Years ago I made a four room Barbie house for my DDs. I took two pieces of wood 15"x 36" with a 'width of wood' slit cut in the center of both to just the center. I also bought a precut 36" circle of plywood and a turntable to mount it on. I used small corner molding to secure the X walls to the circle and to each other. I did cut two holes in one of the wall boards for windows. We spent weeks making furniture and furnishings. We used wire to hang curtains, I even whitled a stereo and speakers one night to surprise them. I used a straight pin pounded in and bent sideways and a little piece of black plastic for the 'record player'. Have fun with it. I gifted the plain house to them at Christmas, then we spent all of Christmas break to accessorize it. As far as I k ow it is still making the rounds among my family as each child is old enough to be safe with it. Would it pass the stringent child safety rules of today? Probably not, but no injuries so far....

My son and now my grandson enjoy making model rockets together. Hobby Lobby and other stores like it have the kits. We always relied on Dad to help us shoot them off. Origami paper folding interests most kids. I got my grandson a daily calendar with a different design each day using the calendar page for the paper..

Job well done. My Grandmother hand stitched the Barbie clothes she made me over 55 years ago.

My grandaughter made her first quilt at 5 years (a teen now and no time to sew). Grand boys( 9 and 11) built a wood walkway a couple of years ago. Its not straight or level by any means but I love it. They measured, sawed, drilled and nailed while I sat in chair and "suppervised. Older grand boys built a split rail fence at 8 and 10. It took them awhile to figure out where to dig the next post hole so the rails fit but finished it. It still stands along my drive. Loved teaching them all how to do things. When mine were small there just was not enough time to do more than chores (we farmed and raised beef cattle). They learned responsibility without knowing it and became proficient mechanics in repairing equipment. Things that have taken them far in their adult lives.

We used to make air fresheners as a kid...still make some every few years. Just take an orange and poke a hole in the rind with a bamboo skewer, insert a whole clove...as time goes on, the orange shrivels and dries and the scent is just wonderful! We always made a big family project out of these, hung them in tulle bags with ribbons, They last for years.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Oran...r-airfreshner/

this tut says heat will speed up the process, but we never used heat and it always worked well.

My mom pdid not care for sewing but she did make clothes for my Penny Brite doll. I wish that I still had some of thos clothes for sentimental reasons. Mom hated Barbie so we never had one. I did get a Skipper tho. Skipper was not fully developed like Barbie. Mom did not think Barbie was appropriate for little girls. Yes, I played Barbie with my best friend who had Barbie, Midge and Ken. We made Barbie a stripper! Lol! Mom was not around to see us at play. Sandy