Natural Ornaments
Check out the Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Centers' Natural Ornament Workshops
on December 14th at Newcomb and December 15th at Paul Smiths.

Using natural materials to construct ornaments for your holiday tree is a great familiy project that brings you outside to collect materials, inspires your creative side and everyone can enjoy designing their own ornaments.

I like collecting materials thoughout the year, but here's a few ideas for things you can find now outside now. I get most of my inspiration from the animals I see around me. Try envisioning how you can use pine cones, twigs, leaves, weeds and berries to make a turkey, bat, deer, bear, porcupine, owl.

Most of these projects require a low temp glue gun to assemble. Regular glue just takes too long. Parents must use their good judgement when doing this project with their kids.

Tree hangers. I clip off slendar twigs where they branch to create natural hangers

Mildweed stars
materials: low temp glue gun and glue sticks, milkweed pods and any other stuff you'd like to decorate the inside of the petals or the center with. I save up pumpkin seeds to make a rosette to glue in the middle.
 
 

Butterflies

Materials: I use a long white or black spruce cone for the body and beech leaves for the wings with tansy flower heads for the eyes and slender branchs with buds at their tips for the antennae. Its all about using your imagination! Use whatever materials you have.
 

Bear face
Materials: four "cookies" (1/2 inch thick slices from a round piece of wood) of varying sizes, a few black beans
 

For the little ones (no glue gun needed)

Seed ornaments
Materials: assorted, colorful bean seeds, liquid nontoxic glue, wax paper, imagination

Spread out a piece of wax paper and let your little one use the glue bottle to create designs on the paper with glue. Let them pick out or dump the seeds that they want on. Let dry, peel off the wax paper and string up. Remember its the process not the product that counts!