paint cut paste

what a perfect thing to do on these sunny summer days – make your own nature photos with sun art paper!

on saturday, novi had a friend over to play. i tasked them with finding interesting looking natural objects in our backyard. they mostly gathered leaves and flowers.

then we went into the shade and pulled out a couple sheets of our sun art paper. (i bought three sizes of it from amazon over the winter, when i was daydreaming of sunny days ahead. this time we used the 5″x7″ paper.) we arranged the leaves and flowers on the paper before going into the sun.

next we put a clear acrylic sheet (comes with the paper) over the objects. this holds down your things so they don’t blow away in the wind or move around while exposure is happening. each sun art paper kit comes with just one, but if you want to do more than one at a time, raid your picture frame stash (especially the cheap plastic ones) and borrow some more from those. we left the paper in the sun for just 3-5 minutes (until it turns a very light blue.)

next we put the papers into a tub of water for one minute. because we wanted out images to turn out a deeper shade of blue, i added a few drops of lemon juice to the water (like it said to on the package.)

we repeated the process with more leaves and flowers… and some bubble wands, too!

after the prints have soaked for a minute, let them dry on a towel. (once completely dry, you can press them in a book for a day or so to make sure they are flat.)

the girls had fun watching how their pictures turned out, but mostly they were psyched just to run around with their popsicles. (perhaps the reason the package of sun art paper says for ages 6+)

these beautiful natural prints would make lovely cards, but i think i will frame this batch in a series to display in our home.

she's quite proud.

last year when i saw this post on one of my favorite blogs – 5 orange potatoes – i was smitten. isn’t lavender just the most heavenly scent ever? and these lavender wands are so easy, earthy, and elegant.

when i first saw the idea toward the end of last summer, all i had in my yard was very dry lavender, and i tried it out with that. it wasn’t all that attractive or easy then, so i vowed to wait until it bloomed again this spring.

let’s be real – this isn’t a young kid task. toddlers can help you pick the lavender, but it takes a kid of a few more years to do the weaving. (even momma thought it was a tricky small motor skills task!) as per the instructions, i gathered an odd number of stems of fresh lavender (anywhere between 9 and 15 – i did lucky #13 for mine!) that were at least 12″ long (or as long as you can get them.)

then i plucked off all of the leaves, rubber-banded the lavender just under its blooms.

next i followed 5 orange potatoes’ well-written/illustrated instructions and held the bundle upside down (blooms at the bottom.) i then folded each stem downward, one by one, to encase the lavender flowers. after i did that, my wand looked like this.

then i chose a 1/4″-1/2″ satin ribbon, and cut it to about 2 yards in length. i tucked the end of it in at the top of the wand (where the stems start to fold down) and began to weave it around and around through the stems – over and under. it makes a checker-boarded pattern as you go around because you have an odd number of stems.

don’t forget to pull it tight as you go. once the flowering part is covered and you feel like you’ve had enough weaving, wrap the ribbon tightly around the stems, then tie a knot at the bottom. i left a long tail of pretty ribbon dangling from it, too. then i trimmed the stems to an equal length.

these are the ones i made last year with the dried lavender stems, along with the new magenta one i just made. can’t wait to keep making more!

these make for a pretty and natural wand or sword for your little one to play with (and subsequently fall asleep due to the calming properties of the lavender,) or they make nice gifts for drawer sachets or pretty additions to a seasonal altar. i sent the fresh one to a friend for her birthday.

it is easy being green! who couldn’t use another reusable canvas bag – for groceries, target runs, library books, the farmer’s market, playdates, dance class, etc.? we decided to customize some springy totes for novi’s preschool teachers and dance teacher in honor of teacher appreciation week!

i bought a 3-pack of tote bags from michael’s for $9 (individual bags for $4.) they’re a nice 13″ size for carrying lots of things! i also got three colors of non-toxic fabric paint for about $1.40 each. (they sell assorted color sets for more money, but i thought i needed a larger amount of just three colors.)

then we got down to business… i used a sponge brush to paint the fabric paint onto novi’s hand. then she pressed her handprints (reapplying paint in between) on the bags in a radial fashion.

