A Mother's Journal » CM:Handicrafts

Playhouse or Hiding Place for Mom?

Lynn — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 02:51:14 +0000

I can be so spontaneous. It’s what I love most about myself. Except when it keeps me from doing something really important that I’m supposed to be doing and then I feel bad. But usually I’ve done something so much fun in its place I have a hard time being sad. It’s an affliction, really, and I know at least a few of my children have inherited it.

Tuesday was a gorgeous, gorgeous day! It really was. I was supposed to work, but the internet was out, giving me actually the perfect opportunity to clean up some in the house and help Michaela with some math. We did do some math, but then the bright sunny window in the den kept calling to me. Look out, out into the yard, and see the needy playhouse.

(old before picture)

I looked.

I had a vision.

There are wood scraps in the yard and there’s a scrap bin at Home Depot.

I closed the math book.

I began to stare.

“Mama, what’s wrong?” Michaela asked.

“Nothing,” I said, walking zombie like to the back door.

~~I claim~~ I’d like to claim little to no responsibility for this act of frivolity, but somehow Michaela and I ended up outside with the drill, the hammer, screws, nails, a tape measure and no plan whatsoever, and little by little we closed in the little house that sits up high as part of her swingset.

Yeah, we just used what we had and it’s not fancy, but it’s so much fun! And we had fun doing it!

Are you ready for a tour?

Honestly, I’ve had a hard time staying out of the playhouse ever since. It’s actually a wonderful little retreat, right in my own yard. Once you climb up and in, there’s a piece of wood (above) that goes over the opening from the stairs and can be held in place by a long curtain rod. The curtain rod holds a heavy curtain that covers the opening to the slide. Curtain rod has a dual purpose. Sort of like me. I teach math and I build playhouses on the side.

Once inside, with that wood up and the curtain closed, it turns into a little house. Oh, and that’s a real window on the front in the first picture. It just adds something special. We might have to hang a pretty something in it for decoration.

That coffee cup. It’s mine. And that’s my leg, still pajama clad, because I had my coffee in the playhouse this morning, with the curtains and doors closed and I read gardening magazines. All by myself.

The back wall is mostly closed up. The opening at the top is pretty open, for sure. In other words, you would not be able to sleep out here in 27 degree weather, but you can see the stars through it! And yes, I was out there Tuesday night, with my lantern and candles, hiding. I asked the carpenter if he wanted to come up and he said he got enough excitement out of watching me go up and so he politely declined.

I am making up for all of the days I never had a playhouse when I was little. I did have a playhouse, but not every day of my entire childhood. It was not built until I was in about 6th grade, so I think some make-up time is completely necessary.

See that white panel to my left? That’s another sliding door. If you need to flee out the back of the playhouse, you slide that door open and go down the fire pole. I did that once already and I said WEEEEEEEE as I was going out.

Maybe my favorite corner. An old bike basket covered in candles.

Two hanging candle lanterns and two or three tabletop candles give the perfect amount of light to sit in there at night with a cup of hot tea. Thinking. Looking at the stars. Taking an occasional peek at a gardening magazine. I’m not sure if this is Michaela’s playhouse or my hiding place. What do you think?

Glad~Greetings Cottage

Lynn — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:49:23 +0000

I wanted to share with you the latest little house that’s going to market.

Isn’t it amazing, and fun, to see what can be made from old boxes and things that would otherwise go in the trash?

The cottage is called Glad-Greetings because of the little girl on the support column and her Glad Greetings.

Made from a cardboard box, this little cottage has wood floors, fabric walls and a beautiful lace “wall paper border.” It comes with handmade furniture.

There’s a fireplace in the corner, with a hearth and a little pot made from Sculpey and wire.

Cork and wire make for good curtain rods, and lace always makes pretty curtains.

The sleigh style bed boasts storage drawers underneath, of course covered in sparkles and with dainty wire-and-bead drawer pulls.

The little window sill is big enough for sitting things on, perfect for a little fairy who lives in the woods and collects things.

