Lentil Frame

What you need:
• Cardboard ( unused shoe boxes)
• Paint
• Brush
• Glue
• Lentils
• Tape
• Your favorite picture

What you do:
• 
Make three-layer frames from boxes and wood glue.
• Cover the raw edges with paper scraps for a nice, clean edge.
• Paint frames with paint in the closest color to your lentils. (Make sure none of that cardboard showed through)
• Wrap the craft wire around the frames to make a simple hanging loop for the back.
• Prop up the frames on some cans.
• Apply all purpose glue. (The more the better).
• Gently pour on lentils in a thick layer.
• Press carefully in place.
• Let dry for several hours. (Do not shake off the extra until the glue has dried several hours).
• Tape pictures and mats in place.

Tips: If you want to change the color of your frame just spray paint it. But if craft paint is all you got, thin it down to make it flow like a glaze. ( 3 parts paint, 1 part water, 1 part white glue work great.)
Don’t touch your frame for several hours while the lentils are drying. Don’t shake off the extra. Don’t move it. If you move or shake off the extra too soon, you’ll get a really thin, spotty layer.

 
 
 

 

Picture Frame

What you need:
• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Glue
• Paper
• Wire for hanging

What you do:
• Decide on the size you want the frame to be based on your image.
• Cut out the center as well to make it the exact size you want.
• Lay the frame down on your paper.
• Draw a line one inch outside the frame and one inch inside the frame.
• Draw the lines of the frame on the paper too.
• Cut it all out.
• Draw a line thru the outside corner (to make a right triangle) in each corner and cut those corners off.
• Draw a line thru the inside corners to where the frame begins make two 45 degree angles. Cut along those lines.
• Fold all the inside pieces inside.
• Put the frame on the paper, the inside flaps inside. Fold the outside flaps up around the cardboard.
• Glue the paper down with the glue to the cardboard.
• Tape your print to the back of the frame.
• Hang your picture.

T.P.R. Turkey

What you need:
• Toilet Paper Roll
• Glue
• Construction Paper
• Pencil
• Wiggle Eyes
• Scissors

What you do:
• Cover the toilet paper roll with the construction paper. Glue it
Trace your hand on one half of 2 sheets of paper. Fold the paper in half.
• Cut out the handprint through both thicknesses of paper. This will leave you with 4 handprints.
Glue the handprints onto the toilet paper roll.
Using scrap construction paper, cut out a beak and a waddle for your turkey, glue it the roll.
• Glue on a pair of wiggle eyes.
• Your turkey is now done!

Turkey Craft

What you need:
Paper Plate 
• Paint
• Paint Brush
• Construction Paper
• Pen
• Scissors
• Craft Glue
• Wiggle Eyes
What you do:
Paint the back of the paper plate brown.
Trace your hand on one half of 3 or 4 sheets of paper. Fold the paper in half.
• Cut out the handprint through both thicknesses of paper. This will leave you with 6 to 8 handprints. Set them aside.
Trace your foot on a brown piece of construction paper.
•  Cut out the footprint. Set it aside.
Using scrap construction paper, cut out a beak and a waddle for your turkey. Set these aside.
Glue the handprints onto the unpainted side of the paper plate, poking up over the top edge.Your fingers will look like the turkey’s feathers.
Glue your footprint/shoe print toe side down onto the front, center of the painted plate.
• Glue on the beak and waddle that you cut out.
• Glue on a pair of wiggle eyes.
• Your turkey is now done!

Handy Wreath

What you need:
• Construction Paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pencil

What you do:
• Lay your hand down, fingers apart, and trace around it on several different colors. 
• Cut out a set of twelve hands.
• Tilt each paper hand slightly and arrange the group to form a wreath shape.
• Glue.
• Put the wreath on a wall or door near the table, and be thankful.

Leafy Creature

What You Need:
Preserved leaves
• Construction paper
• Water-based glue

What You Do:
• When the leaves are dry begin arranging the leaves on construction paper. Think about different animals and try to create their shapes. Tear off leaf pieces to make eyes or other small features.
• When you’re happy with a leafy creature, glue the leaves to the paper.

Leaf Prints

What you need:
Leaves
• Sketch paper or construction paper
• Acrylic paint
• Paint brushes

What you do:
• Collect leaves of various shapes and sizes.
• Cover your work area with a mat or with newspapers. Prepare different colors of paint on your palette.
• Position a leaf with its under-side facing up and paint on its entire surface.
• Press the painted leaf onto sketch paper or construction paper.
• Remove the leaf to reveal a beautiful leaf print.
• Repeat the process using different colors and other leaf shapes.
• Repeat the process using different colors and other leaf shapes.
• Make overlapping leaf prints to create a colorful leaf collage.

