Summer – Page 2 – Wineberry Wood Press

10Jul 2024 by catbird No Comments

Solstice Shadow Drawings

Craft Project, Learning, Nature Art, Play, Summer, Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year and the sun is it it's highest position in relation to the Earth. This means that the shadows are the shortest than they will be all year. (Think about how in summer the sun feels directly overhead, that's because it is!) In fact areas close to the equator will actual be able to observe zero shadow days on the solstices at solar noon. Ancient astronomers measured the length of shadows to make mathematical calculations, like Eratosthenes, who in approximately 200 BCE calculated the circumference of the Earth be making detailed measurements of how shadows lengthen and shorten throughout the year. In addition to the shadow drawing project described below, you could also draw or record the shadow of a fixed…

10Jul 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Flowering Fern Sun Catchers

Craft Project, Folklore, Play, Summer, Summer Solstice

I am always trying to think of new ways to make sun catchers this time of year- it’s the perfect easy craft to celebrate the Summer Solstice. This year I was struck by a Slavic/Lithuanian myth that ferns develop a magical flower on the eve of the Summer Solstice. Of course my science nerds know that ferns don’t flower at all, they produce spores and fertile fronds, but another plant that grows right next to the ferns in my garden (and often in nature as well) is St. John’s wort. (St John’s Day is also what some call the Summer Solstice, interestingly) the magical fern flower is reputed to be yellow, but it may turn red on this special night. St. John’s wort is of course yellow and turns red…

10Jul 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Turmeric Dyed Shibori Bunting

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Art Materials, Summer, Summer Solstice

I am not a huge bunting person generally, but our summer nature table needed more sunny yellow. At the same time i had been meaning to make some non-indigo shibori forever. Shibori is a Japanese dying technique that is the great grandparent of tie dye. (It was introduced in Japan about 1300 years ago.) Most often used with indigo dye, fabric is folded or bound so that only the edges take dye which creates beautiful patterns. It was a favorite way to refresh old or damaged clothing. I especially like the triangle fold method, the result is almost sun like! While it may seem intimidating, the folding process is quite straightforward and easy to do. Turmeric as a dye is the brightest sunniest yellow with a tinge of orange. Like…

10Jul 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Magical Summer Solstice Rituals & Traditions

Craft Project, Folklore, Recipes, Summer, Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. It’s the day that the earth is tilted the closest to the sun and consequently has more hours of sunlight and less hours of dark then any other day of the year. The sun is at its highest point in the sky on the Summer Solstice and shadows are the shortest they will be all year. The word solstice comes from the Latin, sol means sun and stitium means still. The sun on the Solstices seems to pause, leading our ancestors to surmise that it was standing still for a time. Humans have observed the Summer Solstice since the Stone Age. Stonehenge was built at least in part to track the Solstices. On the Summer Solstice the rising sun is framed…

05Jul 2024 by catbird 2 Comments

Sea Glass Mobile

Craft Project, Nature Collection, Nature Table, Summer, Summer Solstice

I love to collect sea glass-- it's like areal life treasure hunt. Although in my case, I technically mostly collect river glass, but people don't know what you are talking about when you say river glass. It looks exactly the same, but I find it along a rocky river near my house. I actually think it's easier to find near rivers because there seem to be far less people searching it out. In the beginning, I had so few pieces that it was precious and I kept in in glass jars in the window, but as I discovered river glass and started to find more and more I decided that I wanted to make something with it. Generally I think sea glass belongs near a window so you can admire…

05Jul 2024 by catbird 6 Comments

Seashell Fragment Wreath

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Summer, Summer Solstice

Every summer we seem to acquire an overwhelming number of shells. Little clam shells and river mussels from the creeks around our house, snail shells around the garden and a whole array of shells when we visit the beach. The kids and I will both often collect little bits and fragments of shells, they might be super shiny or have an interesting pattern of shape. They all have their merits, but all those broken bits scooped into a bucket, toted home and left to sit have tendency to just kind of disappear. I wanted to do something with them that would showcase them up close, the same way you hold them in your hand close to you when you are finding them on the beach. I wanted to emphasize those…

05Jul 2024 by catbird 2 Comments

Shell Candles

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Nature Table, Summer, Summer Solstice

Our shell collection always seems to balloon in the summer, and while we live a few hours from the coast, the bulk of our shells are found closer to home. The shells we used for this project are hand sized river mussels that we find in the streams and lakes around our house. I love them and can't seem to stop collecting them! (So don't feel like you have to live near a beach to find shells!) You just need a tiny bit of beeswax to make these candles, and we sprinkled some of those tiny shells we always seem to accumulate on top along with a few pressed summer flowers. My favorite part is actually the sand sprinkled on top, it looks properly summery and was a last minute…

05Jul 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Summer Nature Table

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Nature Table, Play, Seasonal Nature Table, Summer, Summer Solstice

Nature tables are the perfect place to store and display all those nature finds that we “just had to bring home.” Honestly, I am almost as bad as the kids about this… Ours is on our porch so that things can be easily added and subtracted at will and we change it out for each season. (And it substantially reduces the stray sticks in the house..) In summer, the rock and shell collections get especially prolific, along with interesting sticks, feathers and flowers. Use log slices or old shelves and add some height. Try a vase to hold flowers. I like to stick rooting houseplants on the nature table too, they love the heat and filtered light, while the kids love to watch the growing roots. The kids are always…

21Jun 2024 by catbird No Comments

What is Summer Solstice?

Folklore, Learning, Summer, Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. It’s the day that the earth is tilted the closest to the sun and consequently has more hours of sunlight and less hours of dark then any other day of the year. The sun is at its highest point in the sky on the Summer Solstice and shadows are the shortest they will be all year. The word solstice comes from the Latin, sol means sun and stitium means still. The sun on the Solstices seems to pause, leading our ancestors to surmise that it was standing still for a time. Humans have observed the Summer Solstice since the Stone Age. Stonehenge was built at least in part to track the Solstices. On the Summer Solstice the rising sun is framed…

13Aug 2023 by catbird No Comments

Solar Balloons

Craft Project, Learning, Play, Recycled Materials, Summer

We always struggle a bit with the dog days of summer-- its hot and humid and no one really wants to do anything. That coupled with the sinking "summer is ending soon" feeling that I always get this time of year always seems to make me cranky in august. So instead of sitting around we decided to break out some simple projects that benefit from sweltering heat- the first of which was this solar balloon. What is a solar balloon anyway? "A solar balloon is a balloon that gains buoyancy when the air inside is heated by solar radiation, usually with the help of black or dark balloon material. The heated air inside the solar balloon expands and has lower density than the surrounding air. As such, a solar balloon is similar to a hot air balloon. Usage…

Category: Summer