When Antony was not yet in kindergarten he fell in love with ancientEgyptian history. That Christmas we made orange clove-studded pomanders and pretended all the while that they were mummies. The children thrilled to see the fat juicy oranges shrink with time, growing hard and dense as our "embalming" spices preserved them. Although that was over seven years ago, we still have those lovely scented pomanders, as fragrant as the day they were made.
Years later we found a clever article in a children's science magazine, ChemMatters, that told of two scientists who followed ancient Egyptian embalming procedures and made a modern mummy. We thrilled to the description of the herbs and spices used to embalm the corpse, as they were the same ones we used for our oranges! Talk about learning something!
JEWELRY
My girlfriend, Jerri introduced me to jewelry making as a hobby when my children were very small. Much-coveted jewelry in fancy boutiques became seeds of inspiration for my own creations and I was hooked.
When Octavian was in kindergarten I taught him how to design and make simple bracelets and necklaces using my tools and supplies. He easily made sophisticated looking jewelry of semiprecious stones and sterling silver to sell at art shows and a business was born! For four years Octavian kept inventory lists, supply reorder lists and priced his items using the common business practice called keystone. Every summer he attended art shows where he sold his jewelry, counted money, made change and kept accurate records of his earnings. Then when he came home, he added up his money to deposit in his savings account! Whew, would you like a little art with your math, sir?
Now, on to bigger and better things (trigonometry and tutoring students in algebra). Octavian makes jewelry for his own personal use . . . but he always gets a kick out of running into people at art shows who stop him to wave an arm in his face and say, "Hey, look, I'm still wearing it!"
Beeswax Ornaments
The December issue of Victoria magazine features lovely Christmas ornaments made of golden beeswax. Hand poured into molds, these fragrant and durable ornaments glow warmly.
I couldn't wait to show Antony those pages of Victoria because he has made the very same ornaments for over five years! We have given them as gifts to loved ones and Antony has sold his beeswax creations in craft shows and art gallery Christmas shows.
With a simple ingredient list of clean unbleached beeswax and a piece of cord, these ornaments can be made by mommies and kids with very professional results. An assortment of clay, plastic and wooden molds can be purchased in craft stores, yard sales, and thrift shops. All you have to do is melt the wax and pour it into the mold, let it cool and pop it out! Voila!
Cast Paper Ornaments
We make another very sophisticated-looking Christmas ornament with the same molds that we use for the beeswax. These cast paper ornaments can be used as traditional tree ornaments like the ones that sell in catalogues such as Smith and Hawken (fancy). Or they can become the component parts of designer greeting cards, wall art, etc.
We originally bought a kit to make our very first cast paper ornaments. The kit included a rag paper and a bonding clay for making several ornaments. The paper is cut up and whirled with water and powder in a kitchen blender. The resulting pulp is poured into the molds and the excess water is blotted with clean towels. A day later the ornament is dry and ready to paint or hang.
Hand-Rolled Beeswax Candles
My boys used to attend a Waldorf-style craft class and it was there thatthey were introduced to the joys of rolling beeswax candles. Each year the holiday season finds us rolling our own beeswax candles to give as gifts to our family members (of course I keep some!). Rolling beeswax candles is easy, especially when you buy a kit. Most kits provide sheets of beeswax, colored or natural and the proper amount of wick to make a specified number of candles. A child as young as six can make these candles with a little help from an adult or older child.
The wax is cut to desired size (kits provide excellent instructions), the wick is cut to size and is simply rolled up with the wax into a tube that stays together and looks very professional. Have you ever smelled beeswax? Mmmmm. These candles smell heavenly. This craft is very easy and yields such elegant results.
Plaster of Paris Masks
Last year we attended Shakespearean masquerade ball in costume. We met a gentleman who had been to Venice and was sporting the loveliest mask that he had purchased there. Antony was entranced by its elegance and simplicity. It was similar to the harlequin style masks, held on a stick with multicolored squares and colorful trim.
Later we attended a physical theater workshop given by the FAUSTWORK Mask Theater Company. The performer demonstrated the use of different masks and how to create a unique character around them. Antony loved the masks!
So, off to the craft store for us to find mask-making equipment and thank goodness they had a tidy little kit, called Rigid-Wrap, for children. It included instructions for molding the mask on a real face with their cloth strips impregnated with plaster of Paris. Antony conned his brother into lying on the sofa and submitting to a greasy application of petroleum jelly on his face (protection from the ingredients and easy mask removal). Then Antony applied strip after strip to Octavian's face until the mask was completed. Waited twenty minutes, pulled it off, baked it in the oven on low heat and it was ready to paint! Wow!
We absolutely love rubber stamps. They are so versatile. My girlfriend makes lovely cards by embossing a stamped image with silver or gold paint on off-white cardstock and envelopes. Antony makes similar cards but does not emboss them. He makes his cards out of dark green, burgundy, navy, and black cardstock with white, cream or light blue ink. They make wonderful gifts.
There are so many themes represented by the images on rubber stamps. Some of our favorite themes are animals, gardening, plants, seasons, celestial, letters, numbers, angels, hearts, geometric, and more I can't remember. It is hard for me to stay away from the rubber stamp isle in the craft store, just last week I found a darling stamp of a black kitten with wings and a halo. Scarlett's new kitten, Prince, is black and looks just like the stamp. She will love it.
When we can't find just the right stamp, we make one! Craft stores sell large rectangular sheets of rubber that can be used to carve out rubber stamps. These sheets are reasonably priced. Of course, the old standby, rubber erasers, is the material of choice when you need to carve a small stamp in a pinch. I buy the economy-packs of pink rubber erasers at a discount store for pennies and carve away!
