Colonial Crafts

This week we did a couple of the suggested crafts listed in Colonial Kids.

On Monday, we made "quilts" using adhesive backed felt and fabric scraps. Thankfully, I have some quilts that I was able to show them for examples. I think the 1st square is from a quilt that my mom received when she was pregnant with one of us girls, the 2nd square is from a quilt my grandmother made, the 3rd square is from a quilt that a lady at church made for Luke when he was born, the 4th square is from a quilt that my great-grandmother and grandmother made, and the last square is from another quilt that my grandmother made

On Tuesday, we talked about how most colonists couldn't afford expensive rugs from Europe or Asia so they made rugs out of canvas (sometimes a ships' sail) and painted them. We made "rugs" out of some canvas napkins.

On Wednesday, we talked about how silversmiths made platters and engraved special designs on them. Did you know Paul Revere was a well-known silversmith? We made designs with string and glued it to a styrofoam plate and then covered it with foil. I told Miriam she could use it to serve her tea. She immediately went and got her tea set. She even wanted to eat lunch on her fancy plate.

Today, we talked about other rugs that colonists made. The colonists used worn-out clothes to make rags and then braided the pieces together to make a rug. My mom gave me one that my grandmother made so I showed the kids this one. I showed them how to braid the pieces of fabric together as well.