We braved the pouring rain and made the trek over to West Seattle to check it out. My older boys were excited since they both love art.

Yes to Glitter and Paint Messes?

We have a ton of art supplies at home. However, I tend to not get the messy things like paint out as much as my kids would like. This is the case even more so since the arrival of the twins – I have plenty of cleaning up to do on any given day and I never seem to be able to finish my to-do list without having to clean up paint, too! And don’t even talk to me about glitter. It’s not even in my house for a reason! But my kids love to paint use glitter (who doesn’t?!), and I definitely have mom guilt about this.

With one twin in the front pack and the other in the stroller, we all entered into what can only be described as a mecca for all things arts and crafts. We were greeted by the smiling face of Mary, one of the owners, who is as delightful as one would expect in such a fun place. The Art Nest is every artist/crafter/child’s dream place. There are art supplies everywhere. There is paint on the floor (on purpose) and glitter too (likely not on purpose), and that is the beauty of this place.

Kids can dive into any kind of project they want, whether that’s something involving beads, gems, paper, play-doh, or gluing things together. My three year old was immediately drawn in by the room full of paper, scissors, and glue. He was fascinated by all of the scissors that cut different patterns in the paper.

When he had his fill of that, he then moved onto one of the paper cutouts available for crafting upon (he chose an umbrella). He began with paint, then moved onto glue, glitter, and gems. He even added googly eyes. He used so much glue that his project didn’t actually fully dry for several days, but there are no rules at the Art Nest 🙂

My older son began in the room where you can paint on the floor and the walls, and then went downstairs to work with some hot glue guns (available on request for the older kids). He ended up with a wooden owl in a top hat, that he decked out with some paint. He also found a mask that he had fun painting.

My twins crawled around a little bit until I realized that they were essentially like little glitter vacuums in doing so. With their newly bedazzled outfits, they finished out our time at the Art Nest taking notes on how to use glitter and paint. They loved watching all of the activity going on around them!

To note, there is plenty of space to move around with a stroller for anyone needing to do so. If I had just one baby with me, I likely would have done some painting with him or her. There is a water cooler and a popcorn machine in case snacks or drinks are needed. This would be a really cool place to go with a group of girlfriends for a Pinterest Party in the evening or for a kids crafting birthday party on the weekend.

With the discount for Nanny Parent Connection members, our hour at the West Seattle Art Nest cost about $20.00. It was a really fun break from the norm and the perfect activity for a rainy day.

My budding artists loved the variety of mediums to choose from, and I know they appreciated getting to use as much glitter and paint as they wanted without having to be careful not to make a mess. I appreciated not having to buy every color of paint and glitter imaginable, not having to clean up afterward, and letting my kiddos express their creativity however they wanted. I wish I were that mom that just embraced everything art – messes be damned – but that’s just not what I have time for right now.

We will definitely plan to visit the West Seattle Art Nest again sometime soon. I hope you get a chance to check it out so your kiddos can create some masterpieces of their own!