Nature Crafts and Critters-Nanaimo, BC

 Tropical fish, crayfish, amphibians and reptiles all eagerly eat white worms, a small worm that lives in dirt. White worms (Enchytraeus albidus) are easy to culture. They are a great food for young fish and small adults. When placed in water, they wiggle which makes them irresistible to most critters. They grow to about an inch (2.5cm) long. Baby worms can be fed to tiny fish. Large clumps to larger fish and animals. Materials:  a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. 6L "shoe box" type works great. soil (no fertilizer added) organic mix of soil and peat, pH around 7 a slice of white bread (or dog kibble) heaping tablespoon of plain active yogurt plastic lid from a yogurt or margarine container hand-held drill or dremel with tiny drill bit (1/16 of an inch) debittered brewer's yeast powder or powered kelp a starter culture of white worms 1. Wash your container with hot soapy water. Rinse. Let dry.  2. On each side of the container lid, drill at least 40 small holes...

These sunflowers are sure to please! They are fun and easy to make and a bouquet can make a great gift for anyone with allergies to floral scents or a table centre piece. Use them to make fridge magnets, hair barret, paper weights or a bouquet of flowers (add backing and stems) Materials:  medium to large pine cones cone cutters scissors glue gun, superglue or tacky glue paint paintbrush water cup palette (a plastic lid) How to Make: 1. Cut the ends off a few cones. Tidy them up by using pliers to remove extra scales. (lower right) Place  cone ends on the table, scale side up. 2. Prepare pine scale petals by trimming the thinner end (where it originally attached to the cone) to create a point. Sturdy scissors work well for this.   3. Layout the scales around the flower centre to determine how many will be needed. In the photo below, 11 may be needed.  4. Paint the scale petals the desired color. I use a flat size 4 paintbrush below. I use a paint palette to keep the ...

Make a flock of turkeys for your Thanksgiving table centre piece.  Aren't they cute? For each turkey you will need: one round pine cone two large pine cone scales 6 or 7 large maple keys or conifer catkins (for the tail) large spruce, fir or cedar scale (face with beak) Douglas or Grand fir scale (for the dewlap aka wottle) felt pen or 2 small googly eyes craft glue or glue gun How to: Place a round pine cone on it's side. Roll it a bit to find a position where it is most stable laying on its side without support.  If it doesn't, cboose another cone and try again. This is an important step or you end up with a turkey that falls over. Place the feet scales curved side down on the table and place them next to the cone, one on each side. Make sure they are placed towards the base of the cone. Glue in place.  Starting at the centre top, glue the maple keys on the base of the cone. Work your way out.  Draw eyes on or glue googly eyes the face scale. Position the face scal...

Preserving Reindeer Moss Reindeer moss can last for years if preserved. If left natural, it can break down especially if the moisture level in the air varies. Tip: Using an old metal pot or glass bowl used only for crafts will prevent you or family members from accidentally ingesting this mixture. If you plan to dye the Reindeer Lichen, do that before you preserve it. The lichen will be absorb less dye if you preserve it before dying it and the color will be less intense.  Mix 2 parts glycerine to one part wood alcohol (methyl hydrate) in your pot or bowl.  Make enough mixture so your lichen is at least half-covered. Soak the lichen for 10 minutes. If only half of the lichen is submerged, turn it so the other half gets soaked for 10 minutes.  Remove the lichen from your bowl or pot with tongs and place it in a new bowl to let drain. Once the excess liquid has drained off, place it on newspaper or paper towels to dry in an out of the way location. Leave it until it is com...

When you get a new piece of wood for your aquarium, no matter where you get or buy it from, you want to make sure it is safe for your fish, crustaceans, amphibians and reptiles.  Avoid Sap and Pitch The first thing to check is that it is matured wood with no sap or pitch on it or in it. Pitch contains chemicals that are toxic to fish and invertebrates. Make sure any bark is removed as it is under the bark where sap or pitch is most often found. In most environments, dead wood fully "ages" in about a year from the time it has fallen or been cut down. Avoid pine and cedar (except really old saltwater driftwood) as they both have toxic chemicals than can cause irritation, breathing issues in amphibians and fish. Clean the Wood The next thing is to clean it. Use a bristle brush to clean all the surfaces and crevices. Hose the piece off, and run water over the entire piece. A new toothbrush (not previously used) can get into smaller spaces. Remove any soft wood that easily flakes ...

Making a Purple Lichen Dyes for Crafts There are many lichens that can be used to make dyes for natural materials like wool, cotton, silk, dried grass and even wood. A common one, Oak Moss lichen (Evernia prunasteri), is light-green on the top and white on the underside. It commonly grows on smaller branches of oak, maple and hawthorn trees. In the photo below, the middle branch is turned up so you can see the white underside. It can be used to make a beautiful purple dye. It's species name (prunasteri) mean prune-colored. Ecological Considerations: Be sure to collect only lichens that have fallen on the ground (after a windstorm is a good time to find them) and from the surface of trails so you are not reducing the biomass of material that will be composted. Some lichens also contain nitrogen so we don't want to be removing large amounts of that in one area. Collect from a variety of locations rather than just one. The ones that fall on the trail will be ground up by getting s...