Amaya Blackstone (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
special_rabbit) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2019-10-22 05:57 am
special_rabbit) wrote in fandomhigh2019-10-22 05:57 am
Entry tags:
Shop Class; First Period [10/22].
At least the coffee that morning wasn't fake blood like yesterday, and that was a very good thing, because Amaya was feeling like she needed it that morning. She hadn't slept very well, which was odd for her, since she usually slept like a rock with narcolepsy, but she'd had a strange bout of dreams that had to go and trudge up some of her recent goblin-hugging trauma, and that--
--well, no point in going into it. There was a class to be had!
"Good morni--," the greeting was interrupted by a considerable yawn, and Amaya shook her head. "--ing. Forgive me. I didn't sleep well last night, but we've got coffee, real coffee again, so help yourselves and we'll get to work, and, thankfully, we're not handling with much heavy equipment today, but what we're working on will be heavy! Now, there's a holiday here in October called Halloween; I'm sure some of you are familiar with it. For those of you who aren't, though, it generally involves people getting in the mood for spooky things, costumes, and, of course, pumpkins."
And pumpkin spice in everything under the sun, but that wasn't the point today.
"Jack-o-lanterns are a popular decorative staple 'round these parts, but we're going to make our own shop class twist on them and make some out of concrete! Usually, this requires also making some pumpkins out of papier-mâché as a mold first, but since we don't have much time for that today, I've got a few ready to go, in a couple different shapes and sizes, come on up and pick one or two that you like, and we'll get started.
"We're going to start by cutting off the stems of the papier-mâché pumpkins so we can get our concrete in there, and then take a second to wrap some strong tape around the pumpkin so that it can better hold its shape once we fill it up with wet concrete. Make a new stem with a sheet of stiff paper, roll it up, tape it into shape, cut out some little tabs on the bottom so that it'll fit on the pumpkin better in a little bit. So that's all their is to our mold, time to mix up some concrete.
"Now, we've done this before, of course, for our mini-foundries, so I know you've got this part. Make smaller batches as you need them so you can get the consistency right; we're going for wet but not soupy with this one. Too watery, and it's going to leak through our molds and break it before it has time to set. Once it's ready, about this," she scooped out some of her mix to show them the still slightly lumpy mix, "type of consistency, then you're just going to pour it into your pumpkin mold. As you go, remember to take some time to tamp the pumpkin on the table, get all that concrete settled in there, so it'll be a bit of a repetitive process of pouring and tamping, pouring and tamping, over and over until it's finally filled, stirring the mix a little as you go as well. And really make sure to press the concrete into the side of the pumpkin, too, to get a better shape and texture when it dries. Once the pumpkin's full, go ahead and fill up the stem mold you made, place it on top, and that's it!
"At this point, all we've got to do is clean up and wait. It'll take a few days for the concrete to set and dry, so we'll just set these aside until next week, and you'll see how they turned out. We might also be using them for something else, but that's all I'm going to say on that now. Since that's hardly going to take all of the class period, I've brought in a few actual pumpkins, too. Once you've got your molds set up, feel free to use the rest of the class time to carve a few pumpkins if you like, I'm sure you guys can come up with some really interesting designs."
There was a pause.
"Might be a bit overkill," she said, "but it could also be a good chance to get in some practice with those jigsaws, right? Let's get to work!"
[[ ocdincoming! is up! Have at it! ]]
--well, no point in going into it. There was a class to be had!
"Good morni--," the greeting was interrupted by a considerable yawn, and Amaya shook her head. "--ing. Forgive me. I didn't sleep well last night, but we've got coffee, real coffee again, so help yourselves and we'll get to work, and, thankfully, we're not handling with much heavy equipment today, but what we're working on will be heavy! Now, there's a holiday here in October called Halloween; I'm sure some of you are familiar with it. For those of you who aren't, though, it generally involves people getting in the mood for spooky things, costumes, and, of course, pumpkins."
And pumpkin spice in everything under the sun, but that wasn't the point today.
"Jack-o-lanterns are a popular decorative staple 'round these parts, but we're going to make our own shop class twist on them and make some out of concrete! Usually, this requires also making some pumpkins out of papier-mâché as a mold first, but since we don't have much time for that today, I've got a few ready to go, in a couple different shapes and sizes, come on up and pick one or two that you like, and we'll get started.
"We're going to start by cutting off the stems of the papier-mâché pumpkins so we can get our concrete in there, and then take a second to wrap some strong tape around the pumpkin so that it can better hold its shape once we fill it up with wet concrete. Make a new stem with a sheet of stiff paper, roll it up, tape it into shape, cut out some little tabs on the bottom so that it'll fit on the pumpkin better in a little bit. So that's all their is to our mold, time to mix up some concrete.
"Now, we've done this before, of course, for our mini-foundries, so I know you've got this part. Make smaller batches as you need them so you can get the consistency right; we're going for wet but not soupy with this one. Too watery, and it's going to leak through our molds and break it before it has time to set. Once it's ready, about this," she scooped out some of her mix to show them the still slightly lumpy mix, "type of consistency, then you're just going to pour it into your pumpkin mold. As you go, remember to take some time to tamp the pumpkin on the table, get all that concrete settled in there, so it'll be a bit of a repetitive process of pouring and tamping, pouring and tamping, over and over until it's finally filled, stirring the mix a little as you go as well. And really make sure to press the concrete into the side of the pumpkin, too, to get a better shape and texture when it dries. Once the pumpkin's full, go ahead and fill up the stem mold you made, place it on top, and that's it!
"At this point, all we've got to do is clean up and wait. It'll take a few days for the concrete to set and dry, so we'll just set these aside until next week, and you'll see how they turned out. We might also be using them for something else, but that's all I'm going to say on that now. Since that's hardly going to take all of the class period, I've brought in a few actual pumpkins, too. Once you've got your molds set up, feel free to use the rest of the class time to carve a few pumpkins if you like, I'm sure you guys can come up with some really interesting designs."
There was a pause.
"Might be a bit overkill," she said, "but it could also be a good chance to get in some practice with those jigsaws, right? Let's get to work!"
[[ ocd
Sign In - Shop Class, 10/22.
Re: Sign In - Shop Class, 10/22.
Re: Sign In - Shop Class, 10/22.
Re: Sign In - Shop Class, 10/22.
Re: Sign In - Shop Class, 10/22.
Re: Sign In - Shop Class, 10/22.
Listen to the Lecture - Shop Class, 10/22.
Re: Listen to the Lecture - Shop Class, 10/22.
Briefly.
She startled awake not long after her eyes finished drooping and shot a look around as though braced for impact, a haunting melody chasing her back out of the dream.
What was she doing? Right. Class. Pumpkins.
Her eyelids drooped again.
Class Activity: Pumpkins! - Shop Class, 10/22.
And then maybe carve a few regular pumpkins while you're at it, too.
'Tis the season!
Re: Class Activity: Pumpkins! - Shop Class, 10/22.
Re: Class Activity: Pumpkins! - Shop Class, 10/22.
He'd have to make sure to ask if Ms. Blackstone had any written instructions available so that he could easily send them back home for Katy, with very clear instructions that she was to do this for Halloween and paint 'em up real good to look real so that when any degens from Up Country or skids went running around going pumpkin-smashing, they'd have themselves a real nice surprise.
There may have even been a faint sound that almost sounded like the beginning of a laugh escaping him here and there as he worked, because how could you sit there and think about something like that and not just be amused? He wondered if Katy could even rig up a camera on the porch so they could catch some good footage of it so he could see it, too.
Talk to Amaya - Shop Class, 10/22.
OOC - Shop Class, 10/22.