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Peasant Blouse

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Since we are planning to put our children to work in the field and feed them only potatoes, I decided to make some peasant blouses.

Here’s the first one with a Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric (appears that this particular pattern is no longer available there), which is a nice thin weight perfect for this project.  I looked at this tutorial, but cut the pattern based on a shirt we already had.  The shapes of the sleeves were a little tricky for me to envision as they become part of the elasticized neck, so are not traditional sleeve shape.  But it was an incredibly simple thing to make.  I think it turned out well and I already have the fabric cut for the second one.  This style could also make a simple dress.

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Mosaic Bird House

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I love my children’s artwork, so I was thrilled that my five-year-old came home from summer camp with this mosaic bird house. I worked with her on the grouting and looks like we need to do some more cleaning, but it is a treasure! Great summer activity. Don’t throw away those broken dishes; save them for a project.

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Mermaid Dolls & Soap Supplies

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I used this ingenious idea from Angry Chicken to make mermaid tails for a couple of the girls’ dolls. After taking these photos I realized that yes, mermaids are weird and dolls in general are just kind of creepy (note zombie-like stare of doll pictured on the right).

But there was much excitement in the house about these. I showed my kids the photo from Angry Chicken and they were thrilled because they had one of the same dolls. I didn’t quite follow the instructions, opting for a lazier one-piece version with polyfill stuffing in the tail. I think the two large seashells on that one doll might be a bit much! Better than Barbie, I guess. I think little slip-on fairy wings would be another cute project for the dolls when the girls get tired of mermaids.

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On another note, I just received these soap-making supplies from Brambleberry. I can’t wait to mix up some stuff and see what happens. The scents smell heavenly and I love the molds.

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The Difficulty of Having Me for a Mother

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It’s not going to be easy for them.  We made a fabric painting for Father’s Day and I asked them to re-do it three times. It was the sizing in the fabric and the types of paint we used that caused the need to experiment.  By the final go, the three-year-old didn’t want to paint anymore.  I did let them choose the colors and paint any way they wanted.  I am working on the control issues.

In the end, we went with a washed canvas fabric (to remove sizing) and acrylic paints mixed with water.  The kids squirted the paint on with squirt bottles to create puddles.  Then I cut the fabric into strips, stapled the strips to an old wooden frame and the five-year-old weaved the strips together.  I would like to do another one with just three or four nice bright colors and keep the canvas intact.  The uncut painting looks good, doesn’t it?  I was thinking of the work by Helen Frankenthaler.  I have always loved the rich, bleeding images she creates with unprimed canvas.

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