OOPS -- forgot to show you ...

... the pictures of the finished clubhouse/stable.

And all have settled in quite nicely! Since these were taken (just after the 1st of 2009), StringBean has created a wonderfully cozy home ... with spool-knitted rug, blankets, cooking items and all kinds of wonderful things for her little friends.

It came out quite nicely .... especially considering it started out as a Math project!

Apples: Apple Doll craft

As I mentioned recently, we've been doing a bit of an apple unit. One of the books we found, Elisa Kleven's The Apple Doll, is a wonderful story about a little girl and her apple doll. At the end of the book are some easy-to-follow directions for making your very own apple dolls.

Today, since it was snowing when we got back from Mass, String Bean and I worked on making our very own dolls. In this dry, Front Range climate, they should dry fairly fast ....
First, get out your supplies: good, large & unblemished apples, sharp knife (or kids can use a ball point pen/plastic fork or knife), bowl, lemon juice, directions (in the book).Peel the apple so that all peel is removed -- probably best for an adult to do this step as you need a SHARP knife.
Carve the face -- start with the nose, cutting away the sides so the nose is above the rest of the face. Make holes for eyes and cut in the mouth, chin, cheeks, etc. The one on the right was "cut" using the back end of a plastic fork -- the definition seems better than the one on the left where a sharp knife was used!
Place the apples in a deep enough bowl so that the apples can be covered with lemon juice (to which 1-2 tbls of salt has been added). For our two apples, I used a whole bottle of lemon juice. Let the apples soak, submerged for at least 5 minutes.
Place the apples on a rack (or hang from string) to dry completely. The apples should shrivel up and look like old, weathered faces.

Once the apples are completely dried (dry and spongy), you can use chenille stems for arms and legs (twisting extra chenille stems to give it a strong body) or you can use sticks with bits of dried apple attached for hands and feet. Dress your doll and you are all set -- these dolls will last a long time, but do check them occasionally if you've had a more than usual humid day.