Gwennie's "Lovey-Pop People"

I think I invented lollipop puppets when I made a person lollipop. I just wanted to have a head. I wanted to eat the lollipop, but I saved it under my pillow, I think.

The first one was a really silly one, with the dress going around her. I should have done it the other way -- where you put the dress straight on her, and tape it on the back and front and bottom and top.

Big sister and kitty

Ingredients:
a piece of paper
wire
a lollipop (that's the importantest)
tape

Tools:
wire cutters
pencils
scissors

Little sister and brother

First, you need to cut out a square. Then you color on the square. Then you tape the square onto a lollipop. The square is for the dress.

Then, you cut out two even pieces of paper, then you measure it, see how long the pieces of paper are, then you tape the wire onto one piece of paper and tape the other piece of paper on top of the wire. That's the arms. So, you just get some more tape, and tape the arms on. If you want to do a boy, you can do a shirt. The girls just have skirts with arms. The boys? No, they don't have any arms -- they just have shirts, shirt sleeves or long sleeves.

Baby and candy purse

And then -- it might be the hardest -- put some tape if you want eyes on the face, then draw eyes. If you want to do the hair, you have to collect it from when your brothers or sisters -- or you! -- have haircuts. Then tape it on. Or you can cut it out and color it, or just have them have white hair. But if it's a different color piece of paper, just leave it, or color it differently. If you want legs, do it the same as arms, but two of them, and shorter.

To make a bag or a purse, whatever you want, you cut out walls and a bottom and then do an opening that can open and close, and tape it together. And if you wanted a handle, cut out a skinny, long piece of paper, and tape it on the top as well. And then you can put small little things in there, and candy, that's what I did.

(Instructions by Gwendolyn.)

symmetrical

The children caught a comment that their mother made about Casper's asymmetry (by which she was referring to his floppy ear, multidirectional teeth, and the eye that tends to squint on its own) and were curious about what the word meant.


We explained that the fact that their brother's features aren't exactly balanced doesn't make him a freak -- in fact, studies have shown that faces which have been digitally altered to be perfectly symmetrical seem uncanny and unpleasant. To give them an example, we took some of their better pictures and flopped them over to show what they might look like if their features were perfectly balanced, and this is the fun we came up with:


Our conclusions? Well, that it's funny and silly to see yourself this way. That freckles are not evenly distributed. It also appears to us that Linus has the most symmetrical features of the three. And that Casper looks like the Weekly World News's Bat Boy when he's totally symmetrical:

(To be fair, this was a strange angle to begin with. I should also confess -- something which usually gets a parent in trouble -- that Casper has a grin which is the most infectious and adorable thing I've ever seen, and that he may end up being the best looking of the bunch.)

Gwennie's chain necklace

I taught myself how to make straw paper chains one day during quiet time. It's good for necklaces, rings, and bracelets. I'd like my cousins to try this, especially Zoe.

To make a straw paper chain you have to cut a straw, and then you have to put the straw you cut onto another to make the chain longer. It can very easily break, so you can put it in a cup or glue it. You have to be careful with a necklace because it's very fragile.

I'd like my cousins to show me some of the things they think up.

Love, Gwendolyn