Carly's Craft Corner

Tuesday, December 8

Brought to you by Los Luceros Historic Site

Welcome to Carly's Craft Corner: Winter Edition

Today we will be learning five new crafts:

1. 2D Cabin from materials found in nature 
2. 3D Cabin 
3. How to Draw and Decorate Maria Chabot's New Mexico Adobe house
4. Create “tin” ornaments
5. Baked Dough New Mexico Ornaments

Most of the materials can be found around the house or back yard. 

Click here to download supplies and instructions

So how do these crafts relate to NM Traditions?

Crafts 1 and 2: The archaeological remnants of historic cabins can be found all over New Mexico! In 1862, the Homestead Act was passed in the United States which encouraged people to come out west and build their lives on 160 acres of land. At the end of five years they were expected to have "improved" the land. They "improved" the land by farming, ranching, and building things like cabins. The Pajarito Plataeu was a very popular place to build homesteads before it was purchased by the government to construct the laboratory. 

Craft 3: Maria Chabot, friend of Mary Wheelwright and Georgia O'Keeffe, lived and worked on the land now referred to as Los Luceros Historic Site. She farmed, was presidente of the Acequia Association, took care of animals...all things unexpected out of women from her time. For this craft we will go through easy steps to draw her house at Los Luceros. 

Craft 4: The art of the tinsmith flourished in New Mexico from 1840 to 1915 but is still very popular today. Much of the imagery used were religious in nature and reflected Roman Catholicism in New Mexico. 
New Mexican tinsmiths adapted Spanish leather-working punches to decorate the surface of the tin, which this craft will emulate. 

Craft 5: Flour, salt, and water - three main ingredients of New Mexico staples such as fry bread, biscochitos, and more. These ornaments are a fun way to get messy and create ornaments for your tree.