Kids Crafting

Last week we dusted off some of our books, pushed aside the stacks of papers I never got a chance to organize from last year and dove into a new school year. Although I didn't feel totally prepared myself (our library needs some serious purging and reorganizing), the kids were ready for their routine to be re-established and were begging to start school.

This year in history we will be studying the Middle Ages. Bug is chomping at the bit to get into all of our history lessons... he has ear marked many, many pages in our Days of Knights and Damsels Activity Guide. The first project on our list were these Medieval Pockets. Clothing during the Middle Ages did not have pockets sew in and were instead worn on belts.

This felt version was fun to make. The kids helped cut out the pockets. Then they decided that they wanted to embroider pictures on the fronts of their pockets. Bug had a very specific spiral motif in mind, Fairy wanted to add her name and a flower and Pixie had the grandest plans of all... she kept telling us she was making a cow. LOL - squint, stand on your head or well hmmm... not sure I can get it to look like a cow. But she was pretty pleased with her pocket. Gammy joined in and made a beautiful flower pocket. I was busy helping little hands. After completing their pockets, the kids took them outside to fill with little treasures.

 

We haven't started up with everything yet. We will not be starting our Harvest Unit until September... the week of the seventh most likely. And, for everyone who keeps asking, I plan to have my Winter Unit posted in the next week or two. It is all done, it just needs some editing. The Spring Unit will probably not be posted until sometime later in the fall. I haven't even started typing it up. You can start looking for it at the end of September... my personal due date though is Halloween.

(You knew I would have to do this tutorial sooner or later :)

A couple of fun things happened in the past few weeks. First, a lovely reader sent us the book Magical Window Stars (thanks Sarah!)

and second, we got a stack of kite paper from Bella Luna Toys. As I sat down and started leafing through the book, it occurred to me that these stars were a little advanced for someone that's never folded a star before, so I decided to start with a simpler star. I've made origami stars in the past, but never out of the kite paper. So, I made a simple, 8 pointed star, that you can find on most Waldorf craft sites. I think it is a beautiful way to begin working with kite paper. Below are the directions on how to make a Basic Kite Paper Window Star. Later, I will share other patterns as I experiment and play with different designs.

Materials:
8 squares of kite paper
clear drying craft glue

Place one square of kite paper in front of you.

Fold the paper in half creating a sharp crease. Then open the paper.


Fold the paper in half again the other way, creating a sharp crease. Open the paper.


Bring 1 corner to the middle of the paper making sure the edges of the corner touch the folds on the paper. Create a sharp crease.

Fold the other 3 corners to the middle. You will now have another square.

Turn the square to form a diamond and make sure the flaps are up. Fold the left corner in so the outside edge of the paper is against the center fold line. You will be creating a sharp star point.

Do the same with the other side.

Fold a total of 8 squares into these star points.

Decide on the arrangement of the points. The smooth side should be on top and the folded sides under. Lay out your first piece. Then turn your 2nd piece over and put several small drops of glue along the edge.

Place the edge with the glue on top of the first star point, laying the glued edge of piece 2 on the fold of piece 1. The points should match exactly.

Continue adding pieces in this manner until you've added 7 star points.


Glue the 8th star point on in the same way. The 8th star point will be laying on top of the 1st star point.

Gently lift the 1st star point and slip the edge of the 8th star point under the 1st. Raise the edge of the 1st piece, put glue along the edge, and press in place.


When the glue has dried, turn the piece over and put a small drop of glue under each flap to hold it down on the star.

Allow to dry. If your star is not laying completely flat, weight it down with books or magazines for several hours.

Your star is now ready to put on your window. You can use double sticky tape or roll your tape. (I rolled my tape but I don't like the fact that you can see the tape in the sun. I will try double sticky tape later.) I've read that people will actually glue them to their windows, but I change things around too much to do that! You can fill your window with different sized stars or use different color themes. I will share more star patterns soon!

This is a project we tried last summer and was originally post on July 3, 2009 at Nature's Way Learning. It was a good first attempt and is definitely something I want to re-visit again this summer. This time I will be limiting our colors to only primary colors so they blend nicer (our orange and blue last year turned brown and purple with the kids over zealous dipping). I will also be purchasing some squirt bottles to give us more control over the dyes. I will post again when we make our second attempt.

This is a project I have wanted to do with the kids for awhile now... a great summer project. My nephew's birthday was last week and we will be seeing his family for the first time in a long time at a wedding next week. The kids have already picked out a gift for their cousin but I wanted to give him something homemade too... something the kids could make for him. Sooo... Bug and I decide that the t-shirts would be cool.

This was our first attempt but the kids have already been asking to do it again. I'm sure we will get better at it... of course the big mistake was on my part. I had too many colors to pick from for the first try. The kids wanted to use all the colors and like an Easter egg that has been dipped in every color (if you have ever dyed Easter eggs with a two year old I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) the shirts started to take on that mucky brown/purple color.

We started with washed but damp 100% cotton shirts, Dylon brand permanent dyes, salt, rubber bands and containers. The Dylon brand dyes are reactive with salt and warm tap water (safer for the kids with no boiling water... of course don't eat it or get it in your eyes). You will probably want gloves... but I didn't have any. I think I need a manicure before the wedding ;). The kids were dressed in their swim suits and old t-shirts.

Then off course comes the tying part. Bug was able to do this part on his own but the girls needed help. They would pinch off the fabric they wanted tyed and I put the rubber band on for them.

After the shirts were tied I prepared the dyes. I followed the directions on the packet, which included I believe (I didn't save a packet to look at) 4 TB of salt, 4 cups warm water and the dye. A quick dip was enough to get light colors. Had we only used one color... thorough soaking would have led to much brighter colors. The dye colors mix like they should... red and blue will make purple.

Then we rinsed the shirts until the water ran clear (I actually did this part... the kids held the hose for me).

It was very exciting when we took the rubber bands off. Of course the kids didn't totally understand what was supposed to happen and they eagerly awaited each shirts unveiling. I rinsed them again and then hung them to dry in the shade.