First Place!

I was going to post these pictures yesterday being Earth Day and all but I felt like actually writing instead of just putting up a bunch of pictures, so I'm a day late. Anyhow, a few weeks back the girls went to the local library after a half day of school (end of quarter teacher work day or something like that) to watch a movie and on the way out of the library, Mae stopped at a table full of sandwich bags with puzzle pieces in them and picked one up. It was a contest to make a project out of mismatched puzzle pieces to help celebrate Earth Day. They could be used to make anything but the idea was to recycle and use found objects with the puzzle pieces to make something new.

As soon as we got out to the car Mae was already planning out what she was going to make and how she was going to make it. She knew right away that she wanted to make a globe out of wire but wasn't sure quite how to do it. After a couple Google image searches she decided that she would model hers after the Universal Studios globe and attach the blue and green puzzle pieces as the continents and the oceans.

With some help from the Gardener (We don't let our kids uses torches on their own quite yet. That would be dangerous...) Mae soldered together some old copper wire to make the framework of the globe.



They coiled up some old copper with patina on it (I think it was harvested off of the outside of the barn) around a funnel for a spring and soldered it to an old lawn mower pulley as the base.

After the framework was made it was time to trade in the torch and solder for the hot glue gun. The Gardener squeezed out the molten glue and she stuck the puzzle pieces to the globe.
I don't have a photo of the finished product with all of the puzzle pieces (damn!) but I'll get one once we bring the sculpture home.

All of the projects were to be returned before Earth Day so that all of the people who attended the Earth Day potluck last night could vote on them. We brought in the globe earlier in the week but couldn't make it to the potluck. Besides not really being potluck people, (unless of course it's a mandatory family function) we had other plans last night so we didn't get a chance to vote on Mae's globe or see any of the other projects (or eat some crappy potluck food).

The library called today to say that Mae won first place with her globe sculpture! She won a prize and we can go pick it up this afternoon! Plus now all of the other projects will be on display to look at too. She's going to be so excited when she gets home from school today. I can't wait to tell her!finished globe