paint cut paste

i just love when art activities evolve organically, and from a child-centered place. we’ve been spending a lot of time in the yard lately, and novi is a bigtime twig gatherer. and lemme tell ya, we have some amazingly flexible, shiny, cool twigs in these parts.

wish i knew what types of trees these were.

the giving tree

this was the scene yesterday: novi collecting all sorts of sweet sticks…

today, when i suggested putting them into a pretty vase, she said, “noooo, i want to make a vase out of them!” um, okay. improvise, momma! so i grabbed an empty honey jar and a couple rubber bands, and we went to work, covering the outside of the jar with the twigs, securing them with rubber bands at the top and bottom.

novi helped with this for a long time, and i had to finish it up. it’s somewhat tedious for little hands. she took lots of breaks to gather more twigs.

keepin' on keepin' on

eventually the whole jar was covered with twigs that extended from its base to about an inch above its top lip, secured by two rubber bands. (i had to trim some of the longer twigs with scissors.)

i slid the rubber bands into the center, and covered them with raffia, (realizing that the blue rubber bands weren’t gonna get fully hidden, so i switched them out with tan ones, so be sure to start with tan if you do this.) novi picked some flowers from our yard for the vase, and our creation was complete and functional!

i’m not entirely loving the raffia, and may change it to a groovy rustic ribbon. (mostly because my cat chews in raffia and will flip this vase over in two seconds flat if it’s in her range.)

it did make for a wonderfully earthy dinner centerpiece tonight.

while i’m not necessarily posting daily photos of us outdoors for the entirety of this blog in april, most of our projects lately and this month will involve mother earth, so….

thank you, 5 orange potatoes, for getting the kids outside!

this post is truly for the birds… it’s a way to help our little winged friends pimp their nests for spring, while also using up the scraps you have cluttering up that art bin.

think of these as ornaments for springtime… to be hung outside on the trees in your yard so that birds can peck into them, between the wires, to retrieve lovely adornments for the nests they’re building. this is also a great wintertime project, especially if you are in a snowy area, as it is harder for birds to find scraps and things with which to create nests in such conditions. over the winter, i saw a nest kit made in what looked like a tiny crab pot cage in a gift shop. these can be made inside of lots of things – think mesh bags from the grocery store, little crafty bird cages, etc. i opted to come up with my own homemade version.

the first part is a grown-up (or older child) task: take some wire (i recommend 20 gauge or thicker) and wrap it around one of your child’s balls (ours was tennis ball size, but you can use any sized ball you wish.) i used one of novi’s squishy water balls so that i could mush it to slip it out easily when i was finished wrapping.

after you’ve wrapped it sufficiently, bring the ends of the wire to meet at the top, for a loop, and twist around it with some small pliers. then gently pull the ball out of a larger opening. once you do that, you may need to manipulate your wire back into a ball shape with your hands. you can get creative with sizes and shapes. i strung a couple of wooden beads into ours for fun.

then grab your little one and go hunting through your art cabinet/closet/drawer/bin for scraps of felts, fabrics, ribbons, raffia, moss, feathers, or anything that seems soft and strong enough to hold up to rain. think earth-friendsly and biodegradable. (no plastics, please!)

our scrappy mess

if scraps are large, cut them into little strips.

you and your child can have fun stuffing the wire ball full of these scraps. we enjoyed thinking of color schemes or themes for each one.

now just hang your little orb on a tree outside and see if it draws any feathered friends to it. days or weeks later, it can be fun to take your child out on a nest quest in your yard (or neighborhood) to find little birdie homes that include your groovy treasures. one fun part is that once the birds have emptied your orbs, you can refill them!

these make great gifts for spring birthdays, easter, earth day, mother’s day, and father’s day! just be sure to include a note with it so the recipient knows just what to do with it and doesn’t think you haven’t lost your mind by sending them a ball of art scraps.