Santa's Workshop

My DD's school held their Winter Concert this afternoon.  It had to be held during the school day because all of the teachers with the Toronto District School Board are working to rule since they were denied their democratic right to strike by the Ontario Liberal Government.  But don't get me started on that!  That would take all day.












I went over to see the concert and to take some photos of the costumes I had made.  DD's students did a great job on their skit.  It was very cute.  Here's how it went:  The elves were working in Santa's workshop.  It was very quiet in there so they turned on a CD - Justin Bieber's 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'.  As the elves danced around the workshop they touched the various toys and as they did, the toys came to life.

The elves and one of the bears

They were all dancing when Santa came in.  Everyone stopped instantly because they thought Santa would be upset that they were dancing instead of working, but Santa gave a few Ho, Ho, Ho's and started dancing too.

Santa starts dancing too

Everyone in the audience was tapping their feet.  Even the little spectators were dancing.  It was fun to watch.  My photos didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.  There was too much movement on the stage and the lighting was bad.  But you get the idea.

The robots

The boys were having a difficult time making some robot costumes, so last night DD and I made a few billboard type robots with dials and gizmos on the fronts.  We used dryer duct for their arms.  This photo is totally out of focus, but I think they liked their costumes because they were dancing up a storm.

Here's one of Santa that I took before the concert started.  He greeted the audience as they came into the school.  Isn't he cute?  But I think Santa needs to fatten up a bit.  Don't you?

Getting Conned Into Making Water Wings!

A conversation with my DD........

DD: "Hi Mom! What's happening?"

Me: "Oh, nothing much. Just trying to finish a Quilt from the Heart."

DD: "Oh, that's good. We're doing a play and I was just wondering if you could suggest some kind of water costume. A few grade one kids are going to dance a water dance."

Me: "Something blue, I guess."

DD: "Yeah, like something flowing and soft so that they look like waves on the stage."

Me: "How about some ribbons. Or maybe a piece of flowing fabric that they can swirl around themselves."

DD: "I don't know. They have to use their hands to clap and stuff like that so they can't be holding onto anything."

Me: "So you want a costume of some kind?" (starting to get suspicious)

DD: "Yeah, that would be perfect! Can you think of how to make one?

Me: "Hmmm. Maybe." (starting to suspect a project coming on) "How about something they can wear that has blue strips of some kind of flowing fabric that would look like waves as they move."

DD: "That would be perfect! "

Me: "Hmmmm." (now really getting scared)

DD: "Could you make something like that? Oh, I'm sure you can. You can do just about everything!"

Me: (I smell a con!) "When do you want these costumes?:

DD: "The performance is on Thursday evening."

Me: "Oh. And how many do you need?"

DD: "Only a few. Maybe 3 or 4. No, maybe 5. I'll have to check that out."

Me: "I guess I could make something that they could wear on their arms, something that has pieces of fabric flowing from it."

DD: "Oh, Mom! Would you? You're the best! I'll go over to Fabricland and buy the fabric tomorrow after school. Then I'll bring it over."

Next evening.....

DD: "Here's the fabric, Mom. I hope it's enough. It was on sale and I bought all they had. Oh, and we need 7 costumes. And the dress rehearsal is on Wednesday."

Me: "Oh, so you need some kind of costume made out of this beautiful blue fabric for seven students and they have to be ready by Wednesday? That only gives me one day!"

DD: "Yes! I'll pick them up on Wednesday morning on my way to work."

Me: "Hmmmm. I'll try to make some kind of water wings, I guess."

And I did. I made seven sets of these 'sleeves' that the kids can wear on their arms.

But I couldn't have done it without Felix!