I saw this photo a while back on One Pretty Thing and knew I wanted to make several for our house. You can find the tutorial here. I love how simple it is. So I had a great plan to take the boys to the park and use child labor to gather tons of acorns. I bribed them by saying we were going to go feed the ducks…which we did.
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After feeding the ducks I handed them 2 pails and got them excited to fill them with as many acorns as we could find. Turns out the acorns were still hanging from the branches, so I came up with Plan B on the spot. We gathered leaves….
Of course you can’t gather leaves without running and diving in them too…
Or without flipping into them….
Or without getting major grass stains on 1 of your 2 pairs of school pants…
Later that night I set out the leaves, glue and a big sheet of paper to make our version of ABC cards I saw on Martha Stewart.
Biggest Brother loves to read and write, so this was perfect for him.
His dad won with the best design…a cricket. Biggest Brother took his paper to school the next day to show his teacher. He thought it was super fun…this is a great indoor activity to pass time in the horrible frigid below 60 weather….I still plan on making that wreath.
Kari - What a neat idea!!
Jeannette Swan - Wonderful stuff!! I love the wreath, I had my boys collect acorns so I could use them in vases for decoration, but the wreath would be amazing. The leaf stuff is great too. Last year, Camden had to create something like that for school with leaves, ours was a turkey…it turned out good, but was a lot of work. And, as for the grass stains, I understand that too, when it got cool, I realized Camden only had one pair of school pants that fit and yesterday they came home covered in grass stains. We are going shopping tonight for more, I can’t keep washing them every night!!
the inadvertent farmer - We’re in the middle of doing a leaf alphabet also…gotta love Martha! The acorn wreath is wonderful. But I must say it is the pictures of your kiddos that made me smile. Enjoy this season with your little ones! Kim
Lisa - so fun! I can’t tell you how much I miss having little ones. You are doing such a great job soaking up the moments with your children. They grow up too fast! Thankfully, my teenagers still enjoy jumping into leaf piles =)
PamperingBeki - Those wreaths are so cute!
I saw one the other day made of candy corn and loved it too.
Ashley, will you email me? I have a question (not photography related) and the contact link at the top isn’t working for me.
Thanks!
Holly - Just beware that often (maybe always?) acorns have little worms in them. We learned that the hard way after gathering them at the park and bringing them home last fall. It was gross.
dana - VERY cool (and fun) idea. I may have to try this!
btw, your blog is one my new favorites. I subscribe to a lot of “photography blogs” but yours falls in a category beyond that. Not only are you photos amazing and beautiful to look at…but you also showcase cool craft ideas, funny humor, and you blog about your every day life (instead of only posting photo sessions with clients, etc).
I really love it when a post from your blog pops up on my Google Reader! Thanks for sharing!
- dana
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Tobia - Okay, I just stumbled here from across the wide web and found a few great ideas and a great blog. Keep up the good work. Love the Leaf alphabet idea. May have to try some soon with my little critters at home
Thanks and cheers to fun at home and great photos to document it! Tobia
leaf project failure and or fiber « EYE OF TOBIA PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG - [...] in our extremities. I found this project posted on a blog I really enjoy about a DIY craft for a Leaf Alphabet based on an idea from Martha Stewart’s site found here: So I thought to myself- I can [...]