It’s no secret that I LOVE evergreen crafts! I made these lamps for my mom and mother-in-law for Christmas this year and I wanted to wait to see how they would hold up before I shared it with you all! As you can see in the photos, they still look beautiful months later. The shade of green has lightened just a bit, but still looks very green and tree-like!

I shared one in my Instagram stories about a month ago and many of you wanted to know how to make it, so here is my tutorial. I think you will find that these are extremely easy to make. Sometimes adding just a little detail to something makes all the difference in the world! 

With Father’s Day right around the corner, the gem-less version would make a great handmade gift for dad, grandpa or any other special guy in your life! 

Ready to give it a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies for the Lampshade:

• • Lamp- I used this lamp and like the size and worked well of the craft. Just be aware that this has a USB plug. I own this lamp and this lamp and they are nice options as well!
  • Mod Podge- I used the matte version for the lampshade.
  • Mod Podge brushes 
  • Evergreen pieces- I picked some cedar branches from my yard!
  • Gemstone Stickers– Try adding these stickers if you want to turn your tree into a Christmas tree!

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Related: Evergreen Lanterns

Here’s How I Made this Tree Lampshade:

Step 1: Gather evergreen pieces.

Head outdoors and collect some branches for your lampshade! I picked different sizes and shapes so I could place them on my lampshade to see which one fits and looks best. These little branches are from our cedar tree. 

Step 2: Trim your evergreen pieces. 

I trimmed the bottom part of the pieces to make them look more tree-like.

Step 3: Add Mod Podge.

Next, add a layer of Mod Podge on the lampshade. I suggest covering the entire side with Mod Podge because even though I used matte, it still looks a bit shiny when dried. 

Step 4: Place evergreen piece on the lampshade. 

Arrange your evergreen piece on the layer of Mod Podge. Make sure it is centered and straight!

Step 5: More Mod Podge and let it dry.

Add a liberal layer of Mod Podge over the evergreen piece. The cedar piece is pretty thick and heavy, so it requires quite a bit of Mod Podge. The evergreen piece might pop up throughout the drying process, so you will probably need to check back on it to make sure it’s pressed down against the lampshade.  The drying process might take a few hours!

I even laid a pair of scissors on the piece of cedar to make sure it dried flat. 

It looked so pretty when finished! I have pictures below of the tree lamp in different settings. The first two pictures show the lampshade with the gem stickers and the third photo shows the lampshade without the gem stickers. 

Pin it and save it for later!

I hope you enjoy this nature craft as much as I do!

-Tara

Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:

Make Your Own Bookmark with Wax Paper

Evergreen Clay Dishes

The post DIY Tree Lampshade appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

We made beautiful pressed flower beeswax bowl luminaries a few months ago and have been enjoying them ever since. I recently got the idea to use temporary tattoos on the these cute beeswax bowls and I’m so happy I tried it! Temporary tattoos allow you to personalize your luminaries any way you would like. You can spell words with letter tattoos, try bright and colorful prints, or keep it simple with black line tattoo designs. I personally love the simplicity of the black lines. Our beeswax luminaries turned out so nice and look like items you would find in a boutique shop!

Ready to make a beeswax luminary or two? Here’s what you’ll need….

Supplies for the Beeswax Luminaries:

• Beeswax– I like this brand of yellow pellets. 
• Mini Crock pot– I have a mini crock pot designated for beeswax crafts! We use beeswax quite a bit, so when we are done using it I just let it harden in the Crock Pot and save it for another day. This seems to be the perfect size for all of my beeswax crafts. I don’t suggest using one that is bigger because you will need to use A LOT of beeswax to fill it up. If you don’t want to invest in a Crock Pot, many people use a double boiler for this craft. 
• Water balloons
• Temporary Tattoos– My boys are really interested in summer insects at the moment, so I purchased this pack! This pack includes a wide variety of black line and colorful buggy designs. You can also work on insect identification when making your luminaries:) 
• Flameless candles

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RELATED: Check out 20+ Pressed Flower Crafts

Here’s How We Made Our Beeswax Luminaries:

First melt your beeswax. It takes about 30 minutes for about half the bag to melt in the Crock Pot. Don’t fill your entire Crock Pot with beeswax or it will overflow when you dip your balloons!

This Crock Pot is great for beeswax crafts because it’s safer than the stovetop and I feel more comfortable with my boys helping!

Step 2:

Fill a water balloon with water. Never use a balloon filled with air because you sill pop it! Make sure your water balloons are skinnier than your Crock Pot, so they don’t hit the sides during the dipping process. This will smudge the beeswax and will limit the amount of times you can dip the balloon.

