Painting on the Walls

After redoing our floors we wanted to have the whole house painted...but that just isn't in the budget this year.  So, DD17, with some assistance from DD15, has taken to doing some acrylic painting on the girls' bedroom walls.

First, it was a little dragon (next to an ElfQuest family tree):

Sketch from a D&D manual

Getting the base coat down

Adding some details

Finished!

 

Dragon Head Close Up

And since that turned out so darling, next came a Druid, also from a D&D Manual:

Starting the sketch, DD15 helped with the facial features

Skin tones proved a trifle difficult

Now for the green

Adding some action

Druid Face Close Up

Completed Druid

And finally, a little fairy from Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairies:

DD15 Sketched most of this one

And DD17 painted it so fast, I didn't get any progress pictures!

Next up is a Mage from D&D...and some more fairies for the baby's room...and the boys are asking for large dragons!

Time4Learning -- checking it out for 30 days!

Over the next 30 days, I will be reviewing Time4Learning's online education program. It can be used as a homeschool curriculum, an afterschool tutorial or for summer learning. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. You can write your own curriculum review, too!

The above is the required text for my free 30 days!  I've heard of Time4Learning but never checked it out before.  I signed my 3 boys (grades 6, 3 & 1) up and am looking forward to turning them loose in the learning environment!

Speaking of environment, we are changing ours...we are having tile installed in our kitchen and hardwood in the rest of the house.  Goodbye, nasty carpet!

2012, Yes it is!

New since the last time I posted we've only done a few projects, because we got an Akita Inu PUPPY!  Her name is Tenshi, which means angel in Japanese (where the breed originated).

9 weeks ~17 lbs

 3 months

 4 months

5 months ~40 lbs

I also joined Pinterest, which means I have all kinds of ideas for new (non-history) projects!

In 2012, I'm looking forward to our family and homeschool life getting back to normal...a new life-with-a-dog normal, anyway!

TOG Ancients Projects: Reed Boat

DS8 really wanted to make a reed boat, as shown in 

Ancient Egypt Make it Work (a TOG scheduled book). 

We found a bag of dried grasses at the craft store and some yarn 

in my collection of unfinished projects.

Cutting the reeds and tying them in bundles took quite awhile.

DD14 came to help and the work went much faster.

And the boat turned out just like in the book!

He made a little paddle from craft sticks to go with it.  

Don't you just want to hop on?  

Maybe not hop...that would probably capsize the boat!

TOG Ancients Projects: Nile, Anubis, Salt Dough maps

DS8's beginning of a working "Nile" in a planter box: 

tin foil in the shape of the river (note delta on the left, which is appropriately North!), 

weighted down with some marbles and glass gems, grass seed planted on the banks

He will flood the Nile with water and hopefully the seeds will grow!

DD14's acrylic painted Anubis

We made salt dough maps at our 2 family co-op for TOG Week 1

 and then painted them when they dried. 

 I asked the older ones to use several landform terms we learned.  

Here are a few of them.

DD16 - you're never too old for salt dough!

DD14 - some high level place in World of Warcraft

DS5 - I think those are caves!

TOG Ancients Projects: More Wall Friezes, Flower Pot & Cat Mummy

Some projects from our first week of Tapestry of Grace Ancients!

DD16's Anubis Wall Frieze 

DD14's Udjet Eye Wall Frieze

DD16's Bastet flower pot

DS6's Cat Mummy (mustard bottle body)

TOG Ancients Projects: Mummy, Wall Frieze & Beaded Collar

The beginning of our Ancient History Museum

DS8 wanted to get started on some projects and so we went with the ones we had materials for already: Paper Mache Mummy, Carved Plaster Wall Frieze, and a Beaded Collar.  These are all found in the excellent book Make History Ancient Egypt by Nancy Fister and Charlene Olexiewicz!

Creating the mummy from newspaper and masking tape.

The finished mummy (note: whole wheat flour isn't the best for paper mache) and the drying plaster.

The finished mummy!  I painted the facial features and DS8 drew the symbols from another great book: Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book

Carving a cobra into "sandstone" (painted plaster)

The long beads were made from triangles cut from magazines, rolled around a straw and glued.

Assembling the beaded collar took a lot of patience, especially with the small-handed "helper" around

The finished collar turned out nice, but too fragile to wear on a daily basis

I'm looking forward to many more projects to fill up our museum as the year goes on!