A Natural Christmas

My theme for this week of Advent has been "cherish and care for the earth". Each year about now I bring nature indoors, by collecting greens, pine cones, straw, and other natural materials to use for decorations, and for making gifts. 

Greens are the first decorations I put up around the house, along with a few candles, to open the door to a little light, and to connect with the earth.

Agenda:

1. Make golden pine cone decorations

2. Tree cookie ornaments (tips for painting with toddlers)

3. Deck the halls

1. Make golden pine cone decorations:

Another way to simplify at advent is to make decorations from found materials, and from materials collected in nature. These golden pine cones look magical when stuck into greenery, or hung on a tree, and they are very easy to make.

Supplies: Found pine cones, gold spray paint, ribbon (optional)

1. Make sure your pine cones are entirely clean and dry, then set them outside and lightly spray with gold spray paint.

2. When dry, you can use them as they are, or attach a ribbon to the top to hang.

This year I also painted pine cones with my grandson! We used greenish-white tempura paint (see below for tips on painting with toddlers).

2. Tree cookie ornaments (tips for painting with toddlers)

This year I get to help my 1-1/2 year-old grandson make some gifts of his own, and we are having a blast!

I have a box of leftover tree cookies (slices of a fir branch) that we use for making name tags, and this week we painted a few to make keepsake ornaments. They already have holes drilled for hanging, so all they need is a ribbon and his name and date on the back.

Tips for painting with toddlers:

1. Toddlers have a very short attention span. Be prepared for painting in 5 minute increments over several days.

2. Have all your supplies handy and easy to grab when the mood hits. I put washable tempera paints into squeeze bottles, hang a smock in the kitchen, and store other supplies nearby. 

3. My set up is shown here: I whip out a plastic table cloth for the floor, set out the paper (or tree cookies, or pinecones, etc.), and put a bottle or two of paint on the table out of reach. (The yellow stool is for me - I don't do floor sitting anymore.)

 

4. Only after I'm all set up do I then show him a paint brush and ask if he wants to paint. (His response is usually eagerness!) I put on the smock and hand him one squeeze bottle. He is a practiced painter already, and knows exactly what to do with it.

Be ready for paint everywhere, especially hands and face.

 

5. After about 5 minutes, when interest starts to wain, and paint is going into the mouth, it's time to cheerfully ask "All done?" and start to clean up. First I take away the paint and brush and, before he can escape into the living room with painty hands, we play in water and wash hands and face.

6. One final tip: Build layers- bring out the same paper or other project for several sessions and add more paint, or when its dry, add crayons, pens, or paint pens (tempera paint pens are a wonderful invention!) 

 

3. Deck the Halls:
I've been collecting fallen branches of evergreens for the last weeks, and now I will bring them inside to deck my halls. Evergreens are a symbol of eternal life, and also symbolic protection against trouble. Today I bring the protective spirit of nature inside.

Sometimes I make a wreath, but this year I'm keeping it simple with greens on my mantle.