Paper Bag Archives - https://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/tag/paper-bag/ Fri, 17 Jul 2015 05:11:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/cropped-logo-square1-32x32.jpg Paper Bag Archives - https://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/tag/paper-bag/ 32 32 Paper Bag Teepee http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/paper-bag-teepee/ Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:09:40 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=3022 Throughout the year we learned a little bit about a few different Native American tribes. When we were studying the Sioux of the Great Plains the boys made teepees out of paper bags. This project was completed in one sitting & made a great visual when learning about the Sioux. We learned that the teepees …

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Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

Throughout the year we learned a little bit about a few different Native American tribes. When we were studying the Sioux of the Great Plains the boys made teepees out of paper bags.

This project was completed in one sitting & made a great visual when learning about the Sioux. We learned that the teepees were positioned so the door flaps opened to the east, the direction of the rising sun. We learned that the designs painted or embroidered on the outside represented something significant about the family living in the teepee. They had fires & cooked in their teepees. This, of course, created smoke. The hole & flaps at the top of the teepee were there to let the smoke escape.

 

This post contains affiliate links.

 

I used the tipi project from this Indians of the Great Plains stencil book as a guide for our teepees.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

 

It seems so simple, which really it was. But, it still took a little trial & error to get the template just right for the boys to trace. It’s basically a half circle with wings at the top to create smoke flaps.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

 

The boys cut open a paper grocery bag & traced around my template onto the bag. Then they used oil pastels to decorate their teepee. Both boys chose to use one stencil from the book, as well as add a few other design elements
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

 

The boys used tape to fasten the paper bag into a cone shape. We found we needed to add tape to both the inside & outside of the teepee to keep it together. Then they taped 6 skewers on the inside to act as the long poles holding up the teepee.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

 

Left: They folded out the smoke flaps.
Right: And, they folded out the door flaps.
They also added toothpicks to act as pins holding the teepee together.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

 

Farm Kid1 chose to add long poles (aka skewers) to the back of his teepee through the smoke flaps. Farm Kid2 chose not to add these poles.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

 

Farm Kid1’s teepee
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

 

Farm Kid2’s teepee. The symbols on his smoke flap represent 3 days & 3 nights.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Paper Bag Teepee Craft

 

This was definitely a fun project. I had fun seeing what designs the boys came up with. They turned out so well I currently have them displayed on our mantel.

 

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Native American Symbol Craft http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/native-american-symbol-craft/ Fri, 09 May 2014 14:40:48 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=3008 To go along with our Native American studies the kids made these awesome symbols out of oil pastel. The Plains Indians used both naturalistic & geometric designs in their art. We made both.   This post contains affiliate links.   I picked this book up at a home school group book swap. It’s a Good …

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Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft

To go along with our Native American studies the kids made these awesome symbols out of oil pastel. The Plains Indians used both naturalistic & geometric designs in their art. We made both.

 

This post contains affiliate links.

 

I picked this book up at a home school group book swap. It’s a Good Year Book titled Indians of the Great Plains & comes with stencils. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the book. It describes much about the life of Plains Indians, as well as tell a few legends. Each stencil has information about why that design was important. There are also a number of great projects in the back of the book. We made the teepee & parfleche bag.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft

 

When I saw an Indian symbols craft at Art Projects for Kids I knew it would be a perfect way to use the stencils.

 

Using a paper bag as their canvas, they traced a stencil with pencil.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft

 

Then, they went over their pencil lines with black oil pastel.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft

 

Next, they colored inside the black line.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft

 

And finally, they made a border around the outside of the black line with white oil pastel.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft

 

 

Native American men typically painted naturalistic images on their belongings, such as shields & teepees.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft

Women used porcupine quills or beads to create geometric designs.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft

 

Left: Naturalistic Designs: Elk, Buffalo & Horse
Right: Geometric Designs: Turtle, Spider & Dragonfly
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American Symbol Craft
I loved this project. The kids did a great job!

