Painting Acorn Caps

On our walks and while outside we've been collecting pinecones and acorns.  Like the squirrels, we're storing them for winter (crafts and play later when there is nothing but snow on the ground).  I keep both the acorns and pinecones in a sealed bag for a week or so just to make sure nothing hatches or crawls out of them before we use them.

I pinned this idea found here about making fairy dishes from seed pods and knew my girls would love it.  This is the second time we've painted acorn caps, they do love it.

We broke off any little stems from the caps to help them sit flat and in some cases we sanded the bottoms.  Using craft paint, they painted and decorated the caps.

They love these cheery little dishes and use them with the doll house and their little play figures.  I love that each one is unique.

Practice Tying: Fabric Scrap Leaves

My oldest daughter is learning to tie but not quite there yet and my youngest daughter is practicing the first stages of tying. This activity suited both of them well.

I have been wanting to make one of those knotted wreaths for awhile now, but still don't have enough fall fabric scraps to complete one, so for today we used strips of left over felt to make leaves on bare branches.

I made sure to cut the felt into long strips so they would be easy for tying. My oldest daughter set off tying on her own while I worked with my younger daughter. We just used the first steps of tying- crossing the ends, pushing one end under and through, and pulling both ends to tighten it to the branch. The repetitiveness of these steps helped my youngest daughter practice and be successful on her own.

We had just enough felt scraps to bring a little color to the branches, just like the trees outside.

Art on the shelf this week

Here are two activities that I have out on the shelf for use this week, both having to do with leaves.

Because we don't have one of those cool rainbow stamp pads, I chose to use paint for making multicolored leaves. We have a foam leaf stamp (good because it can be washed off after), a small paint brush, a jar for washing the brush after each color is applied and a sponge for brush dabbing and mess wiping. My daughters just dip the brush into the paint and apply to various areas of the stamp.

The leaves are very colorful and different every time paint is applied onto the stamp. I supplied large paper so that the stamp could be used multiple times.

Our playstand is set up for fall and it is the perfect spot for the googly eyed leaves I saw over at The Magic Onions last week. They are so simple and fun to make that I set up a tray for making them on the activity shelf.

We've been collecting and pressing leaves. I added some to the tray along with googly eyes, a hole punch (for a mouth) a small container of glue, and a small brush for applying the glue. We have these little leaf peepers all over the house!