Dip your water ballon about 15 times in the beeswax to the same level. You can dip it more if you want to make a stronger bowl. 

In between dips, let the beeswax dry for about 10 seconds or until the beeswax stops dripping. Give your beeswax luminary about 5 minutes to dry after this step. 

Step 3:

Next pop the balloon over the sink, making sure the balloon doesn’t go down the drain. Dry out the beeswax bowl.

Last, line a pan with foil and heat it on low. After you give the stove top a minute to warm up, quickly run to top edges of the bowl on the warm foil to even the edges. 

Flip the bowl over and warm the base to give it a small flat surface to sit on. 

Step 4:

Now it’s time to decorate your bowl! There is no trick to this step. Use the tattoos just like you were applying them to your skin. Choose the temporary tattoos that you would like to use for your luminaries and follow the decorations on your specific temporary tattoo packaging.

We made one with just bees!

Here are the other designs. I love the butterfly, moth, and dragonfly prints in the pack as well!

Now your beeswax luminaries are finished! I like to add a flameless candle to the bowls. The warm glow looks so beautiful!

These are a bit delicate, so I taught my boys how to handle them carefully. 

Don’t these make the perfect natural decoration for your home? I hope you love them as much as we do!

Pin this activity to save it for later!

I hope you make some beeswax luminaries soon! I promise, your little nature lovers will love this craft as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more nature activity ideas?! Check out:

DIY Pebble Art for Kids

How to Preserve Fall Leaves With Beeswax

The post Beeswax Luminaries with Temporary Tattoo Decorations appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

If you are looking for a fun new center for your classroom or learning invitation for home, this is it! I will be sharing with you the easiest way of preserving flowers in resin and some fun ideas for how to use them. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A CRAFT FOR ADULTS ONLY! DO NOT LET CHILDREN HANDLE THE RESIN BOTTLES, LIQUID, OR PIECES UNTIL THEY ARE FULLY CURED. 

Ready to make a set? Here’s what you’ll need….

Supplies:

• Epoxy resin– This is enough to make the alphabet letters, numbers, and more! There are little finger protectors in the kit. I suggest rolling those over your gloved thumb and pointer fingers on your dominant work hand. You might want to purchase additional gloves because this can get pretty messy!
• Molds– Make sure you order molds specifically for resin! The inside of the molds need to be shinny. Don’t use molds with a matte finish, or the bottom/sides of your cured resin pieces will have a frosted finish. We made numbers, hearts and stars this time around. 
• Dried flowers– It’s the middle of winter for me, so I purchased some from Amazon! I’ll share how to dry flowers below if you want to go that route. 
• Tweezers– This kit has great resin tools.
• Measuring cups– The resin kit linked above comes with small measuring cups, but I found it difficult to read the measurements on the cups. These 3 cups are great for measuring, mixing, and pouring into the molds.
• Sandpaper- I used a fine sandpaper

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RELATED: Check out 20+ Pressed Flower Crafts

Preserving Flowers in Resin:

Step 1:

First, choose how you want to dry your flowers. It’s important that your flowers are 100% dry or they will turn brown or yellow with timed. Click on the techniques below to learn more: 

1. Press your flowers. 
2. Microwave your flowers.
3. Or purchase them already dried. This is great for the winter months when you might not have flowers available. 

Step 2:

Next, take the time to prepare your work station! This is SO important. This is a rather messy project, so I suggest laying a plastic garbage bag flat on your work surface to protect your table. Also, make sure all of your supplies are in order and ready to go. I suggest choosing the flowers and leaves you would like to use and lay them on the garbage bag. Make sure the flowers aren’t too big for the resin mold. If they are too big, cut them in half or trim them down before you get started. 

Step 3:

Make sure you put on your gloves before you start working with resin! If you happen to get some on your skin, try to wash it off with soap and water right away. If that doesn’t work,  you can try soaking a cotton ball in vinegar or acetone and rubbing it on your skin. To be on the safe side, I also suggest working in a well ventilated room and wearing a mask when handling resin to protect yourself from the fumes. The type I used is low scent, but it’s always smart to be extra safe! Don’t allow children near you when you are working with the resin. 

Now you are all set! Make sure to carefully follow the instructions on your epoxy resin bottles. Most are a 1:1 ratio but yours may be different. I mixed equal parts resin and hardener and slowly stirred for 2-3 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixture cup multiple times during the stirring process. 

Step 4:

Pour a little resin into the mold, then use a tweezer to place the pieces of nature into the mold. Make sure your flowers are facing the correct way when you place them into the mold. My mold is backwards, so I put the front of the flower facing down in the mold. Now add more resin over the flowers and leaves. When preserving flowers in resin, make sure you entirely cover the pieces of nature with the mixture! You can use a toothpick to press the nature bits down if they float up to the surface. 

