Beautiful Necklaces

Using these tools ...






and these beads,





the girls made these necklaces!







Marcella also made a necklace for herself.
Beautiful!

(Note: Hannah got sunscreen in her eye, so that's why she's wearing the patch. She's going to the hospital this week to get her eye fixed.)

Trinket keeper

I bought some air-dry clay so that we wouldn't have to bake these little pinch pots in the oven. The girls made lids to that they could keep their trinkets safely inside.




Here they are drying. Cameron decorated hers with a sea-star, Marcella put a flip-flop on hers, and I put a starfish on mine.




After two days, they were ready to paint with acrylics.








The last step was to put on a shine with clear nail polish after the paint dried.








Aren't they cute?

Sunflower paintings

Sunflowers always brighten our day, and these sunflowers inspired Marcella to paint this flower.

More Garden Art

Marcella decided we need more garden art this summer. Here's her sparkly butterfly painted on a popsicle stick "mat" with acrylics. Don't forget to add glitter!

Paper Baskets

Last month Cameron made this cute paper basket
1. Fold a square piece of construction paper in thirds.
2. Open and fold in thirds the other way so that you show 9 squares.
3. Cut on the 2 folds on each of opposite sides. Stop when you get to the center square.
4. Cut 8" x 1" strip for handle.
5. Use center square for bottom & fold up sides. Use small hole punch on sides & handle. Use a small brass fastener to hold handle in place.
Voila!

Cameron decorated hers with some American Girl paper flowers.

Artisan's Fair

The girls & I went to the Living History Park Artisan's Fair yesterday. We saw beautiful photography, oils, watercolors, music-box paintings, and jewelry.

We also talked to the artisans from the 1700s. The toymaker patiently explained how each toy worked.


A tap-dancer!

This "mother & baby" rocker
was fascinating.

Tie-Dye Art

We're getting ready for The Tremmel 5/1 Party (aka "The Marcella Party") in Raleigh, NC. The girls made tie-dye T-shirts for their cousins. Tie-dying is so much easier these days using complete kits from the craft store.


M & C had fun folding and scrunching the T-shirts. M is an expert at swirling, creating a bull's-eye, and putting on those rubber bands.

Next, we took the project outside. Following the kit's directions, we added water to the dye and shook it up. Then, the girls squirted the dyes on the folds in the shirts being careful not to "muddy" the colors.

After four hours of marinating in plastic bags, the girls hosed down the shirts to get rid of excess dye. C has powerful muscles and can wring out shirts like nobody's business.

Ta-da! Beautiful tie-dye T-shirts!