Hi all! We have been enjoying some lovely Ohio Spring days lately!  The little ladies have been busy making little acorn cap baskets from dirt, moss, pliable sticks and cat mint. No glue was used, just nature.

They sculpted little tiny white eggs from clay to put in the baskets-

 Araina brought her wee folk outside and set up a little picnic, including a hosta leaf umbrella to protect Mama Oak from the sun.

 I think these little baskets are the cutest and want to put them on my bookshelves and in our terrariums!

Happy Spring!
“That’s all,”
  Lisa

We felt the need to bring a little spring into the holiday this year with scented herbal dough. I made a batch of pink rose petal scented dough and Fauna made a batch of purple lavender scented dough.

You need:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon canola oil (or any other oil you have on hand)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
3-4 drops essential oil (we used rose and lavender)
food coloring (we used purple and red)
2 tablespoons dry  herbal leaves or flowers (we used lavender buds and rose petals)

To make:

1. Add a couple drops of the food coloring into the 1 cup of water.
2. Put flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, and tinted water into a medium sauce pan.
3. Cook the mixture over medium heat until it bubbles, stirring constantly until it thickens.
4. Remove from heat then stir in a few drops of essential oil and the dried herbs or flowers.
5. Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
6. You can store any leftover dough in an airtight container or leave the creations out to airdry.
     *They take about a week to dry and they will fade in color a little bit. The lavender dough has kept its scent the best.

 Fauna  made some snails, Araina made a cat with a bed and ball of string, and we all made hearts.

We strung the hearts to hang in our windows and on bookcase knobs (don’t forget to add holes if you want to string them).

“That’s all,”
 Lisa

The future pinecones look like little candles in the shape of pine trees.

In the picture below, you can see both pinecones and needles being formed.

Make Wishes on the Needles

The needles are long and come in bunches of 2. You can make wishes on the needle bunches the same way you’d make a wish on a wish bone (being vegetarians, my little ladies have never made wishes on wish bones, they prefer to wish on pine needles).

The winner of course gets to make a wish!

So go find a red pine tree and make some good wishes!

I should give credit where it’s due- a Japanese woman shared this tradition of making wishes on red pine needles with my sister, Katrina, who works at an arboretum. We have been huge fans of the tradition ever since!

FYI- these pictures were taken during the summer, right now we actually have a lot of beautiful snow on the ground!

“That’s all,”
 Lisa

It’s a perfect day to find slugs on magnolia petals

and worms needing rescuing from the driveway puddles!

 A day for playing in puddles

and a day for a little bit of drama because one of us was “freezing to death!” It was in the 40′s today after a string of days in the 80′s, so it did feel very cold today. Crazy spring weather!

A great day to stop and taste a magnolia blossom as well! I have to warn you though, they taste like cheap perfume (not that I know what the taste of cheap perfume tastes like)!

Yep, some of those tree blossoms are indeed edible. I would only just have a little taste of some of them, but some taste quite good.

Here’s a list of trees that are “category 4″  or plants generally considered non-toxic to humans (according to the University of Arkansas)-
-Redbud blossoms- Our favorite, highly recommend trying!  They taste just like sweet peas if you nibble them while they are very young. Ours aren’t quite to that stage yet though.
-Mimosa
-Pecan
-Russian-Olive
-Tulip-Poplar
-Pine- Fauna was just complaining last week that she had a pine needle stuck in her throat after eating some, she nibbles needles all of the time. Pine is also a great source of Vitamin C and makes a good tea too!
-Plum
-Weeping Willow
-Forsythia
-Gardenia
-Hibiscus
-Nandina
-Lilac
-Yucca

To learn more about the toxicity of trees, visit the longer list here. Please use caution when eating wild edibles and make sure the id is CORRECT before tasting! There’s the warning, don’t come back to me if you should get sick. I get a little nervous sharing wild edibles on the site because of this, but wild edibles are such a pleasure to my girls and make “knowing nature” fun!

I thought I would share an Outdoor Challenge Participant of the Day from now until the end of April. Today’s picture is from Sherry of Living and Learning; it’s a shame not to show her boy’s cute little face, but this pic is PRICELESS! Love a kid in the mud and a mama not afraid of a dirty kid!

I will try and share more participant pics daily. If you come back here and leave a link on the days you participate, I will know I have permission to share. 

 Visit the other Great Outdoor Challenge players- 105 players so far! It’s never too late to join!

lisa, sanders, angelina, phyllis, sarah, christie, jennifer, debbie, dong dong, denise, luisa, joy, stephanie, cori, alex, dawn, kristen, catherine, tricia, becky, christy, ruth, kari, courtney, branflakes, jessica, renee, haiku, brynn, amy, clemencia, sherry, leslie, lise, renee, anet, jenn, marina, amy, ella, marcia, karen, beth, julie, kyndale, kelly, lizzie, eileen, ag, mari-ann, cindy, robin, nicole, debbie, julia, renee, anita, lisa, jenn, montessori, marita, jeannie, hallie, mandy, kangaroo, andrea, joey, carmen, teena, stephinie, gidget, elizabeth, emma, rosina, saminda, melissa, katie, becca, atouria, barbara, ariella, missy, elizabeth, sarah, eileen, lisa, stacy, jennifer, tulsileaf, lisa C, morticia, angela, rana, jamie, lisa c, luz, charley, heather, valerie, kirsten, rachel, annie, kendra, beth s, lindsey

“That’s all.”

1. Cut a piece of paper into a perfect square. Mine is 7″ by 7″. Fold the paper in half making a triangle, then unfold.

2. Fold the paper into another triangle going the opposite direction. You should have a seam down the middle where your previous fold was done. Unfold.

3. Turn the paper over so you have a diamond shape facing you; fold the left and right points to the center.

4. Now fold the top and bottom points to the center so that all of the points touch in the center of the paper.

5. Keep the paper folded, turn it over and fold the points to the center once again.

6. Leave it folded, then fold in half leaving the four points on the inside.

7. Put your fingers inside the squares, manipulate it a bit and who-la……cootie catcher!

8. Now to write some directions to follow.  The catchers I made for the little ladies today involve nature and must be done OUTSIDE.
I included some close ups so you can see how I filled one of them.

Directions on how to use the cootie catcher:
1. Pick a topic from the 4 offered. Example:  Name a Tree
2. Spell out the name of a tree opening and closing the catcher with each letter.  Example: Oak- open and close the catcher 3x.
3. Choose a number. Example:1
4. Lift the tab with the number chosen and read the directions. Example: “Hug a Tree”, so I would go and hug a tree.

My 4 main topics were:
1. Name a bird
2. Name a tree
3. Name a flower
4. Name an insect

My 8 directions:
1. Hug a tree
2. Go to a backyard tree and find a seed
3. Take off your shoes and put your toes in the dirt
4. Whisper to a plant
5. Go left 30 steps and look for an insect
6. Pick up a leaf and find one similar
7. Look under a rock
8. Go right 60 steps and name all the plants you see.

More examples:
1. Count how many birds you hear
2. Touch 10 different textures
3. Go right 30 steps, get down close to the ground and name all the life you see in the grass
4. Name the trees you see
5. Look for 5 different leaves
6. Name something brown around you
7. Name something you smell
*use all the senses you can, give them directions to go- North, South, East, West, left or right; the possibilities are endless!

Now get outside and enjoy!!!!!

*Be sure to check out the new Have a Heart Monster in the shop!