Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) GENUS - male. Rune – Ehwaz. PLANET - Jupiter. ELEMENT - fire. KEY WORDS - love BASIC PROPERTIES - love. COMMON NAMES – gout tree, pork chestnut. Chestnut (lat. Castanea) is a genus of trees in the Beech family, horse-chestnut family. The word “castanea” consists of two - “casta” and “Nea”. The first means virginity, the second is the name of the mythical nymph, Diana's companion. According to legend, Neya rejected the advances of Jupiter, for which she paid, and was turned into a beautiful tree with carved leaves, delicate flowers and delicious fruits, hidden under a prickly shell.
Legend about the chestnut: Cupid, the god of love, sent his arrows mainly at night. The night is dark, often he made a mistake, and the arrow hit the wrong heart, breaking it and making it suffer from hopeless love. But Cupid was a good god, he himself suffered from his mistakes, so he asked his mother Venus to help him. And then Venus scattered beautiful shiny seeds across the earth. From them grew large trees, which in the spring straightened their finger-like leaves, in which they held candelabra-candlesticks, illuminating the May nights, helping Cupid hit the target, evoking reciprocal love. Foreign medicine today offers more than 10 heart medications based on chestnut - here you have Cupid’s healing arrow for a broken heart.
In folk medicine: Horse chestnut is widely used in folk medicine. An infusion of its bark, flowers and seeds is used as an antipyretic and astringent, as well as for the treatment of various rheumatic ailments, bronchial catarrh, varicose veins of the legs, gallbladder diseases, chronic digestive disorders, and long-lasting wounds. The pharmaceutical industry produces drugs from the seeds and bark of horse chestnut for the treatment of thrombophlebitis and hemorrhoids. Chestnuts, peeled from their prickly green shells, have an unusually strong absorbent effect. They best help women with breast diseases. For prevention, it is recommended to constantly put a chestnut or two in your pockets; even last year’s or even older ones will do, as long as their shell is not wrinkled and dry. Usually one such nut is enough for two to three years. In addition, there is evidence of the good effects of chestnuts for mastopathy, mastitis, and milk stagnation during breastfeeding. Attention! There is no reliable evidence anywhere about the healing effect of chestnuts for breast cancer/
Collection and preparation. In August, September and October, leaves up to 20 cm in length are collected and dried. The medicinal raw materials are the bark, less often the leaves, flowers and seeds of the plant. The bark is harvested during sap flow from 3-5 year old branches, flowers - during flowering, leaves - in late June - early July. The fruits are picked ripe by hand and dried in dryers at a temperature of 50-60 °C. Dried mature seeds are round, up to 4 cm in diameter, shiny, brown in color with a gray spot at the base. The taste is astringent. The bark, leaves and flowers are dried in the shade, spread out in a thin layer and periodically turning over. Store in a closed container for 1 year. For varicose veins, take 30 drops per 1 tablespoon of water 2-3 times a day, fresh juice of horse chestnut flowers. Foot baths are used to treat varicose veins using a decoction of horse chestnut flowers or fruits. The decoction is prepared as follows: 50 g of dry crushed raw materials are boiled in 1 liter of water for half an hour, then filtered and squeezed. For inflammation of the veins of the extremities, prepare a decoction of the leaves and fruits of horse chestnut. For this purpose, take 5 g of each type of crushed raw material, pour 1 glass of hot water, boil for 30 minutes, strain while hot and bring the volume to the original volume with boiled water. Take 1 tablespoon 1 time per day in the first 2 days, and 1 tablespoon 2 to 3 times a day after meals on subsequent days. The course of treatment ranges from 2 to 8 weeks (but not more than 12). For hemorrhoids, take a decoction of the fruits and bark of horse chestnut. 5 g of each type of crushed raw material is poured into 1 glass of hot water, boiled for 30 minutes, filtered while hot and the volume is brought to the original volume with boiled water. Drink 1 tablespoon 2-3 times a day after meals. For menopausal bleeding, use fresh juice of horse chestnut flowers, 30 drops per 1 tablespoon of water in the morning and evening.
