Dan's Papers - November 16, 2007

Hey kiddies! The harvest moon has passed, the crisp air is upon us and the leaves are finally falling from the trees. This special time of year, Mother Nature brings us a fresh new variety of colors to enjoy. Our yards are now decorated with shades of red, green, brown, orange and yellow. There are so many arts and crafts projects that we can complete by using leaves and other treasures that have fallen from the trees.

It is always fun to rake the leaves into a big pile and jump in it. Another way to use the leaves is to stuff them into some of mom or dad's old clothes to create a scarecrow. We could also use fallen leaves to decorate fun, fall placemats.

1. For this project you will need leaves, plain white paper, crayons and clear contact paper.

Start by collecting many beautiful leaves from outside, in this project the shape is more important than the color. Bring your leaves inside and place them flat under one piece of paper. Next, lightly rub a crayon on top of the paper and over the leaves. Choose whichever colors you would like for your leaves. Last, laminate or use the contact paper to cover your masterpiece so it is protected and able to serve as a placemat. Bring the fall leaves inside to decorate your windows and doors by making paper leaves.

2. You will need fallen leaves, a pen or a marker, construction paper in assorted fall colors, scissors and tape.

First take stroll outside to look for different types of leaves and trace the leaves onto the construction paper and cut them out. Finally, tape the leaves on windows, door or anywhere you please.

3. You will need acorns, a wicker wreath, a hot glue gun, newspaper and flowers or another pretty decoration of your choice.

This year the squirrels have more than enough acorns to collect for the winter, so there are plenty for you to use to make a lovely acorn wreath.

First, spread newspaper on a flat surface and place your wreath on it and heat up the glue gun. Next, start in the middle of the wreath and glue acorns in a straight line all the way around the wreath. Repeat this process from top to bottom keeping the wreath lying flat. Finally, add finishing touches with extra decorations like flowers or ornaments.

4. You will need plump pinecones, pipe cleaners in red, orange and five other colors of your choice. Make sure that they are chenille pipe cleaners (these are the ones used for crafts with bumps on them.) You will also need all-purpose glue and some wire cutter.

One of the most incredible treasures that can be found on the ground right now are pinecones. There are many fun and creative ways to make art out of pinecones. A nice thing to do this November is to make pinecone turkeys.

Begin by making sure that each pinecone has dried out completely. Next, cut each chenille wire in the center of each wire where it narrows, keeping the bumps whole and fluffy. Take one red pipe cleaner and shape it into an S, then glue it to the rounded end of the pinecone with the thick part of the pipe cleaner at the top of the S forming the head of the turkey. After the head, make the legs and feet by taking an orange pipe cleaner and shaping it in to a V, glue this on to the bottom of the round part of the cone. Last, take five different colored pipe cleaners and twist the ends of them together leaving the puffy bumps rounded, then glue the twisted ends to the thinner part of the cone, so the bumpy ends of the pipe cleaner are sticking up like feathers. That will complete your pinecone turkey.

This is a very exciting time of year with so many holidays right around the corner. Try to enjoy the outdoors while you can and take advantage of the beautiful gifts that are falling from the trees right in your own back yard.