A chinese take-out container was cut in half and then covered in fabric to make two beautiful wingback chairs.

The containers were unused and probably would have ended up in the trash were it not for The Scrap Exchange.

I put in a little Kelly doll to illustrate the size of the furnishings.

A clock and little dishes made from Sculpey have started filling in the cupboard, made from a little gift box.

I hope you enjoyed your tour! I’ll be posting this as well at The Homemade Dollhouse for safekeeping.

As I have worked on this little cottage, Michaela has been working on her own little cottage: think handicrafts, if you’re using Charlotte Mason ideas in your homeschool.

Enjoy this day.

A Thing of Beauty…

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Our week has been so crazy, we got very little school work done; let’s be honest here. If we did not homeschool, I’d worry, but I know there is an ebb and flow to homeschooling that allows for life lessons.

One thing we did do this week was to make a pretty mobile that’s full of birds, bees (from the Scrap Exchange, of course), and just little bits of glittery what-nots.

In fact, we had started this the morning that we found Oreo. While we worked, we talked about things we are thankful for. Our efforts were made in little spurts as Michaela kept going out to call Oreo, but working with our hands gave us something to keep ourselves busy while we worried. The table (above) was left in just such a mess when Michaela came in so upset and then we left quickly to go to Dr. Mac’s office.

Once home, and after getting Oreo settled in the best we could, we finished up our little mobile. The goal is to add beautiful, floating-in-the-air words to it throughout December, naming things we are thankful for.

I love the little fabric covered birds, and the keys — I guess Oreo had the key to our hearts that day.

There is a large barrel full of these bees at the Scrap Exchange. I love them!

The birds and large, heavy bees remind me of my garden.

The centerpiece of the mobile is Michaela’s bird. A fancy bird with exquisite feathers.

I’ll be sure and show you a picture of our mobile at the end of December.

Happy Saturday! Here’s to enjoying and living in the moment and being the best we can be right now. We only have today.

We Cannot Escape History

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:05:22 +0000

“We cannot escape history,” is what Abraham Lincoln said, and as we listened to Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait this morning, Michaela and I worked on our project of re-creating Lincoln’s birthplace for our homemade doll house collection.

It is simply a cardboard box that we are coloring the logs and mud plaster onto. We cut out the one door and one window and hung a bearskin (felt) over the door. The single window in the small cabin was covered with oiled paper (we used wax paper). The floor was hard dirt so we painted on a thick layer of Mod Podge and sprinkled sand into it and let it dry. After allowing it to dry and shaking off the excess, we had a nice dirt floor.

We have several items to add yet, including a bed of saplings, a homemade coverlet and a fireplace. We will continue to add items as we read on through Abraham Lincoln’s World by Genevieve Foster. It’s one of Michaela’s books for Ambleside Online Year 5. I have gotten questions before regarding what to do for handicrafts and boys, and I think a project like this is so much fun! It’s does not have to be classified as a doll house!

Lately our school days have been full of history, made even richer by our participation in our Five In A Row co-op activities. I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy being a part of a co-op and learning alongside other moms (super nice friends) and their children.

A few weeks ago we had a two-hour co-op class here. All activities were centered around the book Cowboy Charlie, which is the story of Charles M. Russell, American painter of the American Wild West. It ties in nicely with our other current reads as the times of Charles Russell pick up where Abraham Lincoln’s world left off.

We read the book, Cowboy Charlie, as a group and then set off to travel around the yard by pretend train to different areas set up to represent different phases of Charles Russell’s life.

Michaela and I had made a tepee ahead of time, and you can barely see it because it blended right into the background on this cold, gray day, but the children enjoyed it and some of them came dressed up and ready to re-enact!

One of the parts of the co-op that I worked on was “passports” to the west. There was a mystery character for each child, sealed in an envelope until everyone had received theirs. The children then opened their envelopes. We had many famous people there: Buffalo Bill, Crazy Horse, Annie Oakley, Laura Ingalls Wilder and others. It was really fun to see the children open their envelopes and find out who they were!

