the most basic of supplies:
-a glass jar with screw on or clamp on lid
-very small amount of potting soil
-moss and small plants that grow in moss (we gathered moss and Oxalis from under our oak tree)
-water

Easy to do-
-Place a small amount of potting soil on the lid of the jar, make it even with the top of the lid.
-Put the moss and small plants onto the soil, you can include some garden soil. There is no specific amount here, just make sure your green life has something to dig it’s roots into.

-Lightly water if the plants are dry.
-Carefully screw on the lid, the soil will work it’s way toward the center of the jar. 
-Place in a window that gets a few hours of daily sun.
*Condensation will form and create a very pretty habitat that will last for months. I also love the look of the upside down jar.

 ”That’s all,”
- Lisa

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 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

Materials:
smooth rocks
cookie sheet
crayons (wrappers peeled off)
hot pad holders
a heat resistant cover for the table
oven

Directions:
1. Gather the smoothest rocks you can find and give them a good bath.
2. Put clean rocks on the cookie sheet and put in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. I’ve seen people put aluminum foil on the bottom of the cookie sheet, but this isn’t really necessary.

3. Peel crayons while you wait for the rocks to get hot.
4. Using a hot pad holder- CAREFULLY (HOT), place the rock on a heat resistant surface. Note- wax paper wasn’t the best choice for this project, I’m still scraping wax off the counter. Not sure where my head was!

5. Start melting the crayons on the rocks. It’s so pretty to watch the wax melt all over the rock. It’s more like painting with wax than coloring.

6. I kept the rocks waiting to be ”painted” in the hot oven to keep them hot while the girls worked on individual ones.

Warning- Fauna  and Araina found themselves burning their fingers more from the hot wax than the actual hot rock itself.

*I have actually braved this activity with a preschool class of 5 year olds years ago, I don’t plan on ever doing that again.  I would stick with the 7 year olds and up.

“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