A Week of Gramzee Time

Our four year old grandson just spent the past week with us. It was his first long stay away from home and my first time being primary care giver in many, many years. I am happily exhausted after a very special week and know that next week will be very, very quiet.  But I might get some blogging and crafting done!

My mantra of living creatively gets displayed differently on weeks like this. My creativity was directed toward making this a memorable week for all of us and it was.  I had been collecting Pinterest ideas for awhile but there was one that I knew would be right for Taylor during this summer.  We made cork sailboats this morning and this afternoon after nap, we donned swim suits and bug spray and took the boats sailing in the stream.

This idea comes from Handmade by Charlotte.  When I saw it I knew I'd found a use for the wine bottle corks I'd been saving. I made a couple of modifications for durability. I liked this project because it takes less than five minutes which is about 1 minute longer than a 4 year old attention span!

Start by collecting the supplies. I used 4 corks per boat, a 4-6" length of bamboo stake, some foam, a bottle cap and hot glue. Note: This was a project I completed while Taylor watched. He counted out corks and handed me supplies. It will be awhile before he can handle hot glue!

I started by drilling a hole in the center of one cork. It is the diameter of the stick. Taylor was thrilled because the only thing he likes more than cars is power tools.

I glued the four corks together.

I glued the mast (bamboo stick) into the hole using hot glue. I used bamboo sticks because I had a stack leftover from gardening. This was a project made from leftovers and recycled stuff.

I cut a triangle out of the foam sheet. I have no idea how many years ago I bought this craft foam but I am glad I saved it.  This is one of the modifications from the original. The foam sheet material is much more durable than the paper sail.  I hot-glued that to the mast. (Can one use hot-glued as a verb??)

After a test sailing, I added a centerboard - really just a bottle cap. I'll probably also add a little weight to it (by gluing a quarter in it) for added stability.

And our ships were set to sail. We made a small flotilla. Wish I had some hot pink foam for contrast.

We invited papa and all headed down to the stream....

Taylor liked the calm waters of the coves.

Papa liked riding the rapids!

ZeeZee took pictures and swatted at misquitoes! I don't know why they like me best!

It was a wonderful week!

©2013 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy