Nature Finds: Twig Photo Frame

During the summer our children collect a vast amount of twigs (which they usually stash under a special lilac bush.) However, they have quickly learned that I usually concede to having them come in the house if we make them into some sort of project.  This is one of those collaborative projects that resulted from a large pile of little twigs…

This post was featured on the Crafty Crow: http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2014/07/twig-frame.html

Looking for some more nature inspired activities?  Check them out!

Materials

• Small twigs
• Glue gun/glue
• Wooden picture frame (you can purchase these inexpensively at craft or dollar stores or re-use one you already have)
• Cupcake liners
• Small plastic container
• Food colouring
• Scissors
• Tacky glue
• Brown floral tape (optional)
• Cooling rack (generally used for baking)
• Craft tray
• Smock
• A photograph of your child(ren) outside or yourself!

Directions

• Go for a nature walk (or many!) and collect fallen twigs.

• Have an adult glue the twigs to the frame.  (This might include having the child pass the twigs or directing where they would like them to go.)

• Leave out some of your twigs to make your blooms.

• Put some food colouring in the bottom of a plastic container.

• Dip your cupcake liners in the food colouring (we used white, that is why we decided to dye the edges, but you could use coloured ones and skip this step).

• Place them to dry on the cooling rack.  (You might want to put a craft tray underneath depending on how saturated the cupcake liners are!)

• Once the cupcake liners are dry, cut off the ruffle portion and then cut this into segments (about 4-6 per liner depending on the thickness of your twigs and the desired fullness of your blooms.)

• Put a thin line of tacky glue on the bottom of the ruffle and wrap it around the top end of your twig.

• To firmly secure this, we finished the bottom of the bloom by wrapping some brown floral tape around the edge where the bloom meets the twig.  Remember to activate the glue in floral tape, pull it taut (as we call it “stretching the glue”) before wrapping it around.

• Have an adult weave in the twig blooms into the frame and glue gun them in place.

• Insert a picture of you enjoying the outdoors!

Purpose

• Hand/eye coordination, fine motor skills, experimenting with using materials in different ways.
• Enjoying nature (collecting twigs often makes an enjoyable walk for both children and parents/ caregivers!)

Safety Notes

• A glue gun should be used by an adult.
• Be respectful of the environment and collect only fallen twigs, rather than those attached to the trees.
• When using dye (food colouring in this case), be sure to protect surfaces and your clothing.
• Use scissors with adult supervision.
• Follow the directions on glue products.