woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "Wool felted acorns 🍂 Collecting acorn caps during Autumn to make felted acorns is one of our favorite yearly traditions that we’ve been doing Elliot barely began walking 🥹 This project is also one of my earliest tutorials that I published on the blog (I can’t believe it’s been 5 years!) These acorns are made using a wet felting method where you use warm soapy water to agitate the wool fibers which causes them to bind together. After they are dry they are attached with glue to real acorn caps. Quick instructions are below, full tutorial can be found on the blog and materials are in the shop! Link in bio. Materials: wool roving or batting, acorn caps, dishwashing soap, glue Instructions: - Fill two bowls with warm water and add a couple drops of dishwa
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "clay ghost tea lights 👻 these are so sweet and easy to make using just air dry clay. I saved this idea a couple of years ago when my friend @forest.roads first shared them and I’ve seen them pop up a lot this year, so I finally tried them! I cut my clay out into circles (mine are about 6”) but you can totally skip this step if you’d like for the edges to be uneven. I also saw a great tip from my pal @sibster to use ping pong balls to form the heads so I’m doing that! Make sure that you DO NOT use real candles in these— only battery operated ones are safe to use. Instructions are below. Materials: air dry clay, knife, metal straw or something to create the eyes and mouth, flameless LED tea light Instructions: - Roll clay out to about 1/4” thick - Cut o
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "scrap fabric acorn pin cushions 🪡 fit for the smallest of critters 🐿️ here’s another version of those walnut shell pin cushions I shared earlier this month! They are a great way to upcycle all of those small fabric scraps left over from other projects. My pal @chasingwindmillskids sent over a bunch of scrap fabric and I loved acorns that she made in the past so I had to try a pin cushion version! The floral fabrics are all vintage remnants that I’ve collected over the years. I stuff mine with wool batting— the natural lanolin in the wool is great for your pins and needles and will keep them shiny and rust-free. A couple people also recommended using ground up walnut shells as an alternative. These are also great made into ornaments or strung up as a ga
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "autumn leaf lanterns 🍂🕯️ I’ve been saving these tiny leaves for something fun, so here’s an autumn version of those pressed flower lanterns I shared last season! We accumulate a lot of these glass yogurt jars and I love finding ways to repurpose them. I press and dry my leaves before I use them. For glue you can use mod podge or make a simple biodegradable glue using equal parts flour or cornstarch and water. If you choose to add a twine handle you’ll want to use a battery operated tea light for safety. Instructions are below. Materials: glass jar, pressed leaves, glue, tea light candle Instructions: - Paint a layer of glue on your jar - Place your leaves on top and press down to attach. If your leaves are thick you may have to gradually press them d
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "mini walnut shell baskets 🌼 Happy May Day and Beltane, aka the halfway point between the beginning of spring (spring equinox) and the start of summer (summer solstice). A well-known May Day tradition is to hand out baskets filled with flowers or other treats to friends and neighbors— so for fun we’re making some of our favorite mini walnut baskets to hand out to friends to celebrate. I’m using pine needles for the handles but you can substitute with twine/ribbon or whatever materials you have on hand. All of these flowers are cut from our garden! Materials: walnut shell halves, material for handles (pine needles, thin sticks, twine, ribbon, etc), glue Instructions: - Create your handles (I’m using pine needles. If you find that the material you’re wor
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "mini walnut shell baskets 🌼 Happy May Day and Beltane, aka the halfway point between the beginning of spring (spring equinox) and the start of summer (summer solstice). A well-known May Day tradition is to hand out baskets filled with flowers or other treats to friends and neighbors— so for fun we’re making some of our favorite mini walnut baskets to hand out to friends to celebrate. I’m using pine needles for the handles but you can substitute with twine/ribbon or whatever materials you have on hand. All of these flowers are cut from our garden! Materials: walnut shell halves, material for handles (pine needles, thin sticks, twine, ribbon, etc), glue Instructions: - Create your handles (I’m using pine needles. If you find that the material you’re wor
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "how to make twine from fabric scraps 🧶 This is a great way to upcycle all of those fabric scraps in your collection. The process is super easy and I’ll note a couple options below for joining the individual strips of fabric. I like to tear my strips of fabric for a rustic look but you can also use a rotary cutter if frayed edges aren’t your thing. You can use any fabric that you’d like— just avoid thick or stretchy fabrics. I love the look of mixing different fabric types and colors. This twine can be used for any project that calls for rope or twine, such as weaving projects or to wrap gifts. Quick instructions are below and full tutorial is on the blog. Link in bio. Materials: scraps of fabric in various lengths, fabric glue or a needle and thread (o
