BOOK CLUB {for girls}

So, my daughter is in a little book club for girls. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! Not my idea, but I am glad she has gotten to participate. I got to host today, and our book was, "Little House In The Big Woods," by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I have to admit... I was a little nervous about what do to. They have to make EVERYTHING in the book. But, one thing was for sure... Mary and Laura LOVE their dolls! Their mom would make them paper dolls, and before Laura got a doll of her own, she had an old dry corn cob wrapped in a piece of fabric. SAD! My how things have changed! Part of the book talks about how they had to kill the pig for food, and the girls were so excited that Pa made them a balloon ball out of the bladder. I thought about giving each girl a balloon, and telling them it was a pig bladder, but decided against it {wink!}

So, instead of giving each girl a dried out corn cob and a piece of fabric, I decided we would make corn husk dolls. It is the first thing we did.

These are what I used. I got them at the grocery store.

I soaked them for about 10 minutes before the girls got here, and them laid them on a large towel I spread on the table. Soaking them made them pliable. I found all sorts of tutorials on line for how to make the dolls, and kind of did a hybrid of them all. The girls would choose and hold the pieces they wanted, and I would tie the twine where it needed to go. We also used twist ties for inside the arms and the first tie for the head.

They turned out SO CUTE, and the girls made all sorts of accessories and hair for their dolls. They spent over an hour doing this. I was surprised how much they liked it. I had them each write their name on a punched label I made in advance.


While the dolls were drying, we made button toys. (Where you hook a button on string and spin it by pulling your hands apart, and putting them back together in a rhythm.) This game is addictive. I had to do it with cute bakers twine and bright buttons, although I am sure the pioneers and others did it with wood or shell buttons, and whatever string they could find.

While they were playing with their button toys, my mom told the story of a sweet little old lady in her neighborhood that would always wear a pioneer bonnet. This cute woman was born in the 1800's. She copied her bonnet from her grandmother's bonnet. (Her grandmother came across the plains.) My mom copied her bonnet, and brought 3 others she had made. My mom talked about the importance of bonnets, and each girl got to try one on. I think they loved it! Thanks mom! You're the BEST!


As they were leaving, they each got a paper doll set I made for them, and tied in paper using baker's twine and a punch with a 1 cent label. I talked to them about how they didn't have fancy packaging in stores, and how Laura and Mary loved paper dolls. I also talked to them about how amazed they were the first time they went to a store, the way it was described in the book.

I didn't cut all the dolls out, but basically just cut the sheet into smaller pieces.

I found the paper doll printable HERE. It was the closest I could get to the time period.

It was a great day, and a privilege to be with these cute girls!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

I'm linking!

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-photocentric.html