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Leaf Preservation

What you need:
• Old phone book
• Collection of colorful leaves, grasses, flowers, herbs

What you do:
• Take a nature walk with on a clear, dry day.
• Collect any attractive flowers, leaves, grasses, and herbs.
• At home, separate each stalk or blossom, and place between the pages of the phone book. Use a different page for each specimen, spacing them well apart from each other.
• Place the phone book in a cool, dry place for a week to ten days. Your leaves will then be totally dry and ready for use.
• Your phone book/leaf press can be used over and over again. Flowers may be stored in them for several months.

Fall Button Branch

What you need:
• canvas
• branch
• buttons
• glue

What you do:
1. Glue your branch onto your canvas. I put a very heavy book on top of the branch while it dried to keep it flat to the canvas.
2. Once the branch is glued and dried, start gluing your beautiful buttons on the smaller branches to look like leaves on a tree. Allow to dry.
3. You’re going to want to display this beautiful masterpiece!

Pumpkin Lantern

What you need:
• 8.5×11 orange construction paper
• string or ribbon
• a hole puncher
• a sticker or tape

What you do:
• Cut your construction paper into strips that are equal in length and width.
• Stack the papers and punch holes through the top and bottom of each strip.
• String the strips on your piece of string or ribbon. Seal the string with a piece of tape or sticker.
• String through the top holes.
• Pull the string tight until the paper bows out. Tie off the top (make sort of a bow/messy knot. It just needs to be big enough that the string doesn’t go back through the paper).
• Fan out the strips until you have created a sphere shape.
• Hang your pumpkin.

Statue of Liberty

On July 4, 1884 France presented the United States with an incredible birthday gift: the Statue of Liberty! Without its pedestal it’s as tall as a 15-story building. She represents the United States. But the world-famous Statue of Liberty standing in New York Harbor was built in France. The statue was presented to the U.S., taken apart, shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in crates, and rebuilt in the U.S. It was France’s gift to the American people.
It all started at dinner one night near Paris in 1865. A group of Frenchmen were discussing their dictator-like emperor and the democratic government of the U.S. They decided to build a monument to American freedom—and perhaps even strengthen French demands for democracy in their own country. At that dinner was the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (bar-TOLE-dee). He imagined a statue of a woman holding a torch burning with the light of freedom.
The Statue of Liberty, known officially as “Liberty Enlightening the World,” was designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and funded completely through donations from the French people.
After Bartholdi finalized the design in miniature, the statue itself was created using wooden molds, a copper shell, and an iron structure designed by Gustave Eiffel, who later built the Eiffel Tower.
On July 4, 1884, the 151-foot-tall, 225-ton Statue of Liberty was delivered to the American Ambassador in Paris. In order to transport Lady Liberty to New York, the statue was dismantled into 300 pieces and packed into 214 wooden crates.
Unfortunately, a lack of funds in the United States delayed the building of the pedestal. Fund-raising efforts stalled until Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of “The World” newspaper and noted for the Pulitzer Prize, decided to use his newspaper to push Americans to donate. The Statue was finally re-assembled on her new pedestal and dedicated on October 28, 1886.
The Statue of Liberty celebrates her birthday on October 28th in honor of the day she was officially accepted by the president of the United States in 1886.
Fast Facts
• Engineer Gustave Eiffel, who would later design the Eiffel Tower in Paris, designed Liberty’s “spine.” Inside the statue four huge iron columns support a metal framework that holds the thin copper skin.
• Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi knew he wanted to build a giant copper goddess; he used his mother as the model.
• The statue—151 feet, 1 inch (46 meters, 2.5 centimeters) tall—was the tallest structure in the U.S. at that time.
• The arm holding the torch measures 46 feet (14 meters); the index finger, 8 feet (2.4 meters); the nose, nearly 5 feet (1.5 meters).
• The statue is covered in 300 sheets of coin-thin copper. They were hammered into different shapes and riveted together.
•The statue sways 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) in the wind; the torch sways 5 inches (12.7 centimeters).
• Visitors climb 354 steps (22 stories) to look out from 25 windows in the crown.
• Seven rays in the crown represent the Earth’s seven seas and seven continents.

Air Freshener

What you need:
• 2 cups water
• 4 packages Gelatin (plain)
• 15 to 20 drops Essential Oil (adjust to personal preference)
• 1 to 2 TBS salt
• Food Coloring

What you do:
• In a small pot, mix 1 cup water, essential oil and food coloring. As soon as it starts to boil, remove from heat.
• Completely dissolve gelatin and salt in the hot water then add the other cup of water (cold) stir well (gently so it doesn’t foam).
• Pour into jars and set aside for a couple days before using so the gelatin has a chance to completely set (you can refrigerate to speed up the process).
• Once cooled, cover with lids that have a few holes punched in them to allow fragrance to escape.

The salt in this recipe is used to help combat mold, please make sure to add it.