these made pretty flower petals. then she used a sturdy paintbrush to paint a center on each flower (in a different color) and a stem with leaf on each one.

you could personalize further by writing or stamping a person’s name on each tote, but we liked them as is. just let them dry for 4 hours, and you’re good to bag up your stuff!

these made great gifts for novi’s teachers, (along with these custom gift tags drawn & written by novi.) the bags would also work nicely for mother’s day or a reusable gift bag to fill with goodies when celebrating a birthday, bridal/baby shower, or any spring/summer event!

and if you like novi’s shirt, it could be yours… click here!

this is just the simplest spring thing you can do. paint a flower pot. plant some seeds. watch it grow. (couple this painted pot with a handmade bloom paper mother’s day card, and you’ve got a great gift to give those sweet mommas in your life!)

we went to a birthday party at a local art studio last weekend called celebrate art. one of the activities was to paint a small flower pot. novi got busy painting (with acrylics, i believe?) her pre-gessoed pot with a stylish color-block pattern.

once we were home and the pot was dry, we decided to plant some cosmo seeds in it.

we used my mom’s handy tip to put a flat stone in the bottom of the pot (to help the soil not run out of the hole when watered.)

then novi filled the pot with soil.

we sprinkled on the cosmo seeds.

watered…

and now we just apply more water, sunlight, (music – novi likes to sing to it,) and love and watch the flowers grow!

happy earth week! i saw this sweet idea on the mackville road blog, and found it to be pretty ideal for my little gatherer and crayon lover. novi and i are no strangers to picking some leaves and flowers nor to melting some crayons between wax paper… this combined both!

once again, we spent the afternoon in the yard and novi gathered all sorts of leaves, petals, and flowers… even if that meant picking them from our flowerbed.

we collected them in the bottom tray from a flower pot. (it was handy.)

we gathered up some supplies, which include old crayons, a veggie peeler (to shave the crayons with,) some wax paper, an iron, and a towel.

after i shaved some of the crayons, novi arranged the flowers and other findings on the wax paper and sprinkled on the crayon shavings.

when we were finished arranging, it looked like this:

we put another piece of wax paper on top, then a dishtowel. i ironed it on the maximum setting, but nothing seemed to be happening. i’d recommend using a very thin towel or cloth napkin — or you can do what i did and risk ironing directly onto the top sheet of wax paper. (somehow this worked out okay…??!?) then voila — our spring collection preserved in a sun catching way!

when out for a little walk around the ‘hood yesterday, novi began to collect natural treasures, as these little people often do. since she’s pretty into sticks and wands and her seasonal altar, making a medicine wand from her gatherings seemed like a fun idea.

medicine wands are traditionally used by native american cultures in spiritual ceremonies. generally, they include a feather, as well as sticks, leaves, flowers, crystals, or any other natural object that holds energy or meaning for a person. kids might enjoy making and playing with these wands, or placing them on their altars and using them to create sacred space. during our walk, we gathered red leaves, a green magnolia leaf, some twigs, a tiny pinecone, clover, and flowers.

when we got back home, we grabbed some yarn (any string works,) scissors, and a feather from my craft stash, since we didn’t find a feather outside, and honestly i’m a bit weirded out by avian flu and whatnot on feathers, regardless. (should i be?) traditionally, i think the feather should be the largest object with all other things placed on top of it, but our feathers were small, and took the front spot in the “medicine bouquet” as novi called it.

it was tricky to gather them all together and hold them while tying yarn on it, and since my little shaman was galloping through the yard, embodying a horse spirit by this point (see photo above,) i was left to my own devices to tie it up, so i relyed on a clothes pin to hold things in place while winding the yarn tightly around the base.

it should cover about two inches or so at the bottom of the “bouquet.” you can tie the string in the front or the back, depending on your preference. i stuck an extra feather on top as i tied the last knot, which is why you can’t see my two inches of yarn in the picture below.

after you’ve created it, just hang your medicine wand upside down to dry for a few days.

enjoy the healing properties of the earth! happy earth-day month!