Valentine Nature Crafts for Kids

February 2, 2016 Emily Waechtler

Here's a list of some fun valentine themed crafts for nature lovers and crafters of all ages. Even the most simple idea here can feel like relaxing soul therapy for the advanced crafters out there, or a great way to get little hands involved in the season. Follow the links to find the directions (photo credit to link below) For more crafty ideas, follow my Crafty Pinterest Board.

Fruit Loop or Cheerio bird feeder hearts, how simple and fun! From Sweet and Simple Living.

These fairy wands are just darling! Made from a twig or a piece of driftwood. Let's do Something Crafty tells you how.

February is a perfect time to treat the birds! I just love these heart shaped bird feeders. Find out how to make them at Intimate Weddings. We made these a couple years ago and they're just darling!

For the very beginner seamstress, or a fun group activity, this heart garland sure is cute! Directions over at Made by Rae.

These string hearts look like a great way to decorate the window! DIY at Family Chic.

I love this idea of taking a nature walk and finding all the naturally occurring hearts. Read more at Fireflies and Mudpies.

These nature valentines are the perfect alternative to more sugary treats. Get inspired at Wilder Child.

For the kid (or adult!) with a bit of sewing experience, these hearts by Blair are fabulous! Find how to make these at Wisecraft Handmade.

Heart String Art, find out how at Love and Cupcakes. These look like they could decorate your room all year long!

Painted heart rocks, via Color Me Katie. The possibilites are endless with paint and rocks my friends!

Simple Macrame Orange Bird Feeder

January 5, 2016 Emily Waechtler

We did a lot of nature crafting this winter. Not only for our Nature Pals, but also to satisfy our own crafting addiction. These orange macrame bird feeders were one of my favorite parts of a natural holiday decoration installment the girls and I did in our local elfin oak forest.

After we cut the orange in half, and scooped out the yummy stuff we cut 8 equally length strings. I didn't measure, but maybe an arms length.

We tied them all together at the bottom, then sectioned the strings out in pairs into four different sides (north, south, east, west). Those pairs, we tied into knots, about an inch away from the very bottom knot.

Next, we divided the pairs of string into new pairs, pairing neighbors strings together. And then tied those into knots about an inch or inch and a half up from previous knot.

Then we slipped in the orange half filled with bird seed into the newly formed string cradle and tied another knot with all 8 strings at the top so that we could hang it on a tree. A very simple macrame project that our neighborhood birds have been happy to snack from.

Along with our orange macrame bird seed holder, we dried some citrus slices and strung up some festive cranberries. The birds seemed to love the bird seed and cranberries best!

I gathered most my inspiration from my "crafty" and "Christmas" board on Pinterest, and even highlighted a few in my post of "Ten Nature Winter Crafts for the Family".

**Note: We went back after about a week and grabbed anything not eaten yet so as not to litter our nature walk.**

Keep in touch! I'd love to see what you create! You can find me on Instagram @emily_bluecorduroy we're always in nature up to something fun!

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xo Emily

Ten Nature Winter Crafts for the Family

November 9, 2015 Emily Waechtler

I'd be crazy if I said we were going to do ALL these crafts this holiday season! They are all so inspiring and festive though, I know whichever ones we do end up making are going to give us so much satisfaction. We do have a fun plan for early December where we are going to need a few of these crafts to pull it off. Can't wait to show you what that is!

There's nothing I love better than crafting with supplies on hand. These twig stars use a variety of random parts and pieces, looks like you could incorporate what you find on a walk around the neighborhood.

Cinnamon and applesauce make up the dough for these ornaments. I can just imagine the way the house would smell while making these!

Orange and clove pomanders were almost my favorite thing to make as a kid. Super easy, and super festive!

Macrame Orange Bird Feeder via Blue Corduroy

What? Feed the birds from an orange? yes please.

This blog post from sortra.com has 36 ideas of what you can do with pinecones. We love to paint pinecones! And this year I'm really in the mood for sparkely pine cones!

More ways to feed the birds. Yes, we love to feed the birds, and yes, we have a plan brewing, I'll tell you all about it in a few weeks!

More glitter, more nature. I figure if we stick with just a couple elements in our holiday making, then everything will look good together.

These sure look like fun, and think of the endless ways you could decorate that clay. Perhaps a great gift idea too!

I've never been much of a wreath maker, but this simple box tree and closet hangar wreath might be easy enough for the girls and I to make ourselves.

Yarn and sticks. They were meant to go together. Great for monogrammed ornaments, or gift tags.

You'll find some more seasonal craft inspiration at The Crafty Crow. She always has something fun going on over there for all ages!

If you have preschool age kids, Jess at Scrumdilly-do! is full of hands on fun ideas.

And I'm always adding to my Christmas and Crafty Pinterest boards.

Keep in touch! I'd love to see what you create! You can find me on Instagram @emily_bluecorduroy we're always in nature up to something fun!

Sign up for my Newsletter to save 15% off your next purchase and be the first to now about fun new projects!

xo Emily

How to Paint a Feather by Ruby

August 7, 2015 Emily Waechtler

I am so excited to introduce to you the first of many guests posts by Ruby, my thirteen year old daughter! She has so many amazing talents, writing and crafting are just a couple. She has her own Etsy Shop, "Ruby by the Sea", and her own blog (which is private until her mama thinks she old enough to go public). Today, she teaches us how to paint a feather...

For the Annual Los Osos Craft Fair this year, I'm going to sell painted feathers. Today I'm sharing the how-to for the those of you who can't make it to the Kid's Craft Fair!

Gather Your Supplies:

First, collect your feathers. I simply picked up a few in the backyard from the chickens, but you could go to the beach, a lake, really anywhere with birds, or a craft store.

Simply soak in warm soapy water to get them clean. Once they dry, you can preen your feathers to get the individual feather barbs in order, just like a bird would, except use your fingers instead of your beaks.

Decide on paint (I used acrylic), and grab a paint brush (I found that smallest brushes work best).

Start Painting!

With one hand, flatten out the feather onto a piece of scratch paper, and with the other hand, pick up a paint brush and start to paint! I leaned towards stripes and dots when I was deciding on designs. Be gentle with your brush though, it can easily separate the feather barbs if you press too hard.

A few things I learned along the way:

"Zip" your feather strands together before you start painting! That way your feather is smooth on both sides, and it won't look ragged and stringy once painted.