Another Snow Day? Your kids are probably under your feet chanting “I’m Bored. I’m Bored. I’m Bored.” Or your neighbors/siblings/cousins/mail carriers were in a pinch and dropped their kids on your doorstep because you have nothing better to do. Either way, it’s time to get crafty! First, send the kids to gather some woodland stuff, like pinecones, twigs, acorns, seed-pods, or whatever else catches their interest. Hopefully this takes awhile. Have a nice cup of tea while you wait.
Granted, if you live in Michigan where I grew up, Snow Days mean SNOW. So everything is going to be buried. Slightly warmer zones sometimes get snow days with only a light dusting. Here on Cape Cod, I can usually find quite a harvest this time of year, especially after a windy storm. You might want to let the loot dry in front of the fire for a little while if it’s wet (or on a baking sheet in the warming drawer or oven set to low). You could do this while making lunch.
Now scavenge your drunk drawer and craft cupboard for some wire, fabric scraps, and any odds and ends with holes in them like beads, buttons, shells, nuts/washers, or random objects. Pipe cleaners, string, glue, and wine corks could also come in handy. You may need pliers, wire cutters, or an old pair of scissors. Then, let the imagination soar (literally). I made little owlets and birdies with my pine cone stash.
I attached the beads, buttons, fabric, etc to the pine cone with wire, by threading it through various objects and wrapping the wire around the core of the cone. I made a loop with the wire to hang the creatures in the window or on next year’s Christmas tree. I prefer not to use glue (too messy) but kids love messes so if you have young ones, glue or string might be safer than wire.
Thanks so much for your kind comment on my blog and for the link! I love the critters you have here, especially the owls. They remind me so much of the things my children and I would make from treasures we’d picked up on our nature walks. To this day, my daughter (now 22 and a professional artist) has some of the things we gathered when she was a child, including some perfect butterfly wings. Years ago, we had a resident praying mantis in one of our flower gardens. We were happy to know that he was likely eating some harmful insect pests. What we didn’t know was that, unfortunately, he was eating butterflies. We found that out when cold weather took our flowers and we found at least thirty or more butterfly wings at the base of the zinnias. We were very sad about it, but my daughter has put those wings to good use in her art.
You have a lovely blog—I’ve enjoyed it very much.
How sad, I had no idea praying mantises ate butterflies! It’s an interesting way to acquire a butterfly wing collection, at least.
Thanks for the link! Lovin’ those birdies you made. I just did an “owl” inspired class with our homeschoolers…we made pinecone owls…the kids loved their little creations! Isn’t nature just so amazing and bountiful?!
xo maureen
I really like your owls. Working with children is challenging. I even made funny faces out of food, on my child’s plate. He told me that the food is even more tasty this way 🙂