Full Moon – Wineberry Wood Press

14Mar 2024 by catbird No Comments

Worm Moon Seed Bombs

Craft Project, Full Moon, Garden, Play, Spring, Worm Moon

Jonathan Carver is credited as the source of the Worm Moon name, claiming it was a Dakota name. However, every Dakota resource I have found calls this full moon the Sore Eyes Moon, which refers to the glare of the sun off snow. (“Sore Eyes Moon” is how this moon’s name translates from the Lakota and Assiniboine dialects as well.) Allegedly, in the late 1700s, Jonathan Carver wrote that the worms actually refer to larvae that are emerging from winter hideouts around this time. Where I live in the Mid Atlantic, snow is receding in March, and spring is just starting to peek through. I often think of March as the muddy month. Worms make their first trip to the surface as the ground unfreezes and leave their little piles of…

25Jan 2024 by catbird No Comments

Frost Moon Sun Catcher

Craft Project, Frost Moon, Full Moon, Play, Winter

This sun catcher uses the exact same solution as my frost paint, but creates a thick layer in a clear lid instead of a thin layer on a piece of paper. It's extremely simple to make, but will take several days to dry out completely. It is a super saturated salt solution which will grown into crystalline feathers as the water evaporates. Because it's trapped in a plastic lid instead of expose to the air on your paper it will take longer. It’s fairly unpredictable and it’s best to embrace that and enjoy the process. The way the crystal grow is similar to the way frost forms! Materials: 1/2 cup epsom salt 1/2 cup water jar with a lid a clear plastic lid watercolor (optional) Method: Put the epsom salt…

25Jan 2024 by catbird No Comments

Scented Crystal Snowflakes

Craft Project, Full Moon, Play, Snow Moon, STEAM, Winter

Another snowflake project to celebrate the snow moon! Can you really even have enough snowflakes? This would be a great project to do with a snow lesson, Snowflake Bentley, White Snow Bright Snow and the Story of Snow are all favorite books in our house. Snowflakes are a type of crystal that forms around a bit of dust or debris as it falls from the sky and famously each one is unique. Scented Crystal Snowflakes I’ve always loved making borax crystals– I supersaturate the borax solution so that larger crystals form. Most recipes use a lot less borax and that will work, but it will form much smaller crystals.I like to add essential oil to the solution so that it smells nice, but it's completely optional. Ingredients: White or blue…

25Jan 2024 by catbird 2 Comments

Snow Cream

Full Moon, Play, Recipes, Snow Moon, Winter

I didn’t realize until adulthood that snow cream is a peculiarity of the Mid-Atlantic states-- we aren’t quite in sugar on snow territory-- but we still get a fair amount of snow. The recipe is a loose guideline at best-- get some snow, add something creamy and sweet to it and eat it quickly before it melts. When I was a kid it was always chocolate syrup, as an adult I like the creaminess of the condensed milk and vanilla. I almost never make this quantity, instead we fill individual bowls up with snow and add the condensed milk to taste with extremely imprecise measurements. However if you want to use up a whole can of condensed milk, this is how you do it. Ingredients: 8 ish cups of clean…

25Jan 2024 by catbird No Comments

Paper Snowflakes for the Snow Moon

Craft Project, Full Moon, Play, Snow Moon, Winter

February is the snowiest month where I live, and according to the National Weather Service it’s the snowiest month nationwide. According to the Farmer's Almanac’s list, this month’s full moon is called the Snow Moon based on the report of Captain Jonathan Carver, a colonial expedition leader who claimed the Lakota people called it that. The translation of the Lakota name that I have found is substantially more poetic: When Trees Crack Because of Cold Moon. Similarly, the Abenaki people observe the Makes Branches Fall in Pieces Moon. The Arapaho call this the Frost Sparkling in the Sun Moon, and the Comanche call it the Sleet Moon. One of the simplest ways to celebrate this snowy full moon (aside from just going outside and playing in the snow!) is to…

24Jan 2024 by catbird No Comments

Wolf Road Donuts

Folklore, Full Moon, Recipes, Wolf Moon

My favorite interpretation of the name Wolf Moon relates it to the Wolf Trail or Road—a traditional Blackfoot name for the Milky Way. In northern climates, the stars in the winter sky are much brighter and clearer than during the rest of the year because there is so much less humidity, meaning there is no haze to obstruct your view. While teh night of a full moon isn't always the best for star gazing (but do some January star gazing for sure!), it does provide a great opportunity to learn about the Wolf Road and make these amazing donuts for a Wolf Moon celebration. I use store bought donuts (that account for everyone's allergies) making this a deceptively easy project. Chocolate Wolves: food safe silicone wolf mold chocolate melting wafers (dark,…

25Nov 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

Rosehip Syrup after a Frost

Frost Moon, Full Moon, Recipes, Winter

Rosehips are one of my favorite things to forage. The woods around me are overrun with invasive multiflora rose and while its hips are quite small, they still make a delicious rosehip syrup. In North America, Rosa multiflora was originally introduced from Asia as a soil conservation measure, a natural hedge to border grazing land, and as a hardy rootstock. It proved much too hardy and quickly escaped cultivation crowding out native species with dense hedges and popping up in wooded areas. Multiflora hips can be harvested without concern, as they are invasive and not a preferred wildlife food. They are also fun and easy for kids to forage- the hips are bright red and easy to spot! Like all roses, the multiflora produces hips that are edible. Rosehips are…

23Nov 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Crystalizing Frost Paint for the Frost Moon

Craft Project, Frost Moon, Full Moon, Learning, Nature Art, Play, Winter

November is the time that the really frosty mornings start for us. The Assiniboine and Creek people call this moon the Frost Moon, the Anishnaabeg and Passamaquoddy call it the Freezing Moon, and the Algonquin tribes call it the Much White Frost on Grass Moon. The Abenaki refer to the Freezing River Maker Moon, and the Arapaho people call it the When the Rivers Start to Freeze Moon. This is a great time to explore outside and look for different types of frost. I always seem to find myself taking pictures of leaves that look like they are dusted with icing sugar. If you have old wondows like us you'll start to see beautiful feathers of frost form on them in the morning. There are even "frost flowers" that is…

25Sep 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Gluten Free Mooncakes for the Harvest Moon

Autumn, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Recipes

A mooncake is an East Asian pastry traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival celebrates the harvest and the moon. Most mooncakes consist of a thick, tender pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling, and may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center that symbolizes the full moon. Traditional fillings include lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste and mixed nuts in syrup. Mooncakes have a lovely design imprinted the on top. There are tons of different designs, but some traditional ones include: Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony", the moon, the Chinese goddess of the Moon (Chang'e), flowers, vines, and rabbits. I came across a fascinating snippet that Chinese revolutionaries used mooncakes to send coded messages in the olden days-- you had to cut the mooncake into quarters and rearrange it to decipher the words.…

24Sep 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Bunny Mochi

Autumn, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Play, Recipes

These mochi are so adorable and so simple they hardly need a recipe. I was inspired to make rabbit shaped mochi because of the East Asian myth that there is a rabbit in the moon making mochi. Rabbits have ended up playing a somewhat key role in our Harvest Moon celebrations over the year due to their associations with the moon. (Read more here) This is also simple enough to do after work when you don't have the energy for much else. (Speaking from experience...) Ingredients: pre packaged mochi. You can get these in a large variety of flavors. You want round ones. scissors black and pink food safe markers Method: Gently squish the round mochi into more of an oval shape. With the scissors snip two ears from one…

Category: Full Moon