For two reasons I decided to get creative last week. 1. We recently read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone with the kids (and watched the movie at the end), meaning they are truly obsessed. 2. Every store we walked into they wanted a toy wand, most costing somewhere between $20-$30…for a piece of polished wood.

DIY Nature Wands

Know this: I am not Martha Stewart. Or even one of those super-crafty-brilliant moms who’s ideas we collect all day long on Pinterest. But my craftiness does come out occasionally, especially in the face of a $30 wand. I can certainly do better than that. Wood in the form of sticks is free in the mountains. So off we went…looking for wands.

Really, our kids have never been more motivated to hike. In fact, a friend and I were talking about how distraction works better than encouragement when it comes to physical pursuits with kids. (Post coming soon.) And searching for wands was the perfect distraction…or motivation.

Later, we came home and “decorated” them. Using strips of old cloth, colored yarn and ribbon we made handles. I could have gone further with glitter glue and such…but I didn’t.

Lesson learned? I could turn my nature need into a fun, craft time for the kids. And I also learned a whole new host of rules needed to be established. Like no hitting, poking, or banging with the sticks. Oh, and no trying to pretend-magic-your-sibling away when they annoy you. 🙂 Although as a mom, I cannot tell you how many times I wished I could say some magic words and the mess would be cleaned up or the forgotten [insert item] would appear in my diaper bag.

Owls for Any Season

And since we are in the Halloween Mood, and learning about animals in science, I decided to make multi-color paper owls with the kids. These ones decorate my son’s room. So really you could make owls for any season. Has anyone else noticed owls are sort of “in”? Here is my attempt at being part of the “in” crowd:

And I’ll even share my pattern with you! Click to open in another window and print.

We topped it off with Pumpkin Pasties for dessert. Check out my Pinterest board for a great recipe! Have a great weekend everyone!