We set up 4 "old time" activities for the children...making clove oranges, stringing popcorn, writing with a quill pen and ink, and making corn husks angels.
We started with the simplest activity...pushing cloves into oranges. E(3) needed help, but she still had a great time. The oranges and cloves smelled wonderful!
O(6) was proud of her clove heart!
Next, they had fun stringing popcorn. I made the strings too long, so no one finished, but they had lots of fun stringing and eating popcorn!
The girls loved making the corn husks dolls. They all decided that they'd rather have girls rather than angels. That was fine with me because I wasn't sure how to make the wings!
They wrote their names with quill pen and ink (the ink spilled everywhere, but, luckily, it didn't get on their dresses).
My mom made Brunswick stew for lunch (it was delicious) with hasty pudding with syrup for dessert.
After they finished eating lunch, each girl chose a piece of old-fashioned ribbon candy.
Since it was a beautiful day, they all went out to play in the deck playhouse. We veered into "new times" when they got out the plastic battery operated cash register and set up a store on the deck. I brought out the popcorn balls that we had made the night before, and they sold them in their store :)
Each child chose a Victorian cracker for a surprise. (I'm SO glad that I remembered that I had these...at the very last minute! I bought them after Christmas last year from World Market...75% off!)
O(6) set up bowls of old-fashioned peppermints around the house, and the girls ate a million of them throughout the day!
The girls eventually moved the party outside and had lots of fun playing on the joggling board and swingset.
All 5 girls were wearing beautiful handmade dresses made by Cheri at Ashley's Attic.
We had 3 Prairie girls (here, here, and here), a Victorian girl, and a Colonial girl! Cheri is offering a 10% discount at her store when you use the coupon code chasingcheerios.
This playdate was so much fun and simple to plan and carry out. Five little girls was the perfect number, and I hope that we'll do this again soon!
