Lego pyramids

What can't we do with Legos? We already have a Kenyan city, near the trees of Wangari and the snows of Mt. Kenya, and a train that carries visitors south to Victoria Falls, and now we have the Pyramids of Giza. All three. Creating Pyramids doesn't really require a lot of "how-to" but here's how we did anyway.

We started with a flat sheet and built a base that was 28x2 on all sides. For each subsequent layer we stepped in one row. In order to make it usable for play he needed to be able to reach the inside so we left a doorway by not finishing one wall, and we also made the tip removable. No sooner had we finished the first pyramid than he mentioned the need for three pyramids if indeed this was to be Giza. That took a bit more doing, since we were running of materials, but we managed it. The only thing we couldn't do was make the tip easily removable, since we were out of the smooth thin pieces, but the other two pyramids are smaller (as they are in Giza, mind you), and that step wasn't as necessary.

Appropriately we happen to have one mummy, one pharaoh, one safari explorer, and two explorer pilots in our minifigure collection. The camels, however, were our own creation. Don't laugh.

To make the tip removeable we stabilized it with two platform pieces, then limited the point at which it snaps in place to just one side by using thin smooth strips on three of the sides and just one dimpled strip on the fourth side.

Birthday apron and card

This was my first reversible apron. I know it's not an incredible feat, but it took me some time to accomplish it anyhow. Aside from the fact that I have little craft time to myself when I can actually concentrate on what I am doing, I've only ever made single sided aprons before this. I made this one from a pattern, but decided to alter the pattern to accommodate being lined. Then since I was lining it, why not pick a pretty fabric for the lining? And if I'm picking a pretty fabric for the lining, shouldn't it also be visible? So I went ahead and made it reversible. I'm still a novice seamstress, so there are plenty of errors here, but thankfully the kind that you only notice if you look closely. Very closely I hope. Or maybe it's the kind of apron only a mother could love, but since I gave it my mom for her birthday, it's all good.

And, of course, a birthday card as well, only that took just a short amount of time, and was done with the help of a little guy (because he's like that).

Spring bird houses

I stradle a line between the two: the frugal shopper and the quality sensitive mother. There are plenty of cheap toys out there that we could fill our house with—quite literally fill our house with—but we have always believed that quality was more important than quantity. I like a quality tactile experience. I love wood over plastic, rich colors and fabrics, things with a heavy heirloom feel. I like what buying quality means for our environment and loathe the consequences of buying cheaply and buying much. But then I'm drawn to things like the dollar section at our Joann's craft store. Small, paintable, wood birdhouses, a dollar each, and color palettes for the same, and the joy I know they will bring not only to my son but also to the family members he desires to gift them to, are completely irrestistible.

There were multiple days of planning and painting. There were specific recipients in mind. We had a (wishing for) spring dinner party, and they were our bright decorations. There were smiles of pleasure at the simple gifts. They matched the flowers he picked out, or really the flowers matched the little houses. They were worth far more than the $7 spent, and I think that's what makes the expenditure worth it. A $100 item better be worth every penny, but a $1 item better worth oh so much more.

Africa exploration art

We spent a lot of time exploring Africa this week. Between atlases, dedicated books, BBC and National Geographic videos, and the help of YouTube, we've been to a number of places. Calvin was the instigator of this foray, and his interests led us from Victoria Falls (between Zambia and Zimbabwe, he'll tell you) through the savanna on up to Mt. Kenya and the Great Rift Valley. We learned a lot about the animals and a bit about the land. It never fails to amaze me how much information a little guy can swallow up while still being hungry for more.

It is Saturday, meaning it's Artist day at Ordinary Life Magic, and because we explored Africa with our pencils, crayons and paint at hand, Calvin has a lot to share this week.

We started with the biomes, and exploration pictures of each one.

Then it was elephants. That's who he wanted to see a lot of on his trip through Africa, so he drew an awful lot of them.

Then giraffes, and lions, too.

We listened to music and enjoyed colors and clothing and ornaments traditional to a number of south and east African populations, and we really enjoyed reading a number of different African folk tales, or Anansi stories. This is really where our week began, since it was our trip to a play of African folk tales last Friday that launched our recent safari. An Anansi book we got from the library had torn and cut paper art illustrations, so we tried that, too.

I think this was my favorite art "moment" from the week, though. Early on Calvin requested a return of the paints and the week long painting project. I am very glad that our first experiment with that went well enough to elicit a requested return. He spent the week working out a landscape painting of the savanna. With an elephant, of course.

There are still many more projects up our sleeves, and because we're having such a great time with Africa I think we'll decide to skip the flight home and spend another few days, maybe a week...maybe more. I'd like to make African masks, and Calvin want to learn more about Egypt. Maybe we'll make pyramids. With rain, sleet, and snow outside right now, the the rainforest is also pretty appealing.

More posts on our African "travels" can be found in the journal.

Making elephant ears

Wool felt, leftover from a previous project, black thread, and ten minutes after lunch. He said he wanted to be an elephant and so he was.

I cut a three inch wide strip, long enough to go around his head with two inches left over. I folded it in half and closed it with a finishing stitch all along the outside.

I cut two ears, using a printed map of Africa as a template (since African elephants have African ears), and Sewed them to the band with two rows of stitching, the ears laying flat and forward so that when he has the band on his head the stitching is hidden behind them. I finished with new sew velcro. Ten minutes to healthy elephant ears.

If I did it again I'd make the base of the ears much smaller, and I might even trim them away from the band a bit now.