Monday, November 29, 2010

Quick Little Project (#10)


A few weeks ago I decided that I needed to do a quick little project. I really needed that feeling of getting something DONE! So, I had seen these all over blog land, and after we had unpacked a little (and I found my E-6000 glue) I realized that I had somehow accumulated a whole bunch of vases. Now, I know I will never need so many. Trust me, I am not given armloads of flowers by my many admirers, so I decided to turn them into a decoration.

I had a pair of candlesticks that I had picked up a few years ago for a few bucks. I rarely used them, because have you ever noticed how hard it can be to get two taper candles to stand straight up? You need melted wax to get them to stay, or putty, or something. So, they weren't getting much use...
A little E-6000 glue...
Hey, wait, I have 2 candlesticks.... so I found another vase, a different shape and height, but I think it works better that way.

I didn't have enough acorns to fill them to the top, so I added these little mini pumpkins.
Since I never really found my box with most of my fall/ Thanksgiving decorations in time, these really helped the house look festive.
Yesterday I packed up the Thanksgiving decorations, and decided that these would look great filled with some ornaments, or pinecones, or something else for Christmas.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

This counts for a lot of projects


So, I've obviously not posted any projects for months and months. I thought this was entirely due to being pregnant and moving. But, I've realized that there is something else that really gets in the way of getting any projects done.
It's called Motherhood.
My mom told me that it doesn't matter how many kids you have- 1 or a dozen, they will take up ALL your time. She is (as usual) completely right. So, I've decided to stop trying to figure out if I'm crazy for having my 4th kid, and just embrace the fact that I may never get another project of my own done for the next 20 years.
And, I've decided that it's O.K. to count projects that I do with my kids.
My 4th grader was assigned to make an Indian Village diorama. He could choose any Indian tribe of Texas, and went with the Wichita.
I made the baking clay, and we went to work.

These are not actually teepee's. They were permanent structures made from mud, minimal wood, and straw/grass.
Making those little Indian people was the hardest part. The next day the teacher sent home some plastic Indians that the kids could use. A day too late, and since we'd already put the work into it, we were keeping our little clay people.
My son painted it...
And put straw on all the houses.

Here's some close-ups of our little people sitting around the fire, tanning a buffalo hide, and grinding corn.
That's my sons hand, gluing rocks on in the upper left hand corner, so you get a sense of how tiny these people were!

Anyway, we are really proud of this project, my son and I work really well together on things like this, so we are hoping he nails the oral report and winds up with a grade worthy of the 20 plus hours we spent on this project!!!