Magnolia Manor: All The World's A Stage

We recently subscribed to a new thing called KIWI CRATE.

Once a month a new box will come to our door filled with supplies to make special projects. We got our first crate last week, and I tucked it aside, knowing it would make the perfect activity for after Nana and Papa's big party. Sure enough, we came home, pulled it out, and had a wonderfully relaxing evening full of creativity and design.

The theme of our first crate was fairies.

Score!

She set right to work making fairy paper dolls and dressing them in fancy outfits. Everything we needed, right down to the scissors are markers, came in our box. Easy Peasy.

I knew she would love the craft concept, but even I was amazed by how long this kept her attention. She worked well into the night making dolls, and got right back to it after church on Sunday.

(The crate also came with supplies to make a magic wand and a flower headband.) I was super impressed by the quality of the supplies in the crate, and she clearly enjoyed the variety of materials available to her.

She even asked me to make a prince charming and a knight in shining armor. I was very excited because, of course, I was dying to get in on the action. :-)

One thing led to another, as it usually does around here.

First, she had the idea of gluing sticks to the paper dolls to make puppets.

"Use the popsicle sticks that don't have any popsicles on them," she said. Okay! The boys got plain sticks, but we decorated the fairy princess sticks with pink glitter.

Then.

She sent her Daddy to the garage in search of a box. A box we could cut into a stage for our new puppets. Buzzard found us a good box and we decided to spray paint it.

But we didn't have any spray paint, and we were feeling impatient.

So we decided to use craft paints we had on hand. It started out one color. Then we added another.

And another.

And a backdrop.

And a few scallops to the top.

So basically, it started out a "simple craft", like they always do. Then I felt it escalate, and before I knew it, I was on a mission to create something that would make Shakespeare's Globe blush with envy.

I cut out some of the cute clip art from the Kiwi Crate paperwork and made a few additional puppets.

And I let the budding Thespian raid my fabric stash to pick out something for a curtain.

The only two things I purchased for this project were the dowel rod to hang the curtain ($.60) and a package of foam shapes to decorate the outside of the box ($2). Truth be told, I think it would have looked cuter without the stickers. However, I was wallowing in a bit of guilt over not allowing her to help paint the box, and I wanted it to be "her" project. Applying foam stickers is a less messy proposition than slinging non-washable paint, so I was ALL ABOARD with the stickers.

And again, it kept her happy and occupied for a staggering amount of time.

TA-DA! A Sunday afternoon "impromptu" project....turned day long crafting marathon.

This could quite possibly be the best part of owning a new Epson printer.

I loved my new printer to begin with, but who knew the box held such great promise?? Ha!

I especially love the backdrop she designed. It was all her. I love how there is a toad there for all the princesses to kiss! And flowers with sparkle centers because everyone knows that fairies live in sparkly places.

So, my week has consisted of many puppet shows.

Followed by brief intermissions and more and more and more shows.

So many, in fact, that I found myself needing a seat filler, just like at the Academy Awards. I finally had to suggest we construct a little audience to watch her productions. This proved to be a willing crowd with quite a lengthy attention span.

This whole process was unexpected and seriously fun. I stand amazed at her artistic little mind, and I just get more and more excited by her boundless creativity. She's already gotten hours and hours of use out of her new puppet theater, and my favorite part is that every time I walk by it, she's concocted some new set of fun.

I'm new to Kiwi Crate, but if every month sparks this many ideas and assures this many hours of constructing and designing, I think we're in for a fun ride!! I can't wait to find out what next month's theme will be.