Preparation of materials for creativity. The best ideas for crafts from chestnuts: applications, souvenirs, toys, interior items. Helpful hints.
Crafts made from chestnuts are an interesting decor made of natural material, which is always in abundance on the streets and parks of the city, which can also serve as an original souvenir and gift for relatives and friends. Joint creativity with the child helps to better understand each other, promotes the activation of fine motor skills and creativity of the baby. And adults using natural materials can make a stylish decor item. To make the product beautiful and durable, you must first learn all the subtleties of working with chestnuts.
What are chestnut crafts?
In the photo, crafts from chestnuts
Chestnut was introduced to Europe about four centuries ago. Since then, the art of using the fruit of the tree for the manufacture of toys and various children's games began. Smooth round "stones" combine well with other natural materials and are great for making figurines of animals and people.
Today, you can make all kinds of toys, souvenirs, decor items from chestnuts, namely:
- funny animal figures;
- volumetric applications;
- Christmas wreath;
- topiary tree.
Making chestnut crafts with your own hands helps the child to reveal his creative potential, develop imagination, fantasy, memory. Subsequently, the figures can be combined into a composition, used as characters for educational games. In addition, coloring and stitching parts activates fine motor skills of the fingers, concentration and attention.
Making crafts from chestnuts and cones is a great pastime for adults as well. After all, beautiful decor items can be made from this natural material. People note that during the creative process it is easy for them to relax, forget about problems and worries. And the satisfaction from the result obtained always lifts the mood, charges with vigor and positiveness.
Preparation of materials for crafts
It is better to pick chestnuts for crafts in the fall, immediately after falling from the trees. During this period, they are quite soft, easily pierced or cut into pieces. At home, after harvesting, sort the fruits, rinse or wipe them from dirt and dust. Dry the natural material slightly in a cool place.
The chestnuts become hard when stored in a dry place. During the piercing of such fruits, the awl may slip off, and the skin may crack or crumble. To correct this problem, put the material in cold water for 1-2 hours, and then dry it at room temperature.
Storing chestnuts in a damp, damp place will cause the skin to grow moldy. Such fruits must be separated from the total mass of natural materials in time and disposed of without regret.
If a barbed chestnut shell is required for crafts, it must also be dried to a solid state. Store the material in a separate box to prevent your child from accidentally injuring himself with sharp spikes.
When making crafts from acorns, chestnuts, cones, natural materials are rarely painted in different shades. Natural brown color emphasizes environmental friendliness and originality of products. But during classes with young children, colored details can increase interest in creativity, enhance the similarity with your favorite character.
How to paint chestnuts for crafts:
- Food coloring … It is recommended to use a dark color (purple, emerald, black). Lighter shades will be invisible on the brown skin of chestnuts. For painting, dilute the material with water and vinegar, pour it into a bowl, put the fruit in it, shake it, dry it on the windowsill.
- Spray paint … With the help of this material, chestnuts can be dyed beautiful silvery and golden colors. Such details will decorate even a product of an adult, and will cause delight and a desire for creativity in children. To paint, spread the fruits on a newspaper, spray them with paint. After 30-40 minutes, turn over to the other side and repeat the steps.
- Nail polish … With this tool, you can highlight the details (eyes, nose, buttons). Moreover, such an emphasis can be made both before collecting crafts, and at the final stage. Make sure that the room is well ventilated and that the bottle cap is not open for a long time.
It is equally important to study the ways of holding chestnuts together. You can connect the parts of the craft in the following ways:
- Plasticine … Even small children can work with this material. It is soft, elastic, hand-safe. Another important advantage is the ability to choose a color, thereby decorating the craft, making it bright and original. The disadvantages include the fragility of the clutch, the inability to connect the parts of a complex product.
- Glue gun … Such a tool can apply a small amount of glue to a precisely marked spot without getting your hands or clothing dirty. The advantage of the gun is the choice of filler (from strong super glue to soft glitter). The disadvantage is the need to practice, "fill your hand".