 

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Making Letterbox Journals http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/making-letterbox-journals/ Tue, 06 May 2014 13:18:46 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=2997 We’ve gone geocaching many times & decided it was time to try letterboxing. The first thing we each needed for our letterboxing adventures were journals. Of course, there’s always the option of buying a journal. But I like the cost of making our own much better, so that’s what we did. We used the instructions …

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Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Making Letterbox Journals

We’ve gone geocaching many times & decided it was time to try letterboxing.

The first thing we each needed for our letterboxing adventures were journals. Of course, there’s always the option of buying a journal. But I like the cost of making our own much better, so that’s what we did.

We used the instructions at Layers of Learning.

 

THE COVER

I tore paper bags into a rectangle shape. Then the kids crumpled the rectangle.

Next they rubbed crayons on the crumpled paper.

When they were done coloring their cover, I wet them just a bit & put them in the oven to melt the crayon wax. Honestly, melting the was didn’t work as well as I was hoping. Probably just doing the rubbing would have been good enough.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Making Letterbox Journals
After the covers cooled we used stamps & oil pastels to decorate them.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Making Letterbox Journals
For the most part, the kids went for an abstract look.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Making Letterbox Journals
I opted for a minimalist approach.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Making Letterbox Journals

 

THE PAGES

I used regular copy paper, folding 4 sheets in half & sewing a line on the crease. I made four sets of these for each journal.

Then I stacked the four paper sets together &, using a hammer, nailed a hole through the stacked paper. Each place I needed a hole for sewing the cover & paper together I used the hammer/nail technique. This section is described much better at Layers of Learning.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Making Letterbox Journals

 

SEWING THE COVER & PAGES TOGETHER

Next, I played around with where exactly I wanted to place the paper on the cover. Once I figured that out I placed the paper on the cover. Then, came the hard part.

Why this was so difficult, I don’t know. It seems so simple. But, I had a heck of a time with it.

I liked the look of the binding on the example at Layers of Learning, so I wanted to replicate it.

I used embroidery thread and a needle to sew the cover & paper together. The outside turned out the way I wanted, but the first & last pages don’t look too tidy. The middle pages look ok, though.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Making Letterbox Journals

 

Our completed journals.

I had originally thought I would sew buttons on the front cover to help hold the cover closed. But, after a couple days the journals quit trying to open on their own. So, I didn’t mess with it.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Making Letterbox Journals

 

We’ve gone letterboxing a couple times & so far these journals are working out great.

 

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Native American Parfleche Bag Craft http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/native-american-parfleche-bag-craft/ Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:10:12 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=3012 Parfleche were bags used by Native Americans living in the Plains to carry dried meat &/or personal belongings, such as clothes. The kids each made a parfleche bag out of a grocery sack. This post contains affiliate links.   We used the parfleche project in this Indians of the Great Plains stencil book as a …

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Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American | Parfleche Bag

Parfleche were bags used by Native Americans living in the Plains to carry dried meat &/or personal belongings, such as clothes. The kids each made a parfleche bag out of a grocery sack.

This post contains affiliate links.

 

We used the parfleche project in this Indians of the Great Plains stencil book as a guide to making the bags.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American | Parfleche Bag

 

Our parfleche bags were made from paper grocery bags, but the Native Americans made theirs from rawhide. The basic shape is a rectangle with rounded corners.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American | Parfleche Bag

 

Most often the parfleche bags made by Native Americans were decorated with geometric designs, but I told my kids to decorate their bags however they wanted.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American | Parfleche Bag

 

Top: After the kids decorated their bags with oil pastel we began folding them. The first fold was meeting the top & bottom edges in the middle.
Bottom Left: Then the left & right edges were folded to meet in the middle.
Bottom Right: And finally, they used a hole punch & string to tie their bags together.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American | Parfleche Bag

 

Farm Girl decorated a bag & I tied it.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden | Native American | Parfleche Bag

 

I had plans to have the kids carry something useful in their bags, but we haven’t gotten to that yet. Maybe we can figure out a use for them over the summer.

