One of our favorite adventures is our seasonal expeditions to our local gardens. For you, it could be a walk through the park or forest. Today it was the Descanso Gardens in LaCanada/Flintridge, California. Whether it is during the winter months to see the Camellia Forest in bloom, Mother’s Day to see the vast Rose and Iris Gardens in bloom, or like our Funday Monday adventure today, Spring/Easter time to see the fields of tulips and the forest of lilacs in all their magnificence. We love hiking through our local gardens creating family memories.
Today, all along the walking paths and in between the constant snapping of photos, my granddaughter and I took the time to collect some fallen leaves. We gathered petals, and some bark to use when we got home to make a crafting project so we could literally frame our memories.
Supplies:
- 2 – 8” x 10” sheets of paper, card stock, or construction paper, you may need to trim down 2 – 8 ½ “ x 11” sheets of paper to make 2 – 8” x 10” sheets
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Dried leaves, petals, and bark you have collected
- Elmer’s glue or hot glue gun
- 1 – 8” x 10” frame
Instructions:
Using the pencil, draw or stencil your favorite shape onto one of the sheets of paper. Today my granddaughter choose a bunny for Easter and I choose a sunflower.
Using the scissors, carefully cut the shape you have chosen out of the middle of the sheet of paper making a template. Place the template paper on top of the clean sheet of paper and using the pencil, lightly trace the shape onto the bottom sheet of paper. Remove the template paper and set it aside.
Now, using whole leaves or, using the scissors, trim shapes, ie triangles, and diamonds, and using Elmer’s glue for children and the hot glue gun for adults, carefully glue your leaves and cut pieces onto the paper filling in the template shape you have drawn. For example, start at the top of the bunny and work your way down, for the sunflower, start around the outside edge and work your way to the center.
Once you have filled in the template shape, place and glue the original template over the bottom sheet.
Carefully place the two sheets, now glued together as one, into your 8” x 10” picture frame and there you have it. You have literally collected, crafted, and framed your memories of your day hiking through the garden, park, or forest.
Bonus project: Using the hot glue gun, carefully glue the pieces of bark you have collected onto the outside of the picture frame creating a 3D frame of your memories.