Leaf rubbing & nature journaling

It's a beautiful day here in North Carolina. 

It's perfect for leaf rubbing and nature journaling.  

My girls love to discover nature. They select a fallen leaf and rub the paper with oil pastels, then then they look up tree name in our nature books. 

They think each tree has a different scent so they like to rub the leaf in their journal, like a scratch and sniff sticker.

October Sensory Tub

What fun we had with October's sensory tub! We added leaves, acorns, pom-poms, nut pumpkins, pinecones, and Jem added rocks. She started by threading the leaves onto pipe cleaners that I made into a little tree, but we picked up twigs later in the day to make a "real" tree. Happy Fall!

Crafty fun with recycled trees

I love this project...right now we are using these cute trees as part of our fairy forest. This is a great recycle craft for all those old brown bags.

We saw this neat idea in an craft book at our local museum. I think they look lovely and can be made for all four season. Just take a paper bag, cut 3 inch strips at the top, open the bag, and then twist 2 strips together until they all look like branches. Glue whatever leaves or flowers you want on the branches. Have fun!

Our "Real" Egg Tree

Every year when I was a kid my family would hand-blow eggs, paint them, and place them on a branch of the sassafras tree. This is a tradition I plan to continue with our little family. The eggs on this branch were painted by my great-grandmother many years ago. So from our family to yours Happy Easter and may you carry on a little tradition year after year.