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "scrap fabric walnut shell pin cushions 🪡 here’s a great way to upcycle all of those small fabric scraps that you have leftover from other projects! I stuff these with wool batting— the natural lanolin in the wool is actually really great for your pins and needles and will keep them shiny and rust-free. These are great to add to a sewing or mending kit! Quick instructions are below and full tutorial is on the blog, link in bio. Materials: walnut shell halves, scrap fabric, wool for stuffing, needle and thread Instructions: - Cut circles out of your scrap fabric. Mine are about 2.5” in diameter for walnut shells that are about 1.5” - Sew a running stitch around the edge of your circle by running your needle up and down through the fabric at a regular di
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "nature weaving looms 🌼 and an ode to our late summer garden. This is one of my earlier blog projects so it’s really fun for us to recreate them each year. They’re great for groups and I have fond memories making a lot of these for Elliot’s 2nd birthday party. He’s 7 now and still enjoys them so. You can add flowers or nature items to these— when adding flowers I either let them dry on the loom or I display them for about a day before removing and pressing them. Friendly reminder to obtain your flowers or nature items responsibly and to not harm native plants. If you need to purchase flowers, supporting a local farm at your farmer’s market is a great way to do so! Quick instructions are below and full tutorial can be found on the blog. Materials: sticks
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "Needle felted ghosts 👻 These needle felted ghosts are so fun to make! I use a metal cookie cutter as a form to help create the ghost shape which make the process really quick and is my favorite method for teaching children or those new to needle felting. We make these to use as decorations, as little gifts and I also made some for the cat (make sure that the ghost is completely felted before giving to your cat and take it away if they start ripping it apart). Quick instructions are below and full tutorial is on my blog. All needle felting supplies I use are available in my shop (including a brand new DIY kit for these!). Links are in my bio. Materials: wool batting or roving, ghost cookie cutter, felting needle, felting mat Instructions: - Pull off a
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "mini walnut shell notebooks 🐿️ tiny notebooks for magical beings ✨ I’ve been playing around with the idea of these for a long time and I’m happy with how they turned out! They’re such a sweet size for making tiny drawings. You can use embroidery thread or heavy weight waxed cotton thread for the binding. I’m using a curved needle commonly used in bookbinding but you may be able to get away with a straight needle if it’s really short. After you cut out your inside papers make sure that you save any scraps for your compost/recycle bin or to make your own paper. Quick instructions are below and full detailed tutorial is on the blog. Link to the blog is in my bio! Materials: walnut shells, scrap paper, cotton thread (ideally waxed), needle, awl or push pin
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "ghost beeswax candles 👻🕯️ Here’s a fun ghost candle that you can make using white beeswax sheets and a ghost shaped cookie cutter. We make these every year to give out to friends and they’re always well loved. Quick instructions are below and the full tutorial with photos is on the blog. Candle making supplies I use are available in my shop (I’m using the white color way rolled candle kit from the shop— you can make several ghosts from a single kit). Link to the blog post and shop are in my bio! Materials: 1-2 white beeswax sheets, cotton candle wick. decorating or modeling beeswax, ghost cookie cutter Instructions: - Use your cookie cutter to cut eight ghost shapes out of your white beeswax sheets - Attach four ghosts together by pressing together
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "recycled paper ghost treat bags 👻🍬 These are so easy to make and can either be sewn with a sewing machine or glued. We handed these out last year and they were a hit. This is a fun way to use up any scraps of paper, and if you use cotton thread to sew them, the entire bag is biodegradable as well as recyclable. I’m using leftover scraps of wrapping paper that I’ve been holding onto for several years (illustrated by my pal @freyahartas) and kraft paper saved from packages. Quick instructions are below and full tutorial + a *free downloadable pattern* for the ghost are on the blog. Link in bio. Materials: paper, glue or a sewing machine - scrap pieces of paper - glue (non-toxic, if your bag will be coming into contact with food) or a sewing machine I
woodlark® • ashley on Instagram: "a little scrap fabric ghost for each person in our family.. plus a new addition 👶🏽 baby sister coming this feb! I’m excited and honestly nervous to start all over again— it’ll be about an 8 year gap in-between Elliot and his sister. Elliot has been busy preparing for her (and asking every week how much longer it’ll be until she’s here) and it’s just so beautiful to see. If you’d like to make a sweet little 👻 family too, instructions are exactly the same as the mini cheesecloth ghosts I shared last month except using scrap fabric. All of these fabrics are vintage or remnants and the heads are stuffed with core wool batting but cotton balls also work well."