You know, the same stuff I post.
Then, about nine months ago, Angie's feed started to change. It became clear Angie's daughter (she calls her "Mayhem") was more interested in fashion than the average 4-year-old. Mayhem shunned her store-bought princess dresses and started wrapping herself with scarves and sheets creating her own styles.
Then one day Angie got tired of finding her clothes in Mayhem's toy box and suggested they make a dress out of paper. Mayhem loved the idea and they haven't stopped creating paper dresses since.
I've been continually amazed every time Angie's pictures pop up in my feed. The dresses started like this:
How much is done by you and how much is done by your daughter?
The ideas are pretty much a 50/50 split, but Mayhem constructs a lot more than most people would probably believe. That's one of the best things about this project, I see her learning new skills every single day. At this point, she knows exactly how many sheets of construction paper she needs to make herself a top and a bottom. She can lay the entire thing out and tape it together all by herself. Definitely, the more complex designs have more of my time invested, but she's literally always beside me learning something new if she's not tearing or taping or gluing while I am.
Most of the time. We use a lot of construction paper, but we also use tissue paper, wrapping paper, and gift bags. We have also used silk scarves, tulle, and aluminum foil. Basically, if we can find it laying around the house and it's pliable, it's fair game. Clear packing tape and glue are our adhesives of choice.
We pull inspiration from wherever we go. The shark dress, for example, came as a direct result of her first visit to an aquarium.
After we made our first paper dress, Mayhem requested another the very next day. Then another the day after that. And no one is more surprised than I am, that she still wants to make them nearly 9 months later. I have no idea if it will continue, but as long as she wants to make them, we'll keep doing it.
No and no. I actually don't consider myself to be the least bit crafty. Don't ask me to build something out of popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners ... you'll be incredibly disappointed! Cutting and taping paper is about all we do. And the most ironic part of this whole project is that I am literally the least fashionable person you will ever meet. In reality, I know nothing about fashion and cannot sew a straight line to save my life. A friend suggested I could start sewing these creations from scraps of fabric and I laughed at her. I'll take paper and tape any day over getting anywhere near a sewing machine!