Chestnut fruits contain strong energy, which helps against coughing: 1 chestnut attached to the bronchial point between the nipples on the chest (secured with an adhesive plaster), press the chestnut on this area if you want to cough, the cough from this effect quickly goes away (you should not put pressure on the chestnut at night).
In the fight against radiculitis, they resort to the following remedy: fill a jar to the top with horse chestnut fruits, add vodka, and close tightly. Keep it in the sun for the first three days, and then leave it indoors for 40 days. Rub the resulting preparation onto the sore areas.
When treating joints and gout, crushed chestnut fruits are passed through a meat grinder, clay applications are made for an hour or two, and warm compresses are made.
Chestnut fruits are carried in the pocket for articular rheumatism, kneading 2-3 chestnuts at leisure. They tie a bandage of chestnuts to the painful area, sleep on chestnuts for radiculitis (even wrinkled old chestnuts willingly give up their healing power). Beads are made from chestnuts, soaked for a day or two in iodine water from the top shell of a walnut. After this, they not only become soft for threading with a gypsy needle on a rough thread or copper wire, but also change their brown color to black. Such beads on the neck (in two threads) help the thyroid gland and the heart to work without disturbances, since they lie on the venous vessels at the turn of the veins that are directed to the heart. Damage to the venous system leads to irritability, headaches, heart pain, and bad mood, and chestnut beads are a preventive measure for the above ailments.
If you sit on chestnuts for a short time, especially for creative and intellectual workers, inspiration appears and work becomes more productive, since chestnuts give their energy to your tailbone, or the first chakra. Energy is generated there and the reserves of our body are concentrated, and chestnuts only feed them.
Remedy for rheumatism for children from 7 to 15 years old: 1 glass of crushed fruits, 1 glass of burdock juice, 200 grams of vodka, leave for 10 days. The resulting mixture is used for grinding. Take a decoction of chestnut fruits internally: 1 teaspoon in a large glass of water, boil for 5 minutes. Rub the tincture of flowers and leaves into sore spots.
Preparations from horse chestnut fruits reduce blood clotting, strengthen the walls of capillaries and veins, prevent the formation of blood clots in blood vessels and promote the resorption of formed blood clots. When treating thrombophlebitis with an extract or tincture from chestnut fruits, swelling and pain in the affected area decrease in patients, blood clots soften and gradually disappear. A similar effect is observed with hemorrhoids.
In folk medicine, an infusion of bark, flowers and seeds is used as an antipyretic and astringent and for the treatment of various rheumatic diseases, sciatica, as well as bronchial catarrh, varicose veins in the legs, diseases of the nasal mucosa, vascular spasms, gallbladder diseases, chronic digestive disorders, gout, treatment of long-term wounds and hemorrhoids.
Horse chestnut leaves concentrate: vitamin C, glycosides, pectin and tannins; flavonoids - quercitrin, isoquercitrin, quercetin, rutin, spireoside, ostralagin; carotenoids - lutein, violoxanthin.
Leaves in a decoction are a hemostatic for uterine bleeding (1 tablespoon per 1 glass of decoction), drink 1 tablespoon 4-6 times a day.
“If your feet hurt, then you should walk along the bridge on which chestnut leaves lie, and all your troubles will go away,” say the old Corsican women, and they know life firsthand.
For chronic bronchitis, decoctions of horse chestnut fruits help: pour 20 grams of chopped chestnuts into 1 glass of boiling water, boil, strain. Take 1 tablespoon of decoction 4-6 times a day. You can also take the tincture - 25 drops 3-4 times a day.
You can prepare a tincture of chestnut flowers for the winter - 1 part juice and 3 parts alcohol or vodka. Take 20 drops 2 times a day during the winter period, or you can divide 40 drops into 3 doses. It is better to use with the addition of honey or jam for faster absorption.
