A couple years ago I made a miniature replica of the Goodnight Moon room. I tried to include all of the many details of the room. I really enjoyed when I would see children ask their parents to pick them up so they could look inside. The next year I did Peter Rabbit's home underneath the roots of a large fir tree. This year's Summer Reading Program was a science theme, so I wanted to have a miniature that would also include something scientific or technical. I considered a factory scene of some sort, but I wanted my project to be book-related.

I decided to my project would be a tribute to Angelina Ballerina, the book character created by Katharine Holabird with illustrations by Helen Craig. After looking through many of the books, I settled on an illustration of Angelina's Dance Studio.

I used a cardboard box with a lid that was for copy paper. The lid was place upside-down and held the mechanism that turned the dancers.

 

Because the dancers spun as the crank was turned, I had to make them double-sided. The background figures did not move.  

The chandeliers and side lights were made from a sturdy but thin clear plastic. The side walls were lined with foam core board, so I was able to cut slits into the board and slide the side lights right in. The mirrors were cut from mylar, and I used rubber cement to attach them smoothly. I used small pieces of lightweight wire to hold the wooden ballet bars in place. The wire supports were poked into the foam core board.  All of the figures were glued to cardstock for extra sturdiness.  The curved roof of the studio was built from illustration board. 

I made the windows by laminating white tissue paper and cutting them to shape. They were just translucent enough. I painted the outside of the boxes a dark orange-y red and made it into bricks with a white crayon.

I included instructions so kids would know that this was something that moved, with an explanation of how it moved.

Sometimes the kids can be a little rough, however, this made it through the whole summer and it still works!

I haven't made a parade float for the library in years.  This year though, the library is putting an operating levy on the ballot and I thought we needed to be a presence in the annual Grand Fair parade. At first, I was going to make an igloo from milk cartons with the theme being "S'now Better Time to Read", but the Mom and baby I had in mind to ride the float turned me down, so I had to think of something else.

The fair had a weather theme...it was "Forecasting Record Fun at the Pemberville Fair". 

I decided to go with a pun, because well, I always go with a pun.

I decided I would make a giant goose, and dress up as Mother Goose, with the float theme being,  Fair Weather..."Fowl" Weather.

I had leftover cardboard from a local church's bible school. I believe this was a flying saucer for them.

I painted all the pieces white, as I knew the "feathers" that I would have covering the goose might show any color underneath. It was a white goose afterall.  I built a wooden frame to hold the goose down and strapped it to the trailer. I also added furring strips to the inside to give it added strength. The cardboard was held together with zip ties - my favorite cardboard construction tool.

The feathers were made from quilt batting. I used a low loft batting as it was cheaper. I looked at photos of feather patterns on geese so it would look more real. The feathers were applied with a staple gun, with hot glue holding down loose ends. I also used white spray paint to give the feathers a more shadowed effect.

The head and neck were built from concrete forms which can be purchased pretty inexpensively at Home Depot. I used 2 twelve inch wide forms, and one smaller form for the beak. After I cut the pieces, I taped them, and primed the entire head with white paint. I added feathers for the white part of the head and used orange tissue paper on the beak. I covered it with Mod Podge, so in case it rained, the bill would not drip orange!

I added eyes made from sparkly fun foam. It was sticky-backed foam, but I didn't trust it to stick, so I added a screw into the head to hold them in place. All I needed was for an eye to fall off mid-parade.
Parade day was beautiful. I made myself a Mother Goose costume. The skirt used $5.50 worth of a blue/green plaid material from a garage sale, and I cut a blue tank top down the middle to give sort of a bustier effect. I borrowed a witch hat from my daughter and added some ribbon to it, and I made a mob cap out of white scrap material I had lying around. My shawl was a vintage tablecloth!

The parade day was beautiful and I was glad we participated. The light parade is coming up in December! I will have to start thinking of ideas!