From the Vault

My parents made me thin out my collection of artwork in my bedroom last weekend, but they said I could take some pictures of things.  So here are a few things I've made in the past that had to go away.  I made these when I was about seven or eight.

This is my A-Frame where I was trying out different architectural styles to see what would hold the most weight for a catapult.

This is my sculpture of one of the terracotta soldiers from the Chinese emperor's tomb.

This is my Viking ship and it's oars.

This is my Chinese calligraphy mat.  It rolls up.

Revolutionary War : Patriot and Regular

 Patriot Costume 

Supplies :

• one blue jacket
• two black shoes
• two long white socks
• one white button down shirt
• one white button down vest
• one set of foot ball pants
• one leather or felt tricorn
• one powder horn 
• one cartridge bag
• one bayonet

Directions :

• scavenge the yard sales and thrift stores for as many of the above pieces as possible.  it's a lot easier to make a good costume if you already have the basics, but don't pay a lot for them.  mom can usually find stuff for a quarter or fifty cents.  she says it's worth her time not to start from scratch!  for this project, we found the jacket, vest, and football pants for about fifty cents each.  we found the socks in dad's drawer, and i had shoes and a shirt from church clothes.
• we got our tricorns in Boston and powder horns at Fort Ticonderoga, and we made our own muskets, cartridge bags, and bayonets.  mom sews a lot, but dad can make anything in the garage!  
• on another post, i'm going to show you how we made our muskets.
• on the jacket, we sewed on lots of star buttons and pulled up the sides to make them triangles, with more star buttons at the points.  that was the only change we made to the pieces of clothing we bought.  then we put it all together for a patriot costume.  

British Regular Soldier Costume  

Supplies :                                

• one red jacket
• two black shoes
• two long white socks
• one white button down shirt
• one leather or felt tricorn
• football pants (they make good breeches)
• one powder horn 
• one cartridge bag
• one bayonet & musket

 Directions :

• scavenge the yard sales and thrift stores for as many of the above pieces as possible.  it's a lot easier to make a good costume if you already have the basics, but don't pay a lot for them.  mom can usually find stuff for a quarter or fifty cents.  she says it's worth her time not to start from scratch!  for this project, we found the jacket and football pants for about fifty cents each.  we found the socks in dad's drawer, and i had shoes and a shirt from church clothes.
• we got our tricorns in Boston and powder horns at Fort Ticonderoga, and we made our own muskets, cartridge bags, and bayonets.  mom sews a lot, but dad can make anything in the garage!  
• on another post, i'm going to show you how we made our muskets.
• on the jacket, we sewed on lots of eagle & military-looking buttons and mom pulled in the back about four inches to make it fit my brother.  the cool thing about that was that it gave the back the flared out pieces like a real uniform.  that was the only change we made to the pieces of clothing we bought.  then we put it all together for a regular costume.   

 

Woodshop : Picture Frame

Woodshop : Picture Frame

I made this as part of my cub scout requirements.

Supplies :

• 1/2" thick strip of wood that is 1 1/2" wide
• (length should be the perimeter of photo plus six more inches)
•  saw
• measuring tape
• wood glue
• tacks
• nails
• photograph
• wood sander

Directions :

• Measure and cut two pieces of the wood to the length of the picture.  The outside edge should be approximately one inch longer on each side, if you use a 45 degree angle for the corners.
• Measure and cut two pieces of the wood to the width of the picture.  The outside edge should be approximately one inch longer on each side, if you use a 45 degree angle for the corners.
• Sand the edges until smooth.
• Stain or paint the pieces, and let dry.
• Glue and nail the four pieces together to create your frame.
• Tack the photograph to the back, once the frame is dry.

Vikings : Raiders of the North

Viking Costume

When it got really cold, we decided that we wanted to study Vikings.  The first thing we had to do was make costumes!

Supplies for entire costume :

• Cardboard
• Tin foil
• Exact-o knife
• Markers
• Cape
• Fur material
• Duct tape
• Stapler

To make shield :

• Cut a large piece of cardboard into an oval shape.
• Decorate it with Celtic symbols.
• Cut a strip of cardboard about 7" long and 3" wide.
• Staple this (and duct tape the sides) to the back of the shield.  This will be your handle.

 

To make helmet :

• Use tin foil to make a covering for the entire top of your head. 
• While it is on your head, wrap duct tape around the outside rim of your head, so that everything will stay in place and keep its shape.
• Cut two horns out of cardboard, and place them sticking outward on the head.  Duct tape these into place.

