Tower Crane Building with The Boy

The Boy found the children's book Make It Work! Building by Andrew Haslam at our local public library last week. When we got home, he sat drooling over all the projects and loudly pointing out his favourites. After some cajoling and batting of the eyes (his - not mine), he managed to convince me that model building was probably something WE should do together. So, we rather painstakingly, narrowed down his choices to one.

Over the ensuing week, we set to building the model tower crane depicted in the book.

It was not a quick project. We spent a few hours per day over several days gathering and purchasing all the necessary bits and bobs, rummaging through my stash for things we could use, measuring and cutting all the component pieces, sanding, joining, and of course, waiting for glue to dry. A few times The Boy's interest was tested but, with a little cajoling of my own, we got it done.

In a few instances, we strayed from the plans. For example, instead of creating joints using the suggested hot glue gun (which I happily avoid anyways), we created them using carpenter's glue and little triangles of newsprint. And instead of making the boom in two large pieces and then glueing these two pieces together as shown in the book, we made one large boom all at once. We did the same for the tower.

I was also happy to find a use for a few odds and ends from my recyclable stash too. You know those little plastic hooks that come with store-bought socks? I've saved a veritable heap of them! It was nice to finally use a couple of them in this project. Also, the side of a small mandarin orange crate came in handy; we used one to make the two wooden platforms on the vertical tower.

In truth, our tower crane is not quite done. There are still a couple minor kinks to work out. We'd like to tweak the chain winding mechanism; it could run a little more smoothly we think. And the horizontal boom could use a small platform to rest on for additional stability. But otherwise it's pretty darn nifty.

I'm now thinking I'd like to build myself a model of a bridge... No, not for The Boy! For ME!! Doesn't that sound like heaps of fun?

♥M

Series 9: Old Towel New - Bath Puppet

Ah yes... Here we are. 'Tis the final chapter in the Old Towel New saga. With only scraps and dregs left over from the other towel projects I barely managed to scrape together this sweet double-duty bath puppet. See? It can serve as both a toy and a soft washcloth. The little ones can simultaneously have fun AND get sparkly clean. Handy, no?

Here's the how-to:

I made a simple newspaper template as below and cut out 2 of the large pieces and 4 of the circles.

I sewed two pairs of circles together, leaving a gap for turning. I then zigzagged around all edges of the two large pieces. I snipped the edges of the two circles (ears) and turned them inside out.

I cut a piece of freezer paper big enough to accommodate a face for my puppet and ironed it to one of the large pieces. I drew the face. [Note: I used freezer paper because it's difficult to transfer a design onto towel with all those nubblees hanging about.] Now, using a running stitch and embroidery needle and thread, I outlined my design directly through the freezer paper. I then carefully, very very carefully, removed the freezer paper. Finally, I went over the entire outline with a back stitch. Oh yes, and I used satin stitch for the tiny myopic eyes.

To put the puppet together, I placed the circles (ears) onto the face as shown below, and then put the other large piece on top and pinned the layers together. I machine-stitched around the perimeter just inside the zigzagged edge, leaving the bottom open. I stitched one last zigzag around that bottom edge to finish it off neatly. Finally, I flipped the whole thing inside out and...

Behold! One fine play 'n wash bath puppet:

That Terry... He's hilarious.

♥M

The rest of the Old Towel New series: mop pad, washcloths, soft watchband, car sponge, oven mitt.

Marigold Seed Collection with The Boy

We grow marigolds along the perimeter of our garden beds. This is an old gardening tradition that dates back to Adam, pretty sure. Marigolds, as you know, are quite oderiferous, and not in a good way. They're supposed to keep certain undesirable critters at bay. Honestly, I think the critters have become wise to our ways. They must wear face masks or something because the marigolds don't seem to stop 'em one little bit. Still, I love the old-time look of the flowers. So every year we dutifully plant them just the same.

Marigolds are extremely efficient seed producers. There's really no sense buying the seed. The flowers bloom and then die, and in no time new seeds are ready to be collected and sown all over again.

I've shown the boy how to collect the seed. He's taken up the habit with a vengeance. It's a cinch once you've done it, even for kids. It is quite fun, and there's something magical about it...

Here's what he does.

First he finds those old marigold blooms. I'm particularly lazy when it comes to dead-heading so I generally leave the spent flowers on the plants until they're really dead. Which makes them easy to find and collect. There's one now!

To remove the old bloom, he puts one finger on either side of the flower base and snaps the ol' girl off with a flick of the wrist. She snaps off real easy-like.

He can harvest as many as he likes. I do not mind.

To get at the seed, he starts by removing the spent petals at the top of the flower.

Once he's removed the petals, he can split open the seed pod to expose the seeds hidden inside. Sweet, eh? The seeds are long, narrow, and black and white in colour. If you look closely, you'll notice the white part is hairy too.

For those very old and dry blooms, it's just a matter of picking out the seeds from the pod. They slide out amazingly well.

{Note: If the seed pod is still green, a little more effort will be needed to remove the old petals and get at the seed. For seed collecting with kids, it's best to choose flowers that are quite dry and crunchy.}

Below you see the empty pod from an old bloom.

So what he's left with is this: seeds, empty pods and spent petals. Keep the seeds. Dry them on an open platter in a dry place for a few days and then store them in a clean container or envelope until next season. Compost the pods and petals.

He's made it a habit of picking apart the flowers as they die and immediately sowing the seeds. He just throws them on top of the soil along the garden edges.

We have new babies showing up constantly throughout the season. Aren't they cuties with their merry little faces popping up everywhere? Oh that boy, he has two little green thumbs and 8 green fingers.

Well, that's all for now. You have yourself a fun-filled weekend, and I will be sure to see you soon!