Crafting with natural materials
An easy and fun Christmas craft for all ages!
Cut out a star shape from a piece of thick cardboard. An old cardboard box works perfectly. Then use craft glue to stick on different coloured seeds in a pattern. Add a hole and string to hang it up.
Use a large gumnut for the body and a sheoak pod for the head. Glue on a piece of red felt to create the hat, and a piece of cotton wool for his beard. Add some little craft eyes. Glue it altogether using a low melt glue gun! Easy peasy!
Large gumnuts are found on a variety of Eucalypts, and are fantastic for crafting. These little nature craft Christmas Angels have large gumnuts for their bodies, and bow-tie pasta wings. The Angel on the left has a sheoak head and gumnut cap hat, while the one on the right has an acorn head and acorn cap hat. Alternatively, you could use wooden beads for the heads. Little plastic eyes finish them off, and the pieces are glued together using a low-melt glue gun. If you’d like to hang them, glue a loop of string on the back.
This little twig Christmas Tree craft is featured in my book, Nature Crafts with Common Plants. It’s a really simple but fun (& cheap!) craft to do with a class or group of kids, or your own child. The trunk of the tree is a pop stick and I’ve collected some different sized twigs to use for branches. While you could use a larger twig as the trunk, the flatness of a pop stick makes it easier to stick the twig branches on. PVA or any other craft glue works fine. I’ve added a string so it can be hung up, and I’ve glued on a Crepe Myrtle pod as a star on top.
Making a Christmas reindeer out of seedpods and sticks is really fun and easy. This little one has a large gumnut (Eucalypt seedpod) for it’s body, and a sheoak pod for it’s head. Small sticks make perfect legs and antlers, and it’s all glued together with a low-melt glue gun. Small plastic eyes and a gumnut cap nose, painted red, finishes this little nature craft Rudolf off!
Paper plates with the middle cut out make a perfect base for a wreath. And they’re cheap & easy if you’re working with a whole class of young kids. Head outside so the kids can collect some natural materials. I’ve glued on gum leaves, gum blossom and gumnuts to give it a very Aussie touch, but just use whatever plants are available. A very simple yet effective nature craft activity!