Crystal Garden

Place broken pieces of brick or terra cotta
clay in a glass bowl or jar. Pour the following
solution over the bowl's contents. (Adult supervise!!!)
4 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon ammonia
4 teaspoons bluing
1 teaspoon Mercurochrome
4 teaspoons salt

Add more of this solution each day
until the crystal garden has grown
to the desired size.

Cat Tails

Use them in their natural color
or shake metallic powder over them.
You can also spray them with hairspray
or craft spray to preserve longer.

Drying Plants

Strip the leaves from flowers immediately.
Tie flowers by their stems with string and
hang them in a cool dry place AWAY from light.

Also! If you want to keep more color in the blooms
have kids take a hammer and flatten the end of the
stem then place in a vase of water in a DARK place
(our closet usually) and leave them there until the
water is all gone. We've had better colors this way.

Preserving Magnolia Leaves

Mix two parts of water with one part glycerine.
Place stems of the magnolia leaves in the mixture
and let them stand for several days. The leaves will turn
brown and last for several years.

Treating Gourds

This is how I prepare the gourds before taking them to school.
I hang them up in the barn which is full of hay for the winter.
(Generates it's own heat)
I keep a supply going each year for classes.

At school the kids soak gourds for two hours
in a large tub of water.
I scrape them clean with a knife.
Kids rub with fine sandpaper.
While still damp I cut an opening and
kids remove seeds. Then they can paint them
or use markers to decorate for gifts to take home.

Pressing Wildflowers

When gathering flowers try to get the kids
to include roots and all. Give them a small hand
shovel. Place between newspapers, laying two blotters
underneath the papers and two on top to absorb moisture.
Change newspapers 3 times during the week. Place between two
sheets of cardboard and press. Sit heavy books on top for 7 to 10 days.
Cut more cardboard in medium shapes. Circles, squares, triangle and ovals.
(Something parent volunteers can do)
Have kids cover with cotton batting.
Then they lay their flower on it and wrap with cellophane.
Tape to the back. Remember this will not look perfect when they finish
and it should not! Gifts from children should be made by the child.