We are finishing a theme right now of Marie Antoinette and basket making. The Marie Antoinette theme has been so much fun. Ridiculously fun. Some surprise books that have really captivated us from the library were, The Revealing Story of Underwear
And baskets. And basket making. And the history of baskets, which haven't changed a whole lot, which is really thrilling. We have a few unfinished baskets still to be completed, using reeds and all that from this kit we bought. It's definitely better for the older girls—not for the four year old. This one using magazines/paper is more her speed.
I had been wanting to try fabric coil baskets, and also a braided coil rug, for a bit now. We tried these shown here and it was pretty fun. These, I have to admit (sheepishly) are made using a glue gun. I have mixed feelings about this. I feel icky about the glue/plastic being combined with fabric. They are also not so strong, more for decoration. The plus was the speed with which we could put them together, but it was burn-y and made the craft less hands-on than I intended.
Next time, a needle and thread will be used, even if attention spans are wandering. These were made from 1" fabric strips wrapped around about 6 yards of 1/4" cotton cording (this amount made 2 small baskets) and then glue dots from a hot glue gun were used as needed. There is so much online about how to make these, with several different techniques, including one all by sewing machine, which would be all me doing the sewing, but I am itching to try it. I got kind of weird researching baskets. I think I spent more time researching than making. I hope to add a few more basket crafts to our activities before we move on.
Unrelated, I am honored to be in such good company over on the 2012 Babble's Top 50 Mom Craft Blogs List. Woot! Check out the whole list here.