- Toothpick … Soft chestnuts are easily pierced by the sharp edges of a toothpick and strung on it from both sides. In this way, the heads of the figurine or other upper part of the craft are attached. Adhesion to the side or bottom of the product requires additional use of glue or plasticine.
You can make your child's chestnut craft even more interesting by adding other materials to the product: cones, acorns, dried flowers, grass, leaves. Girls are happy to decorate the souvenir with colored stones, sparkles, buttons. Young children like to add templates made of cardboard or plastic in the shape of a hat, eyes, tail, mustache, wings.
Best chestnut craft ideas
To make the creative process enjoyable, think over the details of the craft in advance, watch a master class for making similar products. Take care of the lighting, prepare all natural materials, means for fastening and decorating the souvenir.
Caterpillar made of chestnuts and plasticine
Even small children can make crafts from chestnuts and plasticine. Invite them to make a fun caterpillar. To do this, prepare 7 chestnuts of the same size, multi-colored plasticine, dried blades of grass or needles of a Christmas tree.
Next, soften the plasticine in your hands and mold 6 balls of different colors in the size of 1/3 of a chestnut. Help your child fasten the fruits together with a train using these circles. In this case, the plasticine should flatten well and become a noticeable multi-colored layer between the brown chestnuts.
In the next step, mark the head of the caterpillar. To do this, select the eyes and mouth on the first chestnut. Small balls of plasticine, a bright marker, rhinestones, small beads or buttons are suitable. An interesting solution would be to install peculiar antennae-antennas on the head. To do this, attach pieces of wire, Christmas tree needles or identical blades of grass on top from both sides.
If the child is not tired yet, offer to make him a clearing for the caterpillar. To do this, take the lid from the box. Cover its bottom with green paper, glue cut out bright flowers or dried plants.
Chestnut snake
Natural materials can be used to make not only handicrafts-souvenirs that decorate the nursery, but also quite sturdy toys. But for this, parents must help the children and complete the complex steps of the preparatory stage. For example, to make a snake, you need to make through holes inside 10-15 chestnuts. In addition to these "beads", you will need a rope and a marker for the craft.
How to make a chestnut craft for children in the shape of a snake:
- Pick 15 identical chestnuts.
- Punch through holes in the middle of the fruit.
- Pass a rope through the fruit.
- Fix its ends with knots.
- Draw the eyes and mouth on the first chestnut.
So that the child can thread the rope through the chestnuts on his own, make one end firm. To do this, drop it with glue, wax or fix it with a match. To draw the eyes, use a bright marker or glue buttons, beads or rhinestones to the first fruit.
If you follow all the manufacturing rules, you get a fairly durable toy that can bend if you lead it along the table with a snake. The craft is pleasant to the touch, with its participation you can come up with many interesting plots for educational games.
Volumetric chestnut turtle applique
When choosing what kind of craft to make from chestnuts, many prefer bright and quick-to-make souvenirs. These products include volumetric appliqués made from natural materials. Adults like to make paintings with an abstract plot, and children like simple recognizable figures.
One of the most interesting and easy crafts is the turtle applique. To make it, take the lid of the shoe box and attach a turtle figurine made of plasticine to it. For chestnuts to look beautiful and natural, the size of the shell must be large enough (12-15 cm in diameter).
Next, attach the chestnuts to the plasticine with a snake so that the bright spot of the fruit is at the top. Help your child to fill the space tightly, not to leave empty spots. The shell, decorated with staggered chestnuts, looks beautiful.
In the next step, decorate the head, legs and tail of the turtle. To do this, use other natural materials. In this application, acorn hats, pumpkin seeds, buckwheat, compacted in plasticine, look good.
To make the painting look complete, fill in the empty space of the box. Glue dried grass, flowers, moss, or brightly colored paper, cardboard, or plasticine petals.