For hypertension, it is useful to take an infusion of horse chestnut flowers: infuse 50 grams of flowers in 0.5 liters of vodka for 7 days, strain, squeeze out the remainder. Drink 30 drops of infusion, diluting with water in a 3-4-fold ratio, 3-4 times a day for 3 weeks. Store the infusion in a tightly closed container.
For dilated veins in the legs and inflammation of hemorrhoids, it is recommended to drink juice from fresh flowers 2 times a day, 25 drops per 1 tablespoon of water. After drinking the juice for a long time, the pain and lumps of hemorrhoids disappear.
A hot, thick decoction of chestnut flowers is used as a compress on swollen joints after a dislocation or warm baths after a day spent in the cold.
A tincture of fruits, flowers and chestnut bark is used as an internal and external remedy for hemorrhoids, vascular spasms, impaired bile secretion, chronic digestive disorders, gout, rheumatism, sciatica. The tincture is prepared as follows: pour 50 grams of chestnut flowers or fruits into 0.6 liters of 50 percent alcohol or vodka. Leave for 2 weeks in a warm and dark place. Shake and filter daily. Consume 30-40 drops 3-4 times a day for 3-4 weeks. This tincture should be stored in a dark place.
In magic: Direct contact with a chestnut tree is like a fast-flowing river. The pure and strong flow of energy that “flows” through the chestnut will easily wash away ailments, but you will not be able to recharge from the chestnut with energy. This tree is quite busy with itself. Of all the trees growing in the middle zone, the chestnut is the sunniest tree, directed towards the sky and warmth. Energetically, the chestnut is an egoist; you cannot get support from it. Unless you need a certain amount of healthy egoism, which is so necessary to stop the attacks of painful soul-searching and dissatisfaction with yourself. In addition, chestnut is a big fan of surprises. And communicating with him, even if you don’t expect to receive anything, can bring you good luck, some pleasant incident, a lucky coincidence in life. Chat with a chestnut tree if you have finally decided to take care of yourself and pay attention to your health - it will help you put aside worries about others for a while. After all, if you completely push yourself, it won’t make it any easier for those around you; taking care of yourself is not an empty whim. Even if you are a convinced altruist and are ready to sacrifice your life for the good of others, if you are healthy and in a good mood, you will bring significantly more benefit to those around you. Horse chestnut buds can help you if you suffer from an inability to learn from past experiences and your own mistakes. Helps with complete despair, when you think you can't do more. Can help you feel a sense of optimism and peace. It helps to realize that most often anxiety is unnecessary and completely undesirable. Clears the mind filled with unwanted and intrusive thoughts that distract from the present. Helps clear your mind and keep thoughts under control, liberates the psyche, awakens imagination and intuition. The chestnut fruit, located in the shell, is surrounded by thorns, but they do not harm it. For this reason it became a symbol of chastity, for this virtue overcomes all temptations of the flesh, symbolized by thorns. The energy of the chestnut is strong and impulsive. However, with prolonged contact, hallucinations may occur. Chestnut's active time is from 1 to 5 o'clock. He sleeps from 7 to 8 o'clock. Carry chestnuts with you to get rid of rheumatism, arthritis, chills, pain in the sides, and dizziness. Wrap the chestnut in a banknote, put it in your purse and carry it with you to attract money and good luck.
Chestnut is a sunny tree, it will give you warmth and energy, warm you up and nourish you with strength, burn out pain and malaise, but only if it is “favorable” to you. For Christians, the chestnut is a symbol of chastity; it gives believers strength in the fight against temptation.
Peeled chestnut fruits are the simplest amulet for protection against evil forces and the evil eye. Put 2-3 chestnuts in your pocket and carry them with you. Chestnut is selfish and amulets made from it are just as selfish; they love frequent touching, making the owner a little selfish. When you need to take care of yourself and your health, such an amulet will help you put aside worries about others for a while. They say that a chestnut placed in a pocket during the waxing moon brings health. It is useful to “trample” bare feet on peeled fruits.