 

For full costume :

We used an old Halloween cape and a couple of fur stoles that we found at a garage sale for a quarter each.  Vintage clothes are great for making costumes!  Put these with black pants and a white shirt and good shoes.  The helmet I am wearing at the History Fair came from a trip to Lindsborg, Kansas.



Egyptian Accessories

Egyptian Accessories

Bracelet & Arm Guard

Most of the upper-class wore these accessories.  They are made in the same way, but the bracelet is smaller than the arm guard, and it goes halfway around the arm (as opposed to all the way).

 

Supplies :

• card board
• exact-o knife
• inca gold paint
• antique gold paint
• screw driver
• red or black yarn

To make :

• Arm Guard
• cut a piece of cardboard that is the length of 2/3 your forearm length and the width of your forearm's circumference 
• paint it gold  
• paint your name across the front in hieroglyphics with a different shade of gold 
• cut four 5" lengths of yarn
• staple to four corners (you will use these to tie it onto your forearm)
• Bracelet
• cut a piece of cardboard that is the width of half the circumference of your forearm and 2" long 
• paint gold
• cut an oval piece of cardboard that is 1" long and 1/2" wide - paint it gold - use silver paint to make it look like a beetle (scarab)
• glue to the center of cardboard
• draw an ankh on both sides of the scarab (see photo)
• poke a hole in the sides with a screwdriver and tie a 4" piece of yarn into each hole (you will use these to tie it onto your forearm)

 

Necklace 

High priests, pharaohs, and queens wore necklaces like these.

 

Supplies :

• cardboard
• exact-o knife
• inca gold paint
• antique gold paint
• silver paint
• red paint
• blue paint
• green paint
• red or black yarn

To make :

• cut a piece of cardboard in a trapezoid shape with a slight arc at the top and bottom
• paint the whole piece inca gold
• after that dries, use antique gold paint to make vertical lines and silver paint to make horizontal lines - about 2 cm apart
• after that dries, use green, blue, and red paint to make a pattern of squares - these are like the big jewels that would be laid in the gold (the bottom one, the biggest, should be a rectangle)
• cut a length of yarn that is just long enough to be tied and slip on and off your head
• position the cardboard to center of yarn and staple to connect it

 

Sandals

Supplies :

• cardboard
• exact-o knife
• staples
• red or black yarn

To make :

• trace your foot on a piece of cardboard - only trace the outline of the big toe
• cut out feet
• cut two four-foot lengths of yarn
• use one piece of the yarn to go around the outside of one foot
• staple the yarn to the edge of the cardboard, all the way around
• repeat with the second foot

To wear :  Place foot on outline and wrap the yarn in a criss-cross pattern around your ankle and foot.  Tie yarn.

Goatee

The goatee was worn by pharaohs to represent how the male gods would wear their beards.  Only the pharaoh worn this.

 

Supplies :

• cardboard
• exact-o knife
• blue paint
• inca gold paint

To make :

• cut a piece of cardboard about 4" wide by 6" long
• paint it blue
• use gold paint to make an weaving pattern on the cardboard
• cut a piece of cardboard about 4" wide and 1" long (paint with same colors as big piece)
• fold both pieces into a box shape that is 1" wide all the way around - tape shut
• after they dry, tape the smaller piece to the larger piece, so that it is at an angle
• measure a length of yarn that goes around your ear and to your chin (cut two of these)
• tie a loop in one end of each piece of yarn so that you can loop it around your ear
• poke holes into the cardboard and tie each length of yarn into them (one on each side, to hook over your ears)

  

Hieroglyphics set

Supplies :

• paper
• pencil 
• red paint
• green paint
• white paint
• black paint
• blue paint
• yellow paint
• purple paint
• inca gold paint

To make :

• I used my hieroglyphics book and the basic Egyptian alphabet and started copying the alphabet on paper to practice
• use black paint to make a grid on old-looking paper and an outline around it
• use black paint to outline the hieroglyphics letters and English letters in each square
• use the colored paints to fill in the hieroglyphics and the outline on the paper

Books

During my free time, I looked through Miss Frizzles Adventures in Ancient Egypt to get ideas for Egyptian projects.  For the hieroglyphics project, I used the book Egyptian Hieroglyphics.  At bedtime, my brother and I read The Golden Goblet and The Egypt Game.  

 

Egyptian Kings

 

Crown of Upper Egypt

This is the crown of the southern part of Egypt.

 

Supplies

• 3 sheets of red construction
• staples
• invisible tape

Steps

• Put two pieces of construction paper together and cut out pattern as shown.  The front should be about 3" tall, and the back should be the length of the paper. 
• Tape the two papers together so that the long pieces are taped in the back and the short pieces are taped in the front.
• Cut two strips of construction paper that are 1" wide by 2" long.  Tape these just in front of the ears.
• Cut a strip of construction paper that is 1/2" wide by 3" long.  Curl the end of the paper.  Tape to the front of the crown.