Chestnut wreath on the door
Making such a craft is a great way to relax, recharge in a good mood and at the same time spend time with benefit. For a beautiful product, sort the chestnuts, leaving only dark shiny fruits without cracks or other imperfections. In addition, you will need a base ring, a glue gun, and a red tape.
How to make a chestnut wreath on the door:
- Wrap the base in brown cloth.
- Glue the chestnuts onto it, leaving no free space.
- Decorate the wreath with a red ribbon.
Chestnuts must be glued with white spots inward so that the wreath looks dark, voluminous and glossy. Small empty spaces can be filled with other natural materials.
Important! There are several varieties of chestnut wreaths. So, the product can be in the shape of an oval or a heart. And after painting with golden or silver spray paint, you get a wonderful Christmas wreath.
Chestnut topiary
Topiary is a decorative item made in the form of a tree with a round crown. In shops for creativity, base balls of different sizes are sold from plaster or foam. There you can also buy brown paint, twigs, acorns, a pot, burlap, plaster.
How to make a craft from acorns and chestnuts in the form of a topiary:
- Paint over the base ball with brown paint.
- Make a hole at the bottom.
- Stick chestnuts on it, filling the entire area of the ball as much as possible.
- Prepare a straight branch.
- Wrap it with jute.
- Decorate the pot with string or burlap.
- Pour gypsum inside the pot.
- While it's not frozen, insert the branch with the threaded ball.
- When the plaster is cured, paint over it with brown paint.
- Decorate the ground with acorns or acorn caps.
When making topiary, special attention should be paid to the decor of the pot. It doesn't have to be flashy, shiny, or sophisticated. A modest natural decoration in an eco-style goes well with chestnuts. For this part of the craft, it is better to use natural materials, burlap, jute, coffee beans.
Chestnut vase
A chestnut vase is used to decorate an apartment with compositions along with products made from branches, leaves, berries, spruce paws, reeds, etc. The basis for its manufacture must initially be strong and stable. Therefore, as a basis, it is necessary to take glass bottles with a wide neck or simple (without complex bends and decorative stucco molding) vases.
In the first step, wrap the base with a brown cloth. Secure it with a glue gun, trim off excess parts so that the chestnuts adhere better to the base and the empty parts become invisible.
Next, glue the chestnuts to the fabric. Start at the bottom, gradually work your way up, staggering the fruits. Make sure that the white spot is inside, and the vase looks three-dimensional and stylish. Pay special attention to the neck. Chestnuts for decorating it should be the same, smooth, without cracks or flaws.
There are several ways to give your product a finished look. One of them is to paint the vase with golden acrylic paint. In this case, you do not need to paint over all the bulges and depressions of the craft. It is enough to brush over it several times with a wide brush to get the effect of a vintage style.
Another way is to emphasize the naturalness and environmental friendliness of the product. To do this, add acorn caps, star anise stars, dried slices of citrus fruits to the chestnuts.
Christmas tree made of chestnuts
To make New Year's crafts, you need to paint the chestnuts green, gold or silver. To do this, use spray paint. Lay the fruits on a newspaper, spray the dye first on one side, and after drying, on the other. Perform these steps on a balcony or outside.
Next, make a cone out of cardboard and glue it with chestnuts from the bottom up. The result is a kind of Christmas tree that can be decorated with small Christmas balls, beads, rain, rhinestones.
Another option for New Year's crafts is the application of a Christmas tree. To do this, arrange the chestnuts on a sheet in the form of a triangular Christmas tree. After that, glue one fruit to the base. To decorate such a picture, it is better to take flat Christmas tree decorations (snowflakes, bows), as well as rain, beads, rhinestones.
How to make a craft from chestnuts - watch the video:
A chestnut craft is not just a souvenir or a funny figurine. Collecting and preparing material allows the child to learn more about plants, and making toys and applications - to develop fine motor skills, imagination, and imagination. The creative process helps adults to relax, switch to pleasant emotions, get satisfaction from a new beautiful thing made with their own hands.
