So, as part of their math unit on money, tomorrow the kindergartners are having a class "store," where they'll be given "money," allowed to spend it on various things (donated by parents), & then track their purchases in a "ledger."
I decided to make clothespin doll kits, because I think that just about anything is more fun in a kit, also I had a big bag of clothespins sitting around.
I started by using acrylic paint to "stain" some of my clothespins brown. I like those triangular makeup sponges for this: wet the sponge, dip it in some brown paint, rub it on the clothespin, & then wipe off the extra. You can also do this with a pretty wet paintbrush (brush on) & a paper towel (wipe off), but the sponges make it quick & easy.
Next, I drilled a 1/16" hole across the "shoulders" of the pin (perpendicular to the leg opening) for the pipecleaner arms to go through. In the past, I've just used a regular old drill to do this, but this time I got out the new Dremel drill press that I haven't touched since my parents gave it to me at Christmas, & it worked like an extremely speedy charm. (Yeah, I asked for it to help with various resin tasks, but instead I'm using it for yet more school projects. Story of my life right now.)
The kits contain a clothespin, a 3" length of pipecleaner (bent around into a "hand" at one end), two scraps of fabric, a tuft of wool for hair, & a bead bracelet. All stuff I had around, super easy to put together. The only really time consuming part of this project came from my decision to make an illustrated set of directions (click here for a pdf version!)*.
These are going to be "big-ticket" items, priced way up at 99¢ (the top of the imaginary price range). I think they'll sell well.
So then, caught up in the excitement of making tiny craft kits, I put together some bead stringing sets (34¢) & little bundles of wool for felting. (Felting has now become an activity center during the kids' afternoon free time, but they don't get to take the wool home, so I thought that it would be fun for them to be able to buy their own bags of wool (57¢)). I did end up picking up supplies from the craft store for the beading sets, but everything else came from stash, which in & of itself was a useful exercise, just looking around at my supplies & re-seeing them from a kid's perspective. (Can you tell that I have a loooong summer with kids ahead of me?)
It's sort of like getting ready for a craft show. With fake money, & the easiest-to-please crowd ever. I can't wait!
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*When you open the pdf file, it looks like a blank page. Scroll down & you'll see the instructions. It's two-sided, folded in fourths for packaging, & I designed it so that the fold would be across the top of the cover illustration, so the top part of the first page is blank.
Nice! I'm dl-ing the pdf ;) Gonna do fun stuff with kids, yay :)
Posted by: Sarah | September 06, 2009 at 11:42 PM
these doll are so cute!! How did you stain them with acrylic paint?
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This website is selling your pattern!
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I purchased it thinking it was a new clothespin doll pattern that I did not have. you won't see it on the website....but once you download it...it is the same one you offer for free!
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