Friday, July 22, 2011

Summer Fun on a Budget - Lacing with Pool Noodles

Another indoor activity we've tried this summer is lacing. Margaret's still too young for even the largest store-bought beads, so we tried out an idea we found on Design Dazzle.

We bought three colorful pool noodles from Dollar Tree and cut them into rings. I just used scissors, and it wasn't difficult, but you could try a knife or even a hand saw. Then I cut a length of rope, knotted one of the pieces onto the end, and let Margaret go to town. I found it was much easier for her to string the "beads" after I wrapped the end of the rope with some tape to make it stiff and keep it from unraveling.




A little story about the rope I used. I knew we had some hanging around the house, so I didn't bother buying any when I was out. I got home and lumberingly crawled around our messy garage, climbing on top of the air compressor, squeezing between the van and the wheelbarrow, until I remembered my husband had been using it out back to measure out a fence he was building.

I went outside and gathered it up, but found one end was buried under the ground. I tugged and unearthed about 2 feet of it, bringing up a very frayed end. That's when I realized the ground around where the rope was buried looked quite similar to the mole hills dotting our yard. Seems our little friend tried to make off with our neon green rope. I thought that was pretty darling. My husband, a self-confirmed mole hater, was less amused.


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