Nature Crafts and Critters-Nanaimo, BC

When working with cones, bark and other parts of nature, we are bound to get sap on our hands or clothes. While some people enjoy the scent, most of us don't enjoy the sticky mess that follows until we get the sap off our hands.  Removing Sap from Skin An easy way to get sap off skin and clothing is to apply a greasy product. Anything from Vaseline (petroleum jelly, mineral oil), water-based hand lotion, vegetable oil, butter, mayonnaise, peanut butter, coconut oil etc. can be applied and rubbed on your hands or skin where the sap is. Next, wash your hands with soap. Good old-fashioned bar soap works just fine. Liquid soap does too. If there is still some lingering sap left on your hands, repeat.  Using hot water from the tap also helps to melt the sap so it flows more easily off your skin. You may still have some of the pine sap scent left but it will soon wear off.  Removing Sap from Clothing For clothing or other materials, freeze the material first for about 2 hours until sap i

I found a great solution! Glitter glue!  I remember when I was a kid and I loved using glitter in my craft projects! But I hated the mess, so did the rest of the family. Glitter got everywhere! Even if we made things at school, the glitter inevitably made it's way home. Well many years have gone by and I chose not to have glitter in my house. But someone had a innovation to solve that!  I love innovations! They put glitter into a transparent glue! Brilliant! Now we can dab or paint the glitter where we want it and not have to worry about getting it all over the house. Make sure to give the glue enough time to dry before displaying or using your creation. I found if you apply the glitter glue thickly it takes several hours to dry. Applied thinly, it dries more quickly. If you apply it over paint that is not completely dry, it gives a washed effect which dulls both the underlying color and the glitter. It depends on what effect you want for a project how you apply the glue. Gold, sil

 Catkins? What are catkins you ask? They are the male part of the tree that sheds pollen. In most trees and shrubs, the catkin falls apart soon after it releases the pollen. The type of catkin we will use comes off an evergreen tree and while somewhat delicate, it holds it's shape for quite awhile and we can prevent it from losing the bits by spraying it with a coat of hairspray. My interest in it is that it has a really neat texture with curling ends we can use in crafting all sorts of things. Since it is the holiday season, a tree sprang to mind! :) My tabletop Christmas tree turned out well and I thought of several ways to adapt it to your liking. Below is how to make the basic tree and some ideas of how to dress it up, if you choose. I really like it in it's natural form. It could also be used in a model railway train set up. Materials: glue gun glue sticks 20cm x 28 cm (8" x 11") light cardboard (What color is up to you and may depend on how you decide to dress u

This week, I found this very lightweight large cone in my collection. It was damaged and so not one I would sell. I decided to have some fun with it. I combined it with a piece of driftwood, some smaller cones and a last minute acorn elf and this is what came out of it! Materials: paint (white, yellow, green) paintbrush glue sticks and glue gun scissors red ribbon bead chain or wrapping cord, 3 wraps of the cone 2 x 2.5cm (1 inch) foil-wrapped gifts (foam and colored wrapping paper and tie) piece of thick cardboard (I use a cereal box) or thin plywood at least as long as the driftwood piece and wider than the driftwood and large cone combined. scissors white glue or tacky glue 1 piece of driftwood 25cm-30cm (10-12) inches long (interesting shape) 1 large 15cm-20cm (6-8 inch) Pine Cone 5-7 small and medium pine cones 20 partially developed acorns Step 1 Gather the materials that you are thinking of using. This was before I thought of adding an acorn elf to the scene. Tip: I use a plasti

 The past few days, I've had some fun with making a medium-sized wreath for my front door. I am very pleased with the result. What do you think?  Materials: 9 inch styrofoam or wire wreath 25cm x 4 cm (9.75 inch x 1.6 inch) 24 inches of string (to hang) scissors tweezers glue gun white acrylic paint red acrylic paint No 4 flat paintbrush water container about 75 x 4cm (1.5 inch) round pine cones 11 x 4 cm (1.5 inch) redwood or sequoia cones 5 x horse chestnuts 7 x long acorns (painted red or green) 5 clusters of alder ones (painted white) 20 partially developed double acorns 2 handfuls of soft hemlock cones for filler or use burlap to wrap the styrofoam or wired wreath Here's How to Make It Step 1 Collect and lay out your materials. It helps to know what you have before you start.  Step 2 Fold the string in half and tie an overhand knot about 1 cm from the end.  Loop string around the styrofoam wreath, tighten and glue in place. If you don't want the knot to show when you h