To cleanse the room of negative influences, on Monday morning (from 9 to 11 o'clock) take eight chestnuts with prickly shells and place them around the house. After 10 days (Thursday), collect the chestnuts and take them to the forest (park). Just leave the chestnuts on the ground and burn the peels on the fire.
In the fight against radiculitis, they resort to the following remedy: fill a jar to the top with horse chestnut fruits, add vodka, and close tightly. Keep it in the sun for the first three days, and then leave it indoors for 40 days. Rub the resulting preparation onto the sore areas.
We think that, having learned the benefits of chestnuts, our housewives will definitely start preparing them for their households. Moreover, the fruits do not require special culinary skills and are simply delicious fried or baked.
What autumn crafts to decorate your home with?
The onset of early autumn is associated by all adults with school memories, when labor lessons were held and very interesting products were made, without which an exhibition of autumn crafts would not be complete.
If you are not busy with serious matters on autumn evenings, then you will enjoy making autumn crafts with your own hands. It is worth noting that the process of creating them will send you into easy memories of happiness and serenity.
The selection of fall craft ideas in this article is the best. Indeed, here you can find a lot of interesting things for yourself and your children.
Preparing various gifts of autumn for further work
In autumn, you can collect a large amount of materials for creativity. These materials can be: beautiful leaves, dried flowers, chestnuts, acorns, as well as beautiful and miniature pumpkins.
But all these materials should be properly prepared in order to be used in the future. You will have to dry them and, if necessary, cover them with paint or varnish.
On a note! Do not make crafts from unprepared raw materials. Be aware that they will not last long.
So, if the material for creation was used unprepared, then after it dries completely, the product will lose its original shape. And half-raw leaves have the opportunity to rot or become moldy.
Preparing the leaves.
Before you start creating beautiful autumn crafts from leaves, you need to prepare them. Here you can use one of two methods. The leaves can be placed between the sheets of the book, and the book itself can be placed on the shelf. Such leaves can be used for making crafts within a week and a half. It is worth noting that this method is the best. As a result, the leaves will not lose their color or break.
If you want to quickly start making crafts, then use the following method. It will require a couple of blank landscape sheets, with a sheet placed between them. Then turn on the iron to the lowest setting and iron the sheets of paper. In this case, it is worth considering that the green leaves may darken, but the red and yellow ones will remain the same.
How to dry decorative pumpkins, chestnuts and acorns.
These materials can be dried in the shade outdoors. But here it is necessary to wait for the moment when the materials can acquire the necessary dryness. Decorative pumpkins can dry for a month. And dried chestnuts and acorns will become light. And dry pumpkin will resemble a rattle. And this is all due to the fact that its cavity will dry out and the walls inside will shrink. As a result, the seeds will hit their walls.
To prepare autumn material, you can use the oven. Its temperature should be 60 degrees. It is worth drying the materials in it until they are completely ready. At the same time, they should be stirred periodically. With this drying option, there is no need to rush. Therefore, do not turn it on high heat. The gifts of autumn will simply be cooked and lose their usefulness.
How to dry dried flowers.
So, here the flowers are strung on a thread, which is threaded through the stems. Next, the dried flowers are hung with the peduncles down. Here, drying in books and in the oven is no longer suitable. When the dried flowers are dry, they are covered with hairspray. Thanks to the varnish, the dried flowers will be dense. Therefore, they will not crumble when touched.
Autumn crafts. Master classes
Well, the time has come to present you crafts made from autumn materials. If you have prepared all the materials correctly, then it’s time to start creating interesting products.
Panel of autumn leaves.
From the autumn leaves that you probably have a lot of, you can create a magnificent panel. The results can be impressive. And making this panel is very simple. Other autumn materials can complement this picture of autumn. For example, you can use spikelets, decorative pumpkins, and other decorative elements. What should I use to create this craft?
On a note! Instead of pumpkins, you can put acorns and chestnuts in the basket.
