Weekend Ramblings....

This weekend Tinkerbell became a reindeer.

She wasn't happy becoming a reindeer but she liked her sweater without the hood.

Newt won his first three wrestling matches of the season becoming a 4X Pine Barren Tournament Champ! Woo Hoo!  Haley and I were able to watch 2 of his 3 matches then had to take off for New York City. We walked around the city for a little while then went to see her friend's quartet and orchestra concerts at a certain music school.

Haley eating a macaroon at Lincoln Center.  The only photo I took in NYC that came out. Ugh!

 After the classical concerts, we walked to the Irish Arts Center to see Mick Moloney's Irish Christmas Show. Mick was nice enough to invite Haley to play with them onstage at a certain part of the show. So, during his interview time....he always invites someone from the audience to be interviewed during his Christmas programs and after he finished interviewing an author, he had Haley up. He interviewed her a bit. She played a tune solo then went into another tune with the other two fiddlers in the show.
We were excited to just see the show. Mick not only has Celtic music, songs, and stories but also has people from other cultures demonstrate their traditions.

We went from the concert to a session a couple blocks away and stayed until Haley said she couldn't keep her eyes open...which was sometime around midnight. We drove to her fiddle teacher's house, stayed for the night, had a lesson in the morning and drove home.

Once home, Haley practiced her classical music then decided she wanted to learn how to make snowflakes so we looked up some instructions and came up with these...

History Project...

Haley has been enjoying her Civil War history class. This week she put her new sewing machine to good use. She learned how women would often make their soldiers a "housewife." This was a small material bag with pockets to hold buttons, bits of thread, pins, needles, and sometimes a thimble so the soldier could make clothing repairs if he needed.

Haley used the pattern supplied by her teacher and used some material and ribbon she had collected. She did all her own sewing then filled her housewife with some buttons, a thimble, thread, and a couple needles.

She is very proud of her craft project.

My Antique Store Find...

 Haley had a little girls' makeup desk in her bedroom with a tiny stool so short her knees were getting close to her chin when she sat on it. She's getting taller and older so it was time to retire the tiny desk and look for a new one.

I had a little time on Thursday too far from home to get there between patients so I walked around the main street of the town where I was and found a little antique store. I noticed this cute little desk just the right size for the space in Haley's room. I honestly did not think it was an antique but thought painted white, it would be perfect. I talked the man down on the price wiggling it...the legs were not screwed in tight.
He was willing to negotiate. I only had my little car so put down a deposit. Haley and I went to pick it up today. She sanded it down while Daddy went to get some white paint. They painted it together and Haley is so proud of her work and the result. She cleaned her room and we put it in. Now we just need to find a nice stool or chair for it!

The finished product. Pretty good for $50. Eh?

Haley's Crafts....

Taking her inspiration from MyFroggyStuff, Haley has made a couple of her own videos for crafts to make for dolls. She'd love it if people would watch them and comment! Here's her youtube channel.

Thanks!

Crafty

I have posted a number of times about Haley's creativity and her little box doll rooms. She found videos of a woman making tiny doll furniture and other things. So the past few days she has been making a huge mess of my house....er, I mean making cute little doll things for her mini American Girl dolls.

Here are some samples of her work...

Doll bunk beds

Doll bathtub

Lamp

Doll candy

Doll vacuum

Since these photos she has made a doll stove, doll dresser, sinks, food, and kitchen table and chairs. 

Sometimes I worry that I am not getting to art enough. It seems to be the subject we never find time for except for Mapping the World with Art. I guess I needn't worry because Haley seems to do art and crafts all the time on her own.

Doll Pies...

Haley is a creative kid. She spends a part of her day making things. (Sometimes this drives a neat freak mother crazy but I try to be supportive.) Her creations are very cool. She made her own "Quiet Books" for each of her little cousins for Christmas, always takes off with boxes to make little detailed houses and rooms for her small dolls, makes her own jewelry (the latest was a pair of guitar pick earrings with magnetic findings because her ears are allergic to metals), and enjoys making cards and crafty letters to send to friends.



Yesterday, she came up with a new project....Barbie/Monster High doll pies. The pies in the photo are a pink cherry pie, mixed fruit pie, cherry pie, and pumpkin pie. They are very cute and tiny!  She is hoping to sell her "pies."

Jack O' Lantern...

 This is the site I encountered upon coming home from work on Thursday night. Haley and Daddy had bought a big pumpkin and were happily turning it into a scary Jack O'Lantern. Haley did not want much help and kept asking her Daddy to let her do it herself.

We have a kit so she was using a not very sharp cutting tool to cut around the holes they had poked around the pattern they used.

Picture after Haley asked Daddy to stop helping for the 80th time. Ha!

A Fourth Grader and a Fairy House

 I love homeschooling my 9 year old. She loves to learn. She works hard on her own and is old enough that she is able to do more of her work independently. I no longer need to sit next to her while she does computer learning to help her input information. She only occasionally needs me to help with technical issues. I can give her a list of work that needs to be done on Thursdays when I work and know it will be done, along with all her practicing, when I get home.

She is absolutely a delightful child and we are having so much fun together. (I know the preteen years are close so I am fully enjoying this time with her.) We have been walking together while Dylan practices football at night. There is a 1.25 mile path around the fields and park so we walk it twice then get done in time to see the last half of Dylan's practice and finish up any schoolwork or reading we need to do. The other day, we noticed lots of cool things while walking so took a bag through the wooded area and picked up bits of bark, pinecones, and moss. We decided to create a "fairy house" as an art project. Haley added on some old yarn and bits of ribbon left over from making her headbands.

Here's the finished project....

Headband Craft

Haley and Maddie in their dresses from Ireland.

Last week when we took Haley's little cousin, Maddie, to our favorite boutique, Haley purchased some cute flower hair clips. Unfortunately her hair is very silky and most everything falls out which leaves her with headbands as about the only option.

We decided to try to make some ribboned (is that a word?) headbands to slip the flower clips into so they would stay in her hair.

I stopped at the craft store and found headbands and some pretty ribbon along with permanent fabric glue. We decided to make them today by wrapping the ribbon around the headbands and tacking it with the glue. Her flower clips easily slide into a fold of the ribbons.

Here are the finished products....

We had an extra headband so Haley remembered these little treble clef appliques her violin teacher had given her so we glued those on. Cute!