The original passports were made from luggage tags and then laminated. I made a quick black and white photocopy of each one to keep a laminated set on hand for personal reference. (Not to mention I wanted a tangible reminder of the day.)

My co-teacher (love her) talks about an area concerning one of the historical figures we had chosen to tell the children about.

After being outside and getting almost too chilly but not quite, we all came in and learned about the 12 constellations that tell the story of Jesus’ birth, death, and return. Cowboy Charles M. Russell worked under the stars, remember.

We then crowded into the toasty kitchen and had warm apple cider, coffee, venison sausage, rice cakes, peanut butter and carrot sticks. Everyone was so kind and I enjoyed so much having everyone over. It was a day that made some precious memories for Michaela and me. (Leslie, thank you for the pictures!)

We cannot escape history.

Lynn

Beds

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:15:28 +0000

Today’s post is obviously all about beds. Well, sort of.

I told you yesterday that Michaela was working on something for the doll house. She finished it and you can read all about it at our doll house blog, HomeMadeDollHouse. This was her handicraft yesterday.

For those of you who don’t have time to visit every blog under the sun, I’ll show you a picture here.

Can you guess what the bed is made from?

The other half of this post is about Annie and her bed.

Here she is standing by her bed, begging for some help up.

Where do you think Annie sleeps?

If you guessed on a pillow right bedside Princess of the Universe, then you are exactly right.

We are in the midst of a huge Charlotte Mason nature adventure, so I must run. More about that soon.

Happy Tuesday.

Lynn

Light Lessons

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:18:57 +0000

Since I’m recovering from the effects of a non-working thyroid, which has probably been building over a year’s time, I don’t want to add any more stress to my life than necessary.

For writing, Michaela will keep a journal about her new puppy, Annie.

For reading, I am definitely following the Ambleside Year 5 lessons and just calmly going with our own flow with those books. There is one book that Michaela absolutely “does not get” right now. (The Story of King Arthur and His Knights.) Stress? No. That one’s going on the back burner right now and I’m hoping to read that one with her aloud later. In the meantime she is loving the other books and placing figures on our timeline as we learn about new people. Pictures are easily printed from a Google search for this!

Last night we snuggled up with Annie and read more from Farmer Boy, our current read in the Little House series.

I think I have to work? Well, no, Almanzo’s father had to get up at midnight, at 40 below zero, and take a whip outside to rouse the cows that were not in barns. He had so much livestock that they could not all fit into his many barns and shelters. If the cows that were exposed to the air were left to sleep too long they would freeze in their sleep. So little Almanzo awoke to the sound of the door closing at midnight — father going out to keep the cows alive. He’d drive them around until they were good and warm and then let them rest again.

Now that was hard work.

There’s a wild aster in my garden that’s beginning to bloom. I love the tiny little blooms. It’ll look like a snowstorm before it’s done.

We’ll do some light and easy nature sketching.

I’m involved in a Five In A Row Volume 4 co-op this year. I’m very excited about that. As far as creative lessons and things done away from home, that’s where my energy will go right now. It’s easy to choose lessons from the Five In A Row manual, but we’ll be getting the children together to work on lessons and learn together. So much fun!

The Ambleside takes care of itself if we just do the reading. It gives us copywork material, timeline material, discussion material and more.

Of course we are doing math (Saxon 7/6) and many handicrafts. Even now, Michaela is working on a new bed for the doll house. It is being recycled from something I no longer needed. I’ll be sure and post pictures!

Have a lovely Monday!

Lynn

The Fancy Doll House Vase

Lynn — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:16:53 +0000

Looks good with guinea feathers, no?

My mother has guineas, and we took a Christmas day walk yesterday. I picked up a bag full of treasures from nature. (Pictures from that soon.)

We’ll have to keep the vase and feathers away from the flames. One must be careful with fire in the house! (And outside of the house, too.)

Lynn

PS – I think making things for the doll house, especially from nature, qualifies nicely as a Charlotte Mason handicraft.