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School Supplies
Making a
Diary
Once colonial children were
taught how to write, they would keep diaries. In order to remember their
days, they would keep track of what work they had done, how much time was
spent on their work and other information, such as the weather. Most
colonial diaries only tell the facts instead of someone’s feelings. Yet, you
can create your own diary where you can write about what happened during
your day as well as some of your thoughts and feelings.
Materials:
-
Composition or spiral
notebook
-
Polyester Fleece
(available in fabric shops) large enough to cover the notebook when
opened up
-
Pencil
-
Scissors
-
½ yard of ½-inch wide
ribbon
-
2 fabric pieces, each
large enough to cover the notebook when opened up plus 2 inches all
around
-
Craft glue
Instructions:
-
Open the notebook and
lay it on top of the fleece. Trace around the edge of the notebook, and
cut.
-
Do the same thing to
the 2 pieces of fabric but before cutting add a 2-inch border all the
way around the notebook and then cut the fabric on this line. Fold one
of the fabric pieces in half. Cut along the fold.
-
Glue the fleece to the
outside of the notebook’s cover. But first, close the notebook so you
can adjust the fleece to fit along the spine to make sure it’s not too
tight or it wont close easily.
-
Lay the notebook face
down on top of the fabric pieces. Fold the edges of the fabric over the
cover and glue to the notebook. At the spine, you can glue the fabric,
so snip the fabric to the notebook’s edge in 2 places, about ½ inch
apart at the spine.
-
If you want, you can
add a ribbon bookmark by gluing about 2 inches of the ribbon to the back
inside cover right next to the spine.
-
Take the fabric piece
you cut in half in order to use the 2 sections for endpapers. Press
½-inch under all around the outer edges. Spread glue along the folded
under edge and press gently. This will cover the front and back inside
covers and give your diary a decorative look.
-
Use the pencil point to
push the snipped ends to the inside at the spine or you can just trim
them off. If there are any untreated edges, dab a bit of glue to keep
them from fraying.
Make a
Quill Pen
In
colonial times, people used pens cut from bird feathers such as goose,
turkey and swan. You can make your own quill pen and practice your
penmanship just like the colonial children did.
Materials:
-
1 long bird feather, a
turkey feather is the best (available in craft stores)
-
Knife or scissors
-
Bottle of ink (or learn
how to make your own)
-
Paper
Instructions:
-
Use a knife or some
scissors to cut the quill (that is what they call the center of the
feather) at an angle. The hollow part of the quill will hold the ink and
the angled point will put the ink on the paper.
-
Dip your quill pen into
the bottle of ink and practice writing with it at different angles.
-
After writing for a
while, the point will dull so you can just cut it again right above the
old tip.
Homemade
Ink
Colonists usually had to
make their own pens but they didn’t come with ink so they had to make that
too. They would sometimes use ink powder that they just mixed with water but
many times they had to make their own using what supplies they had. Kids had
to bring their own ink to school so they used things like berry juice,
chimney soot and nut shells to make their own ink. You can learn how to make
different colored ink to use with your quill pen and write with it to see
what it was like for colonial children.
Brown Ink:
Materials:
Instructions:
-
Place the walnut shells
into the sock or zip lock bag and securely close. Then lightly hammer
the sock/bag to break up the shells. (The more broken up they are the
better)
-
Take your broken up
shells and put them into the small saucepan. Add water and let simmer on
low heat over the stove for about 30 minutes.
-
Turn the heat off and
let the shells soak in the water over night (Note that quite of bit of
it will have cooked away)
-
The next morning, pour
the brown ink you’ve made into a small jar and add ¼ teaspoon of white
vinegar that will keep the color from fading and the ink from spoiling.
It will last for several weeks.
Indigo Blue Ink:
Materials:
-
Several sheets of
newspaper
-
¼ to ½ cup water
-
Small jar with lid
-
2 to 4 teaspoons of
Prussian blue (laundry bluing)
-
Craft stick or anything
to stir with
Instructions:
-
Spread your newspaper
out to be your work surface.
-
Pour around ¼ cup water
in you jar and set it on the newspaper.
-
Add 2 teaspoons bluing
and stir until it is fully dissolved.
-
Add more bluing or
water to create the shade of blue you like.
-
Your ink will last for
several weeks.
Berry Red Ink:
Materials:
Instructions:
-
Place your strainer
over the bowl and put 2 or 3 strawberries in the strainer.
-
Mash the strawberries
against the bottom of the strainer with the back of a spoon so the
juices of the strawberries drip into the bowl.
-
Empty the strainer and
repeat the process until all your strawberries are used up.
-
Add salt and vinegar to
the bowl of strawberry juice. Stir it up until the salt has dissolved
and if it seems too thick add in a little water.
-
Place your freshly
washed strainer over your jar and pour the bowl of strawberry ink
through the strainer into the jar.
-
Use the jar as your
inkwell and keep it tightly covered and refrigerated when not using.
Your ink should last about a week.
Stenciled
Note Cards
During the colonial days,
many people used stencils for ways of decorating. They stenciled walls to
give the impression of wallpaper. They stenciled floors to make it look like
carpet. They even stenciled furniture, clock case, boxes and all sorts of
things. Stencils are pieces of paper that have designs or letters cut out of
them in order for you to paint over it and create the design or letter on
another piece of paper. Stencils are useful so that you can create the same
design over and over without having to paint it yourself. You can make your
own stencils by copying a pattern out of a book or creating your own. Then
you can use them to make note cards that you can send to your family and
friends.
Materials:
-
Scissors
-
Tree 8 ½ -by-11-inch
sheets of white paper
-
6 standard-size white
envelopes, 3 5/8 inches x 6 ½ inches
-
Pencil
-
Ruler
-
4-by-6-inch piece of
thin cardboard (File folders are good to use)
-
Old magazine or cutting
board
-
Craft Knife (for adult
use)
-
Several sheets of
newspaper
-
Acrylic paints or
poster paints (up to 3 colors of your choice)
-
3 small dishes or
plastic cups
-
Masking tape
-
Stencil brush or a
small paint brush with stiff bristles
-
Paper towels
-
Black felt tip pen with
a fine point
Instructions:
-
Take the sheets of
paper and cut them in half. Then fold each half-sheet over to make a
note card. You’ll have a total of 6 note cards.
-
Measure the envelope
with a ruler, measure your note cards, and then trim the bottom of the
note cards so that they will fit easily into the envelope.
-
Create a design for
your stencil and then draw it on the thin piece of cardboard.
-
Put the cardboard on an
old magazine or cutting board and ask an adult to use a craft knife to
cut out the pieces of your stenciled design.
-
Spread out sheets of
newspaper to create a work area. Pour a bit of each of the colors of
paint into it’s own dish or plastic cup.
-
Place your stencil over
one of the note cards and use three or four pieces of masking tape to
hold it in place.
-
Now dip your brush into
the paint; you only need a little. Brush your paintbrush over the
stencil opening by moving from the edge of the opening and to the
middle.
-
Rinse your brush out
and apply another color in the same way. Once you have finished, very
gently lift the stencil off and let the paint dry.
-
When the paint is dry,
add details to your stencil with a felt tip pen. For example, you can
add ropes to your ship.
Take your stencil and do
the same thing to your other 5 blank note cards. Play around with different
combinations of colors and create different stencils. |
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