Clay Jewelry

This year, I have been making clay earrings, clay beads, and pots with my mom. I got the clay from my Aunt Christine and Uncle DJ on Christmas. I was excited to find clay in the package!

I hardly have any clay left because I used most of it for pots. I only have green and a little bit of silver to make things with! Instead of making pots, I'm going to make sculptures out of the green and silver clay.

To make pots, I usually use two colors, as you can see in the picture above. I roll the clay out like a snake, and then put the two colors next to each other. I start coiling the clay and then when I want to make it go higher for the walls, I put the snakes on top of each other in a circle.

I also have made earrings and beads, by making the holes with a toothpick. I like to swirl colors together. We have to bake the clay for 15 minutes to harden it. This is a bracelet made out of some blue and purple beads that Connor created.

Christmas Tree at the Albers' House!

Yesterday, Mom and I found a Christmas tree. Mom was skiing to the tree and I was walking in her tracks. On the way back, Mom took off her skiis and she hiked back holding onto the tree. It was hard work.

After we got the tree, we put on the ornaments. It was fun to put on my favorite ornaments, which are my angels. I really like the tree that we got!

Bracelets

On Sunday, my mom and I made a bracelet out of safety pins, elastic string and beads. It was really fun to make them with the safety pins. I got a book of instructions and supplies from Connor for my birthday last August. The ones in the pictures are called "Bangle" (the green one) and "Surfer Girl" (the blue and pink one). I hope that I can make a lot more!

Chimpanzees are awesome!

Last week I did a report about a mammal. I choose chimpanzees. Chimpanzees look like monkeys, but they are actually apes. You can read my report below. I got my information from a book called, Chimpanzees, and my mom helped me type it.

About Chimpanzees
by Samantha Christine Albers
November 15, 2011

Chimpanzees are apes that are in the primate order along with humans and monkeys. Primates have two arms, two legs, ten fingers and ten toes. Their scientific name is Pan Troglodytes. Chimpanzees do the “knuckle walk”; they curl their fingers and lean on its knuckles while walking on all fours.


An adult chimp can grow to be 3 to 4 feet tall and weigh 200 pounds. They live about 45 years. Chimpanzees live in central and western Africa and are found in tropical rain forests and grasslands. The rain forests are hot and wet, and chimps like to stay and swing in trees.


Chimpanzees are omnivores; they eat meat and plants. Some examples of their food are seeds, fruit, leaves, eggs, and insects. They use tools like rocks and sticks to get food.


Chimpanzees communicate with facial expressions, movement, and sounds like the “pant-hoot”. I think it is neat that when they are scared, they look like they’re happy.


Chimpanzees are really cool to learn about and are great animals.

I love sewing!

A few weeks ago, we went up to Healy and met with a group of homeschoolers. The girls were making hair scrunchies. Mom and I made one, too. Miranda, which was a girl my age that I liked, used the same type of fabric as me.

On Sunday, after church was done, my mom and I decided to make another hair scrunchie out the same type of fabric that GramE and I used to make a skirt from last summer. First, we cut the fabric, and then we fold it over with the inside out. Then we put pins in it to hold it in place. Then we sew over the pins in a straight line. We sew the elastic on one end, and pull it inside out. That is what this picture is, and I am the one doing it.
Once it is right side out, we sew the other end of the elastic on. Finally, Mom hand-sews it into a circle. I hope we can make some more...

My fun time on the pond

Last Saturday, we were invited to a skating pond. The pond is about four miles from our house. It was the first time people had skated on the pond this year. This time was special for me because I was skating on single-blade skates. Last year I used a friend's two-bladed skates. My hands felt very cold after a while. I had lots of fun because this year I could spin around. You can see a picture of me spinning around

here.

A Fun Day at the Carnival

On October 29th, Connor, Mom and I went to the school carnival. The thing that Connor and I weren't excited about was that there were more trinkets than treats. (We like candy...) Connor was dressed up as a bandit, and I was dressed up as a ballerina. I used tickets to play games and get toys. I played "Fish Pond" and "Ducks". I also played "Dart Throw" and hit a balloon! I walked in the "Cake Walk", but I didn't win anything. It was a very fun day.