catbird – Page 17 – Wineberry Wood Press

28Apr 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

Maypole Happiness Trees & Garlands

Craft Project, May Day, Nature Art, Play

The last Friday in April is Arbor Day in the United States. (There are several other Arbor Day observances in other countries as well!) I knew I was going to do a May Day post on Arbor Day so I immediately thought of maypoles which were once made from trees. Arbor Day is a day to celebrate and plant trees and I was immediately reminded of an old project we did during covid lockdown to celebrate special trees. Everyone choose a tree that was special to them, in their yard, in a park or somewhere they went every day and decorated it with natural or compostable decorations. We called them happiness trees, in part because they brought joy to others during lockdown. As a part of that project we researched…

27Apr 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

Fairy Houses

May Day, Nature Art, Play, Spring Portfolio

May Day is said to be a fortuitous time to leave gifts and offerings for the fae. To celebrate we always make a point of building some fairy houses and leaving them some spring flowers and baubles. My kids will build fairy houses independently for hours... In fact, maybe I should be leaving a gift for the fairies! They construct ever growing fairy villages and encampments with different types of buildings, an armory (yes those are fairy swords..) and hidden storage bunkers. There are markets and food storage- what more could a fairy need? The kids spend the day outside being creative and getting fresh air and I don’t need to worry about the fae poisoning my cattle… traditionally many May Day/Beltane rituals were designed to ward off or appease…

27Apr 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

May Day Bouquets

May Day, Nature Collection, Play

My little guys love to deliver flowers to the neighbors on May Day. The goal is to leave the bouquet on their doorstep, ring, and then run off before they see you. Last year, they got caught at one house, but were otherwise undetected. They were extremely proud of their ninja skills and we got to watch one of our neighbors find their bouquet. The look of joy on their faces was amazing!!!May Day is on May 1st each year. It's the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. In some climates it is the start of summer, in mine it’s really the midpoint of spring. Flowers are starting to bloom, asparagus is beginning to pop out of the ground and the chance of a freak snow…

19Apr 2023 by catbird No Comments

Recycled Bottle Chandelier

Craft Project, Earth Day, Play, Recycled Materials

I generally refuse to buy plastic bottles and try to never buy water in plastic bottle, but every now and then it's unavoidable. Because I know that I'll end up with some every now and then (and will have tons after a clean up!) I am always on the lookout for interesting ways to reuse them. This chandelier is one of my very favorites! It's simple, easy to make and looks stunning. It's also a great project for a group if you have a class, coop or family gathering or some sort. Everyone can decorate a bottle or two and then they all come together to make something greater than the sum its parts. painted bottles ready to be hung the bicycle wheel frame Recycled Bottle Chandelier You can use…

16Apr 2023 by catbird No Comments

A “Cake” for the Earth

Earth Day, Garden, Play

I cannot claim credit for this project, it was my son's idea several years ago. When I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate Earth Day he said he wanted to make a cake for the trees. (He is very cake focused.. lol) We decided that the type of cake a tree would like would be made out of compost and things that trees like with a little decoration. He was and continues to be a champion mud pie maker, so we just adapted his usual process slightly by using compost. You can add coffee grounds, eggshells, comfrey leaves (or any leaf that will decompose and me nutritious) or even scraps from your compost bin. Arrange the layers of your cake in a bowl or tin and make…

16Apr 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

Recycling Bin Drawing Machines

Craft Project, Earth Day, Learning, Play, Recycled Materials

This is a great clean out the recycling bin type of project- you can use just about anything. The only thing you really need are dollar store electric toothbrushes, and if you plan ahead you could use an old electric toothbrush that really was destined for the trash. The toothbrushes are a simple way to get a motor for your drawing machine. If you are working with older children, you can also build more complex motors from electrical components, but the toothbrush does the job nicely. So what is a drawing machine and why would you want to build one? In contemporary art, a drawing machine is defined as any sort of apparatus that assists or replaces a human in drawing. Artists have lots of reason for making drawing machines,…

14Apr 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Tube Knitting with Plarn

Craft Project, Earth Day, Learning, Nature Art, Play, Recycled Materials

What you ask is plarn? It's a combination of the words yarn and plastic, so it's essentially "yarn" made from discarded plastic grocery bags. Those plastic grocery bags are a scourge on the environment, they always seem to find their way into woods and waterways, where they are often mistaken for food by wildlife. One of the things we like to do to celebrate Earth Day is to make use of materials that are traditionally discarded and/or littering natural areas. This can be from trash collected during clean ups (my first first public sculpture when I was in high school were giant trees made from trash collected during a big clean up!) or trash from your home and school that you can divert from the landfill and make something useful…

14Apr 2023 by catbird No Comments

Plogging Hike

Earth Day, Hike Ideas, Learning, Play, Recycled Materials

I swear all of my Earth Day posts aren't going to have funny words in them... but here's another one! Plogging is a combination of jogging and picking up litter, it was originally coined in Sweden (merging the Swedish verbs plocka upp (pick up) and jogga (jog). In our case its really more hiking than jogging, but I 'm not sure piking has the same ring to it. Sadly this is a tremendously easy hike to do-- there is litter nearly everywhere we hike. The only trick is to remember to bring a bag to collect litter in, and possibly some gloves so no one is touching trash directly. I didn't used to be squeamish about it, but covid and the proliferation of discarded face masks in public parks has…

05Apr 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

A Basket for Bunnies Made from Trees

Craft Project, Foraging, Nature Collection, Play, Spring Equinox, Spring Portfolio

When I was researching spring holidays for my spring book I was particularly intrigued by a German custom wherein children build a nest in a field or garden in which a hare would lay colored eggs for them. This idea came to the America's with German settlers and seems to be the precursor of the modern Easter basket and the rational for rabbits laying eggs. Eggs and hares were both of course ancient symbols of spring and fertility that predate Easter. All of that to say... I love the idea of making secret outdoor nests for a magical hare to leave gifts in!! I started making a proper basket, but I wanted to simplify it so that it was do-able for kids (and frankly adults...) What I ended up with…

29Mar 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

Fast Dyed Natural Easter Eggs

Craft Project, Nature Art, Play, Spring Equinox

I love to make natural dyes and I love to naturally dye easter eggs. When my kids were super little they didn't mind waiting overnight for the eggs to change color, but as they've gotten older and heard the siren song of the grocery store kits, they have lost interest in the natural dye process and requested the tablets more and more. (They usually humor me a little bit anyway...) I stumbled on this method by accident really, when I was making my conventional naturally dyed eggs post I was muttering to myself about how much better turmeric dye bath with alcohol is. I happened to have some already prepared so I tested it out of curiosity. It worked so much better than the water based dye- the color was…

Author: catbird