Topiary from herbarium and other autumn materials.
A variety of autumn crafts can decorate any room. And for you, we have collected all the new items of such crafts so that you can also decorate your home with such unusual products. Surely everyone has seen a decorative tree called topiary. In autumn, you can use beautiful leaves, as well as dried flowers, chestnuts and acorns to create it.
To create a craft you may also need:
Master class on creating roses from maple leaves.
We continue to list autumn crafts for you and offer photos of them. If you look at the next photo, the elegant bouquet that is provided there looks very amazing. It is quite difficult to guess what it was created from. And they made it from simple maple leaves. To get a delicious base from them, you just need to learn how to roll the leaves correctly. And then they can be used to implement completely different ideas.
The resulting roses can be included in autumn topiary. They can also be used to create wreaths and compositions. Overall, they pair well with a variety of fall materials. To make a bouquet of maple leaves, take:
On a note! Such leaf roses can last for a very long time.
Source
How to store natural materials for crafts. How to save acorns for crafts
How to store crafts made from acorns and chestnuts – Parent’s Library – Early child development
Acorns come in different sizes and shapes. On one side they are surrounded by a plus - a greatly expanded cup. Acorns begin to ripen in September - October. It is better to collect them when they are already ripe and fallen. Only clean, healthy acorns are suitable for crafts. Along with them, it is advisable to collect pluses, which can be useful for various crafts.
Fresh acorns are easier to work with and last longer. Dried acorns easily split when processed.
Acorns collected for crafts are best stored in a cool and humid place.
From acorns you can make figurines of funny people, various parts for other crafts, etc. For example, from oblong acorns you can make a giraffe, donkey, horse, etc.
When making funny little people, pluses can be used as hats.
Chestnut fruits are an excellent material for simple crafts.
They have a beautiful shiny bright brown surface. The shell of a fresh chestnut is easily pierced with an awl. From whole fruits you can make a head and torso for dolls. To ensure that chestnut fruits do not lose their quality for as long as possible, it is best to store them in a cool place.
After the figurine is made, measures must be taken to prevent it from collapsing. To do this, the figurine and its parts, made from fresh acorns or chestnuts, are coated with liquid carpentry or synthetic glue in the places where the shell is drilled and cut, as well as in those places where the shell is cracked. When dry, the glue will hold the shell together. As the acorns and chestnuts dry, this sizing is repeated. Glue that gets on the smooth surface of the acorn shell will gradually fall behind and fall off, and the glue that gets into the cracks and connecting holes will hold the craft together well. Working with dry acorns and chestnuts is more difficult. In this case, it is very difficult to drill holes with an awl, so it is better to drill holes in them using a drill. When working with dry acorns and chestnuts, you must be especially careful with their fragile, brittle skin. The knife and drill must be sharp, and you must work with them without strong pressure. Each part, when inserted into a drilled acorn, must be immediately placed on glue, i.e., its end should be smeared with glue. When the work dries (3-5 days after production), it can be coated with artistic, as well as oil, furniture or alcohol varnish . The varnish emphasizes and sets off the natural colors of acorn and chestnut peels.
Chestnuts acorns for crafts
The shape and color of both chestnuts and acorns are very good for crafts; it’s not for nothing that all children collect them every autumn. These are ready-made animal heads, human bodies, and they make crafts with them in gardens and schools.
There are several varieties of acorns in our country. There are large and small, thin oblong and short thick. Some acorns have small cups (cups), others have flat, wide cups, and others have large, deep cups with a shaggy surface. Acorns are found a lot in the south and central zone of our country.
Chestnuts come in both forest (edible) and decorative varieties. Forest chestnuts grow in forests on the Black Sea coast, decorative ones grow freely along streets and avenues, in parks and squares of many cities in Ukraine, the Baltic states, etc. Here we have decorative chestnuts, you can’t eat them, but you can do crafts as much as you like!
It is necessary to prepare acorns and chestnuts for work of all sizes and any shape that comes along, and it is better to take not only the acorns and chestnuts themselves, but the cups - the so-called plus.
