Nature Suncatcher
With longer days finally here, there is a lot of sunshine to catch inside our homes. Head outside to pick your favorite leaves, petals, and any other flat item you can find in your backyard, a park, or on a trail. Remember to leave no trace and collect only plants or interesting leaves you find on the ground or pick from your own garden with an adult’s permission. Discuss the different colors, shapes, and look of the natural materials that you collect. Take some time to appreciate all the wonderful plants that can be found in nature.
Materials:
- 8 Popsicle sticks
- Markers
- Natural Materials
- Hot glue and glue sticks
- String or ribbon
- Contact paper
- Scissors
Create a frame for your suncatcher out of popsicle sticks. Either color your wooden popsicles or use colored ones. Hot glue the corners of four popsicle sticks to create a square, repeat this to make 2 frames. You will need two frames to place your suncatcher in between.
Measure out the contact paper on top of your frame. Make sure it is not hanging outside of the popsicle stick frame. You will need to cut two pieces the same size to sandwich the petals, leaves, etc. inside. Hot glue the non-sticky side of the contact paper onto the backside of the frames.
Using the plant parts that you collected earlier, plan out your design by laying the natural materials down inside one of the frames and move them around until you like the arrangement. When you are happy with your composition, peel off the backing on one of the pieces of contact paper and then press each piece down so that it will stick.
Before peeling off the backing of the contact paper on your second frame, cut a piece of string or ribbon and hot glue the string onto one of the frames. Peel off the contact paper backing on your second frame. Add hot glue to the exposed part of the popsicle stick to make sure the frames stick together. Gently place the additional frame over your plants to seal them in place. Hold the frames together tightly until the hot glue has dried.
Find a sunny window to hang your creation. Look closely at your leaves and flowers to observe the veins and how the colors change in the sunlight. Enjoy your beautiful nature suncatcher and make one for every season!
