It's no secret that last Tuesday for our church-hall-playgroup Mimi wanted to be a super hero so we fashioned her a super-cape out of a yellow tea towel. Well, that same Tuesday, Little Lotti was torn between wanting to be Cinderella and Goldilocks. Now it's a fact of (western) life that fairytale are a part of childhood. It's also a reality that the Grimm brothers rendition of folk tales are rather, well, grim. If you read any of the 'original' versions of their recorded folk tales, then you'll find out that Cinderella's step sisters considered cutting off more than their toenails to force their chubby tootsies into the glass slipper to win the charming prince... a hefty price to pay for a 'happy ever after'. Then there's Little Red Riding Hood. Needless to say, that even the child-friendly versions of this tale are still rather scary. Poor Grandma. Bad enough to be flat out in bed, then to be eaten whole, then to be cut from the belly of the beast by a woodcutter... it's rather a traumatic way to spend a day with the flu.
Given that Mimi, Lotti and I couldn't figure out a way to make a tea-towel costume for Cinderella or Goldilocks, it was Little Red Riding Hood that we all agreed was a winner. It worked out ok too. Lotti was already wearing a fetching pink and red striped top with flowers, and matching plastic beads, so the red 'hood' and poppy pin (from a recent Remembrance Day craft project featured in May's Partycraft Newsletter) came together in mere moments.
On the way to playgroup today I said to Mimi; "Oops- I just realised I forgot your cape."
"That's ok mum," she replied, "you still have to put another star on it."
"Another star - what for?"
"The old one said A - now I want it to say S for Super-Sally... that's my new super-star name."
"Seriously?"
"Don't worry Mum... I'm having a rest-day from being super; I'm just going to be normal-me today."
We then went on to brain storm some other craft projects we could fashion out of tea towels (in 15-minutes or less if I have my way):
- An alternative to wrapping paper.
- A rug for a teddy bear's picnic.
- Blankets in a toy hospital.
- Beach towels for a doll's pool party.
- Chef's aprons.
If you're wondering where all these tea-towels come from, my local fabric store was selling a batch of 10 in rainbow colours for an amazingly low price - I tried one as a tea-towel and it wasn't very absorbent, so whilst it failed as a tea-towel, they've been great as props, toys, and craft items... I'm happy.
For now though, the girls will have to make do with hoods and capes... I'm going to have the afternoon off from being a super-crafter, try and have a hot cup of coffee and pretend to be normal-me! x
