Today's Project: Quill Pens

Hail, fair reader! Sorry for the long absence, my budding medievalists and I have been throwing ourselves into our studies and trying to get the hang of juggling multiple students and a third who wants us to stop and play with him.

This week we're taking a short break from our beloved Story of the World to study Arthurian legend. I really felt it was important for them to be as familiar with these stories as with Beowulf or Robin Hood because they're referenced in popular culture at least as often. Everyone knows about Merlin, Arthur, and the doomed love between Guinevere and Lancelot! And really, who doesn't love stories of chivalry and battling fearsome dragons or ignoble churls who have done something wicked? 

We've read Merlin and the Dragons by Jane Yolen, The Kitchen Knight by Margaret Hodges, The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla, and are working through the books in Sterne and Lindsay's King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, which I would highly recommend! 

But a kid can't just sit and listen peacefully! They need to get the wiggles out! They need something to keep their hands busy while they listen! So today we made quill pens and practiced writing. 

Whoa now! Before you claim you're not capable of this, you're not crafty enough, or you have no clue what you're doing, just hear me out! It's way easier than you think, I swear! In fact the only thing you need that might not be in your house are the feathers. 

You want to use the large size ones, the ones with tips that look thick and pretty hollow to start with. I got a pack of five in assorted colors from the craft store for about $1. Plenty for all of us!

You'll also need something to trim the ends at an angle. You could use a very sharp pocket knife, a pair of scissors, or if you have a pair of little jewelry wire cutters like I did those work brilliantly. Then you'll need a straight pin or medium or large sized safety pin to hollow out the tip.

So. Step 1: trim the tip at an angle with your instrument of choice.

Step 2: take your pin and pull some of that white stuff out to make a small hollow at the end to draw the ink up into the quill. 

Step 3: you're done! Try it out!

Instead of using store-bought liquid ink or making our own out of ground walnut shells or soot (because that's way more labor intensive), we grabbed the darkest liquid in the pantry - balsamic vinegar. It doesn't dry very dark, but it works well enough to get a feel for it. My kids certainly thought it was cool pretending to be medieval scribes!