Step 5: 

Lastly, you need to pop any bubbles that come to the surface. I used one of the resin tools in the tweezer kit linked above, but you could also use a toothpick. Check back every 5 minutes or so during the first 30 minutes of curing to pop bubbles.

Now is the hard part! Let your resin cure. My resin took 24 hours. I tried to take one out at the ten hour mark and it was way too soft. Just be patient and WAIT! Once they are ready, just pop them out of the molds. If you are having a hard time getting them out, pop them in the freezer for a bit and try again. Luckily, I had no problems with this. 

Kids will LOVE holding, learning, and playing with these! If you have any rough or sharp edges when you pop the resin pieces out, make sure you sand them down. I only had a few that needed some sanding on the edges.

These make the best loose parts! Check out this fun heart mandala made by my 7 year old.

Children will love lining up the numbers in order.

You can also hide resin shapes in a sensory bin and invite children to find the correct amount of shapes to match the numbers!

Pin this activity to save it for later!

I hope you try preserving flowers in resin! I promise, your little nature lovers will love these gorgeous pieces as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more nature craft ideas?! Check out:

Nature Collection Journal for Kids

How to Make Nature Pinch Pots

The post Preserving Flowers in Resin appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

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Fall is the time of year that people naturally stop to think about how grateful they are for many different things in their lives. Being a mom of two young kids, I immediately think about my children’s grandparents and how they help us out so much throughout the year. I wanted my boys to make something for them to show our gratitude for their love, guidance, and support that they offer us!

Personalized Apple Keepsake Gift

This sweet piece of apple home decor isn’t complete without the finishing touches from your child. Paint your child’s thumb and stamp 5 apples on the apple tree branches. Add a document frame and you have an adorable piece of art that looks great hung on the wall! We got our frame from the Dollar Tree and it finished the piece off really nicely.

Customize the Gift

There are so many ways to customize this gift for the person you have in mind. Or just keep it simple and add apples from the grocery store or picked by your child at the apple orchard (if it’s late summer or early fall).

Try adding these items to the basket:

1. buy or create an apple themed cookbook
2. make a caramel apple basket or just add caramel by pouring dipping caramel into and glass jar and tie twine around the top of the jar
3. make a DIY apple pie candle
4. make homemade apple butter
5. make apple cinnamon pancake mix

Would you add anything to the basket? If so, comment below!

I hope you give this fun activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Need more gift ideas?! Check out Father’s Day Book and Stacking Stone Craft (this also comes in and uncle and grandpa version) and Mother’s Day Book and Sun Catcher Craft (this also comes in an aunt and grandma version).

The post A Nature Gift Created by Kids- Apples appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

Father’s Day Book

I love reading the adorable and hilarious answers kids write down on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day questionnaires. The answers come straight from the heart, with no filter!

This year, I decided to create one for my boys to fill out together! My two year old is way too young to do this activity on his own, so he helped out by answering a few of the questions. And remember, If your kids are too young to write, you can record the answers for them.

This book includes the following prompts:

• A spot to draw their dad
• All about my dad: name, age, height, eyes, hair
• My dad’s favorite things: food, drink, song, movie, book
• My dad always says:
• My favorite thing to do with my dad is:
• My dad rocks because:

I also included uncle and grandpa options as an alternative for Father’s Day or birthday gifts!

Here’s What you Need

• My Dad Rocks! Father’s Day Book (Color and Black/white options)
• Twine or Stapler

This is How to Make the Book

This book is incredibly easy to make! Just cut out the rocks, stack them, and staple or tie the pages together with string. I love the color version because the book resembles stacking stones. If you need to save on ink, I also included a black and white option!

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Father’s Day Stacking Stone Craft

The book makes a nice gift on it’s own, but this stacking stone craft immediately popped into my head when I was creating this book!

All you need to do is stack them, wrap them in tissue paper, and tie with string! They make a great gift and decoration. Our stacking stones will be displayed on our bookcase in our living room.

Here’s What you Need

• Sharpie Paint Markers
• White Acrylic Paint
• Paint brushes
• Faber-Castle Artist Pens
• River rocks or these rocks from Amazon

Here’s How to Make the Stacking Stone Gift

1. My two year old helped paint the rocks with the white acrylic paint. We let them dry for about an hour.
2. I wrote the words “My Dad Rocks” with the Faber-Castle Artist Pens.
3. My five year old helped me create the designs with the Sharpie Paint Markers.

I hope you give this Father’s Day book and craft a try! I promise your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼ Tara

If you would like to learn more about this book and craft, check out this page!

Looking for more fun ideas? Check out Beaded Sticks!

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