Teachers' Presents

I've just been editing some photos and I realised that I haven't shown you the thank you presents that Ben and I made for his teacher and classroom assistant. He liked the clasp I made for the poppy bracelets and asked if they could be necklaces  - yes, my eldest has a good eye for jewellery and is very complimentary when I show him a new design! He knows how to get into my good books :)  He had asked a while back if he could come and make something in my shed, so on the last weekend of term he and I spent a brilliant afternoon working together.

After the obligatory talk about how many things there are in Mummy's shed that could hurt him if he didn't use them properly and that he was only to touch something if I told him that he could etc etc he hammered out discs (yes, those flower petals start out as perfect circles!), domed them and helped to hammer them into shape, chose the balls for the centres from my pot of melted scrap, watched from a safe distance while I soldered them together and polished them. We decided to oxidise the one for his classroom assistant as it seemed to be more of her style, and I wanted the pendants to be slightly different as well. He was so good and careful, and so pleased with what he had made! And most important of all, both recipients loved their presents!

 I loved teaching him how to use some of the tools - I'm so proud of how careful he was and how well he concentrated - remember he's only five and a half!   I think what Ben loved the most though was showing off the photos of him making the pendants and explaining what he had done. He's already decided what he wants to make next - a necklace with a train on it!