Acorns and chestnuts should be stored in a dry, not very warm room, preferably scattered in a thin layer. Fresh acorns and chestnuts are easy to cut and drill, but when they dry, their cotyledons become very hard, and the peel wrinkles and becomes brittle and brittle. It is almost impossible to cut the cotyledons of dried chestnuts and acorns with a knife or pierce them with an awl. To work with them you will need a jigsaw with files and a jewelry vise with a set of thin drills.
Fresh acorns and chestnuts with raw pulp do not stick together well. If you need to glue them firmly, you need to wait until they dry. The peel of fresh acorns and chestnuts can be easily cut with a knife, but when dry, if cut or drilled carelessly, it will crack and be destroyed.
It is possible to make dried chestnuts and acorns easy to cut, drill (even with an ordinary awl) and glue. To do this, pour dry chestnuts and acorns into a saucepan or basin, add cold water and leave in the water for a day. Then remove from the water and put in a cool place for another day, during which their skin will become soft, elastic, not brittle, and the cotyledons will acquire the properties of fresh ones and will begin to drill, erupt and stick together well.
BUT: chestnuts and acorns softened in this way will dry out again in a few days and become hard and unyielding to process, so you only need to soak the number of acorns and chestnuts that will be needed in the coming days to work on crafts.
It is necessary to protect acorns and chestnuts from unnecessary cuts, breakages and other damage, since the damaged peel of chestnuts and acorns cracks and falls apart when dry, spoiling the entire craft. To avoid this, immediately after finishing work, cover the craft in the places of cuts with glue. This way the strength of the peel will be maintained.
In order for the skin of these materials to remain undamaged when cutting and drilling holes in it, it is necessary that the knife, awl, and drill be sharpened.
When cutting and drilling holes in fresh chestnuts and acorns, a tool that has difficulty cutting or drilling through the tough skin may unexpectedly slip into the soft cotyledons and, if pressed, may make a cut too wide in the skin and break it. The product will then be ruined. In addition, if you press hard on the tool, it can slip off the glossy hard surface of the peel and injure the hand of the worker. Therefore, you need to work with these materials very carefully.
To preserve the natural beauty of the chestnut and acorn in a craft, you need to cover it with colorless nitro varnish, which will not only add brightness to the appearance, but also protect the craft from rapid destruction.
How to store natural materials for crafts
Autumn natural materials are excellent preparations for children's crafts. How to store collected supplies?
The best option is to store in breathable cardboard or wood.
We prepare materials for crafts
Who, if not mothers, knows that our children like to remember at 21-22 pm that tomorrow they need to bring a craft made from natural materials, a bouquet of dried leaves and flowers, a herbarium, and so on.
So what should I do? We get ready and go with a flashlight to collect “reserves”, and then spend the whole night sculpting, gluing, painting, most often without the child. And sometimes in the garden they give you a task, it seems like it’s still light, but it’s raining outside. How to collect the necessary material? In order to at least partially protect myself from this (it won’t be possible completely, unfortunately), I began to collect a “collection” of natural materials, selecting for this a small shoe box and various smaller boxes and boxes, which I put in this same shoe box. shoes Well, plus various books help. So what can we prepare? 1. Dry various leaves. On the way home, you pick up several leaves from different trees. You can also have different colors, whatever you come across: yellow, green, red... The main thing is to select the most beautiful ones, and not try to get more. After all, we still have many fine days ahead and we will have time to collect quite a large number of leaves. But let them be the most, most beautiful.
At home, we review the “loot” again; if there are spoiled ones (we accidentally didn’t finish checking them) or you simply don’t like them, feel free to throw them in the trash. We rinse the rest under running water, place it on a surface covered with paper or cloth (I cover it with disposable rags from a roll), let the moisture dry and then put it in a book, and the book can be put back on the shelf. Or you can lay it out between sheets of plain paper and press it down with something heavy. And let them dry, they will come in handy later.
