Fancy horses

Every week, sometimes even daily, my girl amazes me with her resourcefulness. She finds random things around the house and takes them to her little art table. Then she reinvents their purpose and makes beautiful art. She made me a bird yesterday out of tissues. She once used kabob sticks out of the kitchen to support a paper butterfly whose wings would flutter by moving the stick. She feeds her stuffed animals beads from her jewelry drawer. She's such a creative little thing!
Right now Lydie is all about horses. Why is it that only girls go through this stage? And I can't blame her. Any time we leave our house, even to go to the nearest gas station or grocery store, she sees many beautiful pastures like this one along the road:

**Side note: The nearest actual gas station is always out of gas. The first time I discovered this it was a "China" moment. Seriously, I have stopped numerous times and it always says, "SORRY, EMPTY." When I approached our neighbor about it he said, "Yes. The owner is a good guy. He just hadn't got a lot of money." I guess he replenishes his gas station with gasoline as he can afford to. Bummer. And incidentally, I go inside the gas station store occasionally to give him some friendly business. Would you believe that the last time I went in there he was out of snacks?! All the empty boxes where the snacks used to be were still lining the shelves. I couldn't believe it either. So I bought 2 Diet Cokes and a few packs of gum. There is always a group of three elderly men sitting on the painted bench outside. It really is like a scene from Mayberry.

Back to the horses...about a week ago I saw Lydie staring at her rocking horse, Carrots, with a puzzled, frustrated look. She shared that Carrots needed a "...what's that called that goes on his back?". "Carrots needs a saddle", I clarified. And she had scoured the house, and couldn't find the right stuff to make him one. She was finally stumped.

So while the boys were in classes we took a trip to Hobby Lobby. I liked playing her game with her. After perusing every aisle in the store...

Here's how we made a saddle for a stuffed rocking horse (no sewing involved):

Materials:
Poly Foam

brown fabric

suede string (hot pink is Lydie's preference)

fabric scissors and safety pins
Process:
Drape the foam around the horse's body and cut off the excess.

Wrap the foam in the fabric, like gift wrapping, except pin with safety pins as opposed to scotch tape (only on the bottom side).

Drape the foam on the horse again. Cut two long strips of suede lace and tie the saddle on the horse (I just knotted the string on the belly side of the horse). Then tie two extra pieces of suede lace to the harnesses to act as reigns.

Afterwards, she was so thrilled that she "rode" Carrots to the refrigerator and got out a bag of carrots to share with him. Squeals abounded!
Happy trails!

**This was my 1,000th post!**