I can’t help but think about the bags we use in our house. We have so many bags it’s ridiculous. The Native Americans put so much effort & pride into their handmade bags. And, I’m fed up that the area we use for bags is completely overflowing with store bought hum drum bags & I’ve been thinking about getting rid of a bunch of them. Times have certainly changed.

 

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Moving West History Pockets http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/moving-west-history-pockets/ Mon, 19 Nov 2012 05:34:54 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=3004 As part of our Westward Movement Unit, we worked on Evan-Moor’s Moving West History Pockets. I was impressed with the variety explored in this book. This post contains affiliate links.   I created the books using paper grocery bags & yarn. The front cover is about 12″ x 12″. The inside pockets were cut to …

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Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West

As part of our Westward Movement Unit, we worked on Evan-Moor’s Moving West History Pockets. I was impressed with the variety explored in this book.

This post contains affiliate links.

Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West

 

I created the books using paper grocery bags & yarn. The front cover is about 12″ x 12″. The inside pockets were cut to about 12″ x 16″. The 16″ side is folded up from the bottom 4″ and stapled to create the pocket. After each pocket was made, I hole punched them & tied them together with yarn we dyed.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West

 

There were a number of maps from the Scholastic book, Interactive 3-D Maps: American History, that we added to our pockets.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | American 3D Maps
Moving West Intro Pocket
Each pocket came with great historical information, a writing project & a craft.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | Introduction
Exploring the Wilderness Pocket
We spent quite a bit of time on this pocket – mostly because it included Lewis & Clark. We went on two field trips to learn more about these famous fellows and the Corps of Discovery. We went to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Washington and to Fort Clatsop in Oregon.

The boys each made a map from Scholastic’s 3-D map book.

We learned about the Westward Journey Nickel series from the US mint. We made rubbings of the front & back of each nickel… although, they didn’t turn out quite as well as I hoped.

We also rubbed a golden Sacajawea dollar. Years ago I worked in downtown Portland & would take the MAX to work, which is our light rail system. If you were due change after paying for your ticket, dollars were issued to you in the Sacajawea coin. I always thought that was cool.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | Explorers
I bought the Lewis and Clark Expedition Coloring Book at a trinket shop at the beach. The kids each colored a few pages and added them to their pocket.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | Explorers

 

Our favorite books to go along with this unit were Seaman’s Journal, the expedition told through the dog’s eyes, and American Slave, American Hero, the story of William Clark’s slave York.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | Explorers
The Gold Rush Pocket
On our road trip, we stopped at Columbia State Historic Park and explored a “real” mining town. It is in California, right off Highway 49. It was a great field trip to go with this pocket.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | Gold Rush
Oregon Trail Pocket
The Oregon Trail pocket got a little extra attention. It is kind of a big deal around here, since we are near the end. We even visited the End of the Oregon Trail historical site.

I remember enjoying the Oregon Trail game on the computer in the 4th grade. So I bought it so my kids could enjoy it, too. It was a little difficult for my 1st grader, though.

Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | Oregon Trail
Native American Struggles Pocket
We learned about how the Native Americans used the land and how white man basically took it all away from them.

We added a Trail of Tears map from the Scholastic book.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | Native American Struggle
And, 5 More Pockets
We worked on 5 other pockets, as well, including Homesteading the Great Plains (which I loved mainly due to Laura Ingalls Wilder) & Building the Railroads.
Ridgetop Farm & Garden |History Pockets | Moving West | Homesteading Great Plains

 

I enjoyed this unit a lot. The activities from the History Pockets book were great, and made even better with our additions. We made a Covered Wagon Craft that I have always wanted to do. I could have expanded on this subject all year. But, we had other things to learn…

 

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