I Heart You Earth

Earth Day is this Sunday. Promise us that you will do something nice for our dear Earth on Sunday.

Plant a seed in the ground or leave the car at home and opt for 2 wheels powered by your own legs or compost compost compost if you don't already!

There are so many great ways to say Happy Birthday Earth! How will you celebrate?

What We're Into Right Now

We love crafts that repurpose things we might otherwise recycle or trash, so after reading this post on makeandtakes, we've been collecting pieces of ribbon and paper for a kid-friendly craft: scrap gift bows! 
Check out this post from http://www.makeandtakes.com !

"Supplies for Easy Scrap Gift Bows:

• scraps of patterned paper
• newspaper or used wrapping paper
• tulle
• ribbon
• ric rac
• string
• buttons
• flowers

Scrunch paper(s) in the middle so it resembles a bow. Sometimes I like to fold my paper like a fan for added dimension. Layer scrunched “bows” of different sizes. Tie them in the middle with a piece of ribbon.

Layer a few more pieces of ribbon in the middle of the bow and tie on with same ribbon. 

Wrap a long piece of ribbon or tulle around the gift. Lay your bow in the middle and tie ends of long ribbon around to secure. Finish with a bow, or secure a flower or button in the center. Voila!"

We've got a box of scraps going. How about you? Do you have a project in the making?

Info from:

http://www.makeandtakes.com

Celebrate Earth Day: Make A Birdfeeder from Recyclables

Inspire the whole family to become more concerned about protecting the environment by making a bird feeder from a quart-sized milk or juice carton. Everyone will enjoy watching wildlife up-close right at home. You might want to encourage the kids to keep a diary of the birds that take visit your feeder.

This design protects the bird seed from rain and snow, which is very useful in the winter months when many bird feed platforms become snow covered and unusable.

Materials:

milk or juice carton

craft knife or scissors

wax pencil or crayon

ruler or straight edge

two small lengths of double-sided tape

two bamboo skewers or straight, small diameter twigs to use as perchs

bird seed

hole punch

heavy twine to make a hanger

Directions
1. Use the wax pencil and ruler to draw the shape of the opening on the front of the milk carton, as shown in the diagram at right. The opening looks like the outline of a house with a peaked roof. You should allow about two inches at the bottom of the carton to hold a good amount of seeds.

2. Use the craft knife to cut out the opening. Younger children will need an adult to help with this part.

3. Using the top of the peak as a center point, fold the piece of milk carton that you just removed in half along its length. Make a half inch cut from the point of the peak down the center fold. Fold up a half inch flap on either side of this cut, as shown in the diagram at right.

4. Attach a length of double-sided tape to each flap.

5. Insert this roof piece into the top of the opening and use your fingers to press the flaps against the inside of the milk carton until the double-sided tape holds securely.

6. Poke a bamboo skewer or thin straight twig through the wall of the milk carton, just below the left side of the opening. Repeat on the right side. Poke skewers all the way through and out the back wall of the carton. This keeps the perches straight and secure.

7. Use a hole punch or a skewer to punch two holes through the top line of the carton.

8. Thread twine through the two holes to make a hanger. 9. Fill the bottom of the feeder with nyger seed or a small bird seed mixture. Hang your milk carton bird feeder from a tree branch that you can reach easily when you need to add more bird seed.

Source:

All Free Crafts