July in Review: Paper Mache Dragon

Next up as I think back to our activities in July: that one day when I kept my promise to help the boys make a paper mache dragon! 

I can't remember who thought of this idea, but once the idea was spoken everyone was in agreement that it needed to happen as soon as possible.  I made the boys wait until the weekend when we had a day off school.  And since Eli was gone, I needed something to occupy the munchkins.  I'll be the first to admit that it was quite a commitment, and that maybe I went a little overboard, but hey, I'm a cool mom sometimes and do stuff like this :)

First we assembled the body by blowing up balloons and taping them together, and using cardboard to tape on scales.  And when I say "we" I totally mean "I".  Just saying.

Then we hung the dragon in the mango tree in our backyard to begin the paper mache process.

We mighta made a mess, because paper mache is just plain messy.  Also, when Kenyan kids see the wazungu kids putting wet strips of newspaper on a strange-looking balloon creature, it draws a crowd.  And more helpers.  And more of a mess.  But all in all, considering I was single-handedly managing a multitude of children doing a paper mache project, it coulda been worse!

Here's what it looked like when we were done.  It was pretty soaking wet, and heavy, and I wasn't sure what state it would be in come morning, but it actually held up really well and dried amazingly overnight.

Then it was time to paint the beast!  Kai was my best helper for this.  He was focused and careful and oh so happy to see the dragon come to life.  (True confession: we did this part during Asa's nap time because I didn't want his help.  I will never want a 3-year old's help with a paint project!)

I must say I was pretty pleased with the final project.  Kai said the scales had to be red because they were poisonous :)

Asa's contribution was picking out the googly eyes.  I brought over a ton of googly eyes in our luggage because ya just never know how many craft projects will require them!

The only real problem with this whole endeavor was where to put the thing when it was done.  Honestly, there was nowhere obvious and we faced a bit of a dilemma until I realized we could hang it in their closet.  It works for now, until we get a real dresser made for the boys and put it in the closet, in which case the dragon probably won't fit in there anymore.  But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

More than anything, I love seeing our boys get creative.  They have so many ideas, and I love showing them how to make those ideas come to life.  Even though it takes a lot of work on my part, it's totally worth it.  (Especially since I say no to probably 9/10 of their ideas.  A mama's got limits, ya know?)  

So we have another paper mache project in the books!  And now I won't have to do another one for quite awhile.  At least that's what I'm telling myself :)