Pussywillow Crafts
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Children love making crafts from nature, especially when they get to use soft, fuzzy pussy willows!
nature crafts are green and earth-friendly. You use very little nonrenewable resources and you don't pollute the environment when you are done with them, they just biodegrade back into to soil.
Materials: Pussy willow catkins of various sizes, some type of small seed beads or actual seeds for eyes, tiny pink shells or pink felt for ears, tacky (thick) white glue, toothpicks
This is my tiny mouse "eye" collection. Choose whatever suits your mice wether it be seeds, glass or plastic beads.
This is my tiny mouse "eye" collection. Choose whatever suits your mice wether it be seeds, glass or plastic beads.
You can find tiny shells at shops or online or you can make your own out of small fabric felt pieces. Shells are easier!
Hold the mouse with tweezers and then using a toothpick, pick up small dots of glue and add them carefully to the face for eyes, nose and ears.
Add a tail using whatever materials you have on hand. You can use string, a piece of plant stem (I peeled some dried material off a stem for this picture) or even a piece of toothpick. Be creative.
After the mouse is dry you can add tiny details like scarves or hats. I like to set them in little landscapes. I use walnut shells for houses, trains, etc. You can also use birch trees to make a "mouse house". It is great fun to think of settings to put these lilliputian sized mice into!
You can make little strollers out of walnut shells to tuck your mice into. These are great for Christmas ornaments to hang of the tree! I two broken halves of a walnut shell and oak acorn caps for wheels. Fill with moss for cozy look.
Birch tree branches make great houses for little nature critters. I used a tree fungus (dried at a low temp in the oven) for a roof. Cinnamon sticks make a door frame.
TIP: Use pussywillows that are no more than one year old. You can use them fresh or dried. After a year they become brittle. You can forage for them if they grow in your area or get them from a florists shop (they buy from cultivated bushes).
You can also make mice out of various seed pods, get creative! I keep a collection of various containers of pods, seeds and other nature findings on hand.
