Join Rebecca Hazen, a local community member, biologist and nature enthusiast, for a plant-based holiday gift crafting party!
In alignment with our mission to create a regenerative culture, we're offering an awesome opportunity to create fun, beautiful and interesting gifts out of locally harvested acorns and other natural treasurers. We hope that this workshop will provide an oasis from commerce-driven holiday pressures.
Rebecca will bring lots of plant material from home to share, but folks are encouraged to find their own plant-based treasures to use for their creations. Here are the things people should be collecting outside between now and then:
Acorns make great heads and bodies for the acorn people. I can also teach folks to make them into earrings - hunt for matching acorn twins if you’re interested in this project.
Pecans or walnuts also make great bodies for the acorn people.
Woody parts of climbing vines that have shaped themselves into spiraled tendrils- these make great walking sticks for the acorn people.
Small sticks with interesting shapes that could serve as arms, legs, or walking sticks for acorn people. The little spiked Tulip Poplar sticks are fun to incorporate, as are any sticks with lots of knobbly nodes that look like jointed appendages.
Pine cones with relatively large, soft scales- these can be shaped to decorate the acorn people and make "clothes" for them that cover the joints, etc.
Any interesting little plant parts that could be used to decorate the acorn people. For example, I sometimes collect tiny pine cones or other seeds for them to wear as a hat or hold in their hands.
To ensure that these collections won't fill our homes with beetle larvae, I suggest microwaving the acorns for about 30 seconds and then freezing them overnight.
Rebecca will also bring tools but please do bring any of the following if you have them:
Dremel tool for drilling the tiny holes (I will pre-drill holes for a bunch of the heads and bodies of the acorn people, but I will need to drill holes for people on-sight if they BYO acorns)
Tweezers, forceps, jewelry pliers, or needle nosed pliers for manipulating small parts
Glue gun
And for inspiration before the event, Rebecca suggests checking out David M. Bird's YouTube channel. He is a true artist and the one who inspired Rebecca to start making her creations.