Spring Folk Art Trees

Spring Folk Art Trees

We’ve been studying about Colonial history this year.  The cheerful and simple folk art depicting Colonial times inspired us to learn more about folk art.  

To learn about how to make folk art trees, we watched a video on Deep Space Sparkle.

This great tutorial from Deep Space Sparkle focusses on trees in the autumn, but as it is springtime, we modified the designs for spring. 

We also chose to draw the designs with colored pencil, rather than Sharpies (a little safer with little ones!).

We also found inspiration from Cheryl Bartley designs.  She has free coloring pages too!

 

We had so much fun on a late winter (almost spring!) afternoon, looking out at the trees, and creating folk art together.  Before creating our art we spent some time looking closely at the trees.  Only God can make so many branches and leaves, but the simplicity of folk art allows us to capture the beauty of trees in a simple and fun way. Hope your family can enjoy some art time together too! Here is a sampling of our art…

folk art spring tree

folk art trees with flower embellishments

Our 8-year-old had fun adding spring blossoms to her trees.

folk art forest

folk art trees in a forest

Our 11-year-old enjoyed making a peaceful spring forest scene.

folk art winter

folk art trees with sparkling snow

Spring often comes with surprise snowfalls.  Our 8-year-old added a sprinkling of salt over her watercolor to make her trees look like they have a glimmer of snow.

folk art tree toddler

folk art trees by our toddler

Folk art is for any age.  Our toddler had so much fun painting her trees too!

folk art trees

folk art spring tree garden

Even Mama joined in the fun of painting. Making art together brings so much peace to the day!

Looking for art supplies?

Check out the links below for art supplies we love for this project.

Enjoy!

 

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

DIY Fidget Toys! (with YouTube tutorials)

DIY Fidget Toys! (with YouTube tutorials)

Watch these quick YouTube videos to learn how to make a spinner top from a fruit cup, a paper spring, and a balloon stress ball.

Enjoy some fruit from a fruit cup, wash the cup, and turn it into a spinning top in seconds!  Watch the video to find out how.

Feeling more creative?  Color the inside of the fruit cup with permanent markers or paint a fun design with acrylic paint.  Have fun!

Simply cut two strips of paper, and watch the video to find out how to turn them into a fun paper spring.  You’ll also need a glue stick.

Want to add some variety?  Draw designs on the paper before making it into a spring!  So pretty!

Make your own stress ball in seconds!  Just grab a balloon, and some slime (or kinetic sand, playdough, or Model Magic), and watch this video to find out how.  You’ll also need a small water bottle with the bottom cut off, or a funnel.

Time to de-stress…

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Do you have a teen or tween interested in making YouTube videos?  Our oldest daughter took a wonderful class from Film School For Teens.  The online classes are created by a Christian family with expertise in film and Youtube.  If you have a child interested in film, you can check it out here:  FS4T

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

EASY Origami Corner Bookmarks

EASY Origami Corner Bookmarks

EASY ORIGAMI CORNER BOOKMARKS

Springtime makes us think of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.  (For a little history about that, check out the National Park Service site.)  The beautiful cherry trees that bloom in our nation’s capital were a gift to our country from Japan. 

Inspired by the cherry blossoms blooming this spring, we have a YouTube tutorial for you on how to make origami corner bookmarks.  You can make them with origami paper with a cherry blossom print if you like.  The paper we used in our video is made in Japan and has a lovely texture for origami.  Also, read below about a sweet picture book about origami.

Even a beginner can make these super easy origami corner bookmarks.  Check out our easy-to-follow YouTube tutorial.  Then make a bookmark… or ten!  Origami bookmarks can make a great gift too!

The Origami Master

Looking for a sweet story about origami?

We enjoyed reading The Origami Master by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer… it reminds us of The Elves and the Shoemaker, with a Japanese twist.

origami paper

Try authentic origami paper from Japan

We found this paper folded nicely and was easy to work with.  However, if you do not have origami paper, you can cut a regular piece of printer paper into a square shape and use that as well.

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.