 

 

Double Crown

When the Upper and Lower Egyptian crowns are worn together, it is called the Double Crown.  This began when Namer conquered Upper Egypt and combined the two kingdoms.

 

Supplies 

• 2-3 sheets of white office paper
• Upper Egypt crown
• yellow construction paper
• staples
• invisible tape 
• red marker

Steps

• Start with the crown of Upper Egypt.
• Take some white office paper and turn it into a funnel shape big enough to fit around your head.   (Use enough sheets to fit around your head....staple the sheets together, if needed.)
• Cut a 2" strip of white office paper and create a much smaller funnel with it.  (Cut off the extra.)
• Tape the smaller funnel to the top of the big one.  Using white paper, cap the top funnel.
• Staple the crowns together, with the white crown inside the red crown.

 

Ornamental Robes

These are the robes worn by pharaohs and priests.  They usually had tunics underneath them.

 

Supplies

• 1 white sheet
• red paint
• yellow paint
• black paint

Steps

• Cut a twin-sized white flat sheet into half (length-wise).  Fold the sheet in half (to make two squares) and cut a 6-8"radius circle in the middle of the fold.
• Using paint, create the triangular pattern all the way around the circle.  The triangles should be about 3" long.  Let it dry.
• Put it on with one arm pulled through, and tie at the waist.

 

 Jeweled Neckpiece

This was also worn by pharaohs, queens, and priests.  In the picture with the robes.

 

Supplies

• cardboard
• exact-o knife 
• black paint
• red paint 
• yellow paint 

Steps

• Cut a 16" diameter circle out of cardboard.  Cut a 12" diameter circle out of the middle of that one.
• Using paint, create the triangular pattern all the way around the circle.  The triangles should be about 3" long.  Let it dry.

 

 

Egypt :  Valley of the Kings 

 

Supplies:

• spatula
• sandbox   
• Egyptian figures (I used the Egyptian Toob)
• Miniature sarcophagus (I used one from the Dig-a-Mummy kit)

 

How to:

• If the sandbox is really grainy, soak it with a water hose and let it dry so that it hardens.
• Using a spatula, cut a square hole about 7" wide and 4" deep.
• Cut a hallway about 9" long by 3" wide that leads to the square.
• Put the sarcophagus in the corner farthest from the hall.  Put your figurines in the corners of this tomb, but not next to the hallway.  (This is how an Egyptian tomb would have been set up.)
• Cut a second 7" square at another part of the sandbox.  Cut another hallway leading up to it.  Put nothing in this tomb.  (This is a false tomb to throw off tomb-robbers.)
• If you want to make it look new, make several supporting beams (from 2" long broken twigs).  These should go on the false tomb to distract the tomb-robbers.  Use flat pieces of sandstone to cover up the real tomb.  

Roman Soldier : Body Armor

 

 Roman Solider Costume :  Body Armor

Supplies :

• cardboard (a few big boxes)
• aluminum foil
• invisible tape
• exacto knife 

Directions :

• Measure around the chest of the person the armor is for, and then cut the cardboard to that length.  The strip should be 1-1/2 inches wide.  You will need approximately eight of these strips to form the body of the armor.

 

• After it is cut, cover the strips with foil so that the shinier side of the aluminum foil is showing.
• Then, bend the strips to a circular shape, and tape each one, half-overlapping the other. (see photo)

• When you are finished taping them together, cut a piece of cardboard that is half as long as the original strips.  Cut a second strip that is 1-1/2 inches shorter than that one.  Cut a third that is 1-1/2 inches shorter than the second.  Cut a fourth strip that is 1-1/2 inches shorter than the third.  Cover the strips in foil.  Shape them into an arc, and tape the ends together well. Make two of these shoulder guards, and then place them on the side of the breast armor and tape them down.  (see photo)

  

• Cut two strips of cardboard that are 1-1/2 inches wide and the length of the chest armor from bottom to shoulder guard base.  Cover the strips in foil.  Attach to the outside of the chest armor in the back.

• If you need to make the chest armor wider, add covered strips of cardboard to the front sides of the chest armor.  When the chest armor is the correct size, strengthen the armor by adding more covered strips on the inside, going up and down. 

• On the back of the armor, place reinforcements from shoulder to shoulder.  (see photo) 

 

You can see my tutorial for the helmet / arm guards and shield at these two posts.