Tuesday's Tot Craft Time: Batik Wall Hanging & A Crown

We went back to the American Textile History Museum on Sunday.  The kids' room still has Cambodian inspired crafts.  We did not try the batik wall hanging during our last visit, so we tried it this time.

I wrapped the fabric around a straw, and glued it in place.  Then my son put several stickers on it.

Next he colored over and around the stickers with a marker.

Then we removed the stickers to reveal the batik.  It is not a traditional batik, but it is perfect for little kids.  I ran a piece of yarn through the straw, tied a knot, and now its hanging on a door knob in our house.

My son made one of these crowns during out last visit.  It was so much fun that he wanted to make another one.

First I traced the crown template onto a stiff piece of felt.  Then my son went about adding fun things to it.  Then I punched a hole on each side, and attached some string.

He loves his new crown.

Weaving at the Textile Museum

Today I went to the American Textile History Museum.  They were celebrating their 50th anniversary, admission was free, and my friend was volunteering there.  It was great being able to work on my weaving in public while my 3 year old played.  They have a great kids' room there with lots of fun crafts to do (which I'll talk about on Tuesday).  Plus it was really nice hanging out with my friend for a little while (she took this picture of me).

As an early birthday treat to myself, I bought this cute messenger bag at the museum.  It is made from a recycled, plastic woven material (hagar design).  The museum had a special exhibit called "More Than A Number: a collection of Khmer Refugee transit photos and the stories of our heroic survivors."  A very sad yet moving story of Cambodian refugees, what they went through, and their textiles.  The purchase of this bag helped disadvantage women in Cambodia.

One of my last posts talked about how little critters seemed to enjoy hanging out with me while I wove outside.  Well this spider came out on my swing two days in a row while I was weaving.  Its kind of cool to be weaving around the original weavers.