Surrounding Children With Beauty

I have a confession to make. (Hmmm, a lot of my posts start that way, I wonder if I feel guilty about something. Hee hee). I often would (and do) put off art and crafts because I feel as though, with three small children, they will be ruined or unappreciated. But, as life progressed, I noticed something: Whatever blank space I left in my home--whether time or physical space--was filled with SOMETHING, whether it was amazing and beautiful or not. So, I began thinking, perhaps spending my time beautifying things is not a waste, but a way to teach my small children to appreciate the beauty at a young age, and then to progess in their love of art, music, literature and, above all--life.
So, today I tried something new. I stopped dumbing things down. I read from books without pictures (although there are many good children's picture books, and we own a few), I played music that wasn't geared toward children...some Mozart, some Enya, some David Arkenstone.
And, last I played with MY art supplies. In fact, my favorite project that I did today is a paper doll I made for my friend, Amanda. She doesn't know she's getting this yet, but I suppose she will if she reads this post. I was looking for beautiful paper dolls for my daughters, but all I found were cartoony if geared toward children, and inappropriate (for children, in that they were either gruesome, or inappropriately dressed) ones if geared for adults. So, I experimented with some ideas I got from Somerset Studio (beautiful works!), and my friend's little girl's beautiful face. Forgive me, Amanda, if you don't love it, I will take the photo off the post!
I didn't cut all the read backing off because I wanted it reinforced, such that if the sweet child herself wanted to play with the doll, the arms and legs wouldn't fall right off! I will be making more for our home, perhaps letting my daughters choose the colors and papers to go on each dress. My son has been trying his hand at painting pictures of things he wants to build with Legos, and I believe that, after feeling much more relaxed now that I've spent my energy playing with paper, I will help him learn to draw, rather than just handing him supplies and letting him roam. There are different theories on art, one is that teaching technique stifles creativity, and the other is that teaching technique breeds confidence that the student can then branch out from. After thinking good and hard about myself, I think I side with the latter, which is why I believe we'll be getting some good drafting books--from the library, of course.