six

Ella turned six last week. There'd been a lot of ongoing discussions about her party (a whole year's worth) but on Thursday we sat down together and had a bit of a planning session about what we'd do. How I love these discussions - a girl after my own heart - a fairy corner, a royal court, a night sky (I found a note she had written on the topic: "moor stuf - wot ubat wee can mac a nyt skuy").

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I suggested some crafty and maybe a few dress-ups, and she came up with the genius suggestion that the kids could make masks and then get dressed up for a Samba parade "like at Womad". Brilliant. And then we thought we'd have a wishing tree - where Ella could attach leaves for each of her party friends and they could attach leaves for her. We did a lot of thoroughly enjoyable preparation - painted party bags, drew a tree, cut and painted leaves, picked glitter and lanterns.

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All of this pretty much worked out - this short sentence underlying a fair amount of activity and chaos and joy and excitement. I thought they might have lost interest, but the kids insisted on a Samba Parade up the street with flags, drums and tinsel. They wanted to go further, but the grown-ups were flagging. Of course I didn't get one photo - too busy banging the drum and tying elastic on masks.

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What a joy to be six.

house-bound house-found 3 - sticky tape

And how about this little mixed collection of craftyness, reading practice and green found on the kitchen table?

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Sticky-tape- how it is loved in this house. There is nothing my girl cannot mend or create with a few bits and pieces and some sticky tape, which she much prefers to glue any day - so in case you're in need, here are a few sticky tape ideas: make a laptop with a plastic box, bits of paper and stickytape; stickytape a buckle back onto a broken shoe; stickytape a button to a door as a doorbell; stickytape a torn hat back together; stickytape some buttons to a small cardboard box to make a mobile; stickytape fabric scraps onto small dolls as clothes, make a sculpture from some stickytape, feathers and a large cardboard box ...

house-bound house-found 2

Ale's birthday star, Ella's skirt design, love bag, alphabet, bye-bye in chinese, Ella's jobs, cupboard of tiny found things, Blondie lyrics, and Proper Moments for Drinking Tea ...

christmas crafty plans (present ideas carefully hidden), collage dragon (from school), recipe for 'icky-sticky fruit pops', paintings, mandala

Folding girls, dolphins, people and stars - a project with Nana.

bag painting

Two bag artists stand proudly by their work. I keep paper bags and every now and then we get them out and decorate a few for gift-bags. It was hard getting the logistics of this art project sorted out because Ella had everything carefully set up on a special little table that Jamie wanted access to so mucho shouting, shrieking and paintbrush snatching. This isn't the kind of vibe you hope for in a chilled out spring garden art project, but we pressed on. I hung the results to dry on the climbing frame and decided to take a few pics - both artists quickly edged into the frame to appear with their work.

Doing ArtTivities

Ella writes: Bookmaking and activities. Headdress with an aeroplane - that was very fun. I made a book by myself. i love making books. i love doing activities. I've been learning letters a lot.

Lovely things

We took a family trip into the city and up the very special lifts ("The lifts remain some of the last in Melbourne to be operated by a 'lift lady'") in the Nicholas Building to visit Kimono House - a Japanese textile workshop that Mum had discovered. I have been looking at Japanese Loop Bags lately and trying to work out "how to" and finally got a set of instructions. This is my first bag - and I like the way it turned out and hope to make many more! Also here is my new wonderful felted hole-scarf from my Felting Friend Michelle, which I love. She said the "holes were the most popular" with her friends and explained how to refelt it if it needed it down the track. I like this concept - that you sort a bit of wear and tear with some gentle coaxing with soapy water and bubble-wrap and hey presto - brand new scarf.