Two crowns

Annie was very into the movie A Bug's Life before the holidays, and I made her a 'queen ant' crown for her birthday.

The first attempt was made with wire hangers, socks and felt.  It did not go well.  Not only was it HUGE, it was heavy and didn't fit on her head.

The second attempt went much better.  It is made out of foam and pipe cleaners.

She asked Santa for a 'a big crown with jewels' for Christmas.  This is made out of foam and stick-on 'jewels' that I reinforced with glue. 

The Castle - finished

The castle is finished (enough) and was well received both by my daughter and by my brothers who used to play with it in the Before stage.  I used matte Mod Podge to apply sheets of printed out stone and wood patterns.  I also printed out shields, lanterns, and other fun things.  The characters are Budkins and a green dragon from my older brother (because every castle should have a dragon to keep the knights from getting lazy).  This was an extremely fun project but put all other projects on hold for a time, so it's time to get back to business.