Bells made from acorns
Tools:
- Adhesives;
- Glue;
- Acorns;
- Ribbons.
First stage:
- Remove the tops from the acorns.
- Glue the bells into the hats.
- Make bows, carefully glue the bells to them by the hats.
- We came up with a wonderful product, it goes with absolutely everything.
Do-it-yourself rowan: crafts from rowan. The best ideas with photos
Another beautiful and bright autumn craft - a DIY rowan tree will definitely captivate children and parents into the creative process. You can use natural material to create original flower arrangements, or you can make a twig with berries using your knowledge of beadwork.
In this case, how to make a rowan with your own hands , it is better to use silicone-based glue for the mosaic rather than PVA glue; it will fix the beads on the surface faster. You need to grease one element (berries or leaves) of the picture and sprinkle beads on top: for berries - red, for leaves - orange or green of your choice. Thus, you need to fill in all the elements without going beyond the outline. Each time, the beads must be pressed with your finger against the surface of the cardboard for a more secure fastening. When the glue sets, you can turn the sheet over and all the excess beads will fall off on their own, after which you need to manually fill in the empty spaces, if any.
Pig and acorns
You will be surprised how you can create a real work of art from two objects! Just take an acorn without a cap and glue ears, a tail, and also elements of the muzzle to it from plasticine.
This talisman can be easily made by a small child, without the help of an adult.
Do-it-yourself rowan
By the way, many needlewomen forget that you can make original jewelry from natural materials, for example, do-it-yourself rowan beads , which are perfect for a themed autumn photo shoot. Many creative brides add such elements to their hand-made wedding bouquet, and it looks more refined and delicate than those for which ordinary fresh roses are used.
If you decide to make crafts from rowan with your own hands, you can find photo ideas on the Internet, and the first thing you will stumble upon on the vastness of the global web is a beaded tree. Its craftswomen perform it in two versions: autumn - with yellowed leaves, winter - with a “snow” cap over the bunches.
DIY paper rowan
Naturally, if we are talking about do-it-yourself rowan berries , then we must not forget about the most accessible material for creativity - this is, of course, paper. The quilling technique allows you to create bright, voluminous floral paintings and cards using only paper strips and glue.
Ready-made strips can be bought in stores, along with other art supplies; you can also cut them out yourself by first drawing a sheet of red and green paper into strips with a pencil. The width of one strip can be 5-7 mm.
There is another available material from which you can make, for example, tulips from candies - this is corrugated paper. Children like to work with corrugated paper because it easily glues, cuts and creases. And a DIY rowan tree made from paper will fill your home with bright colors and will lift your spirits on cold, rainy autumn evenings.
Acorn babies
This craft will appeal to girls rather than boys.
Take:
- Acorns,
- Hats, Wooden beads,
- Marker,
- Adhesives;
- Felt.
Operating procedure:
- Glue the cap to the bead, glue the acorn below, it will be a small body.
- Wrap the felt strips around the neck and secure with glue.
- Use a marker to draw eyes and a mouth.
- You can take a matchbox and put the little man in it.
- The baby is ready in the cradle.
Below are photos of these crafts made from acorns.
How to dry rowan
Photo © Regina Lipnyagova
A lot has been said about the beneficial properties of red rowan more than once. But the fruiting period of this berry is not the longest, so you need to know how to preserve all the beneficial properties for the maximum period. It is most optimal to dry rowan, and then prepare healthy drinks from it all winter.
You can dry rowan in different ways. It dries well in the open air; you can also use an electric dryer, oven, or even a microwave for this. Rowan berries should be dried in the open air either in clusters upside down in a well-ventilated place, or scattered in one layer on a tray or fine wire rack.
Step-by-step instructions on how to dry rowan:
To dry rowan, we need the berries themselves and paper napkins.
Spread a paper napkin.
Place clean rowan berries in one layer.
Cover with a napkin and microwave at 400 W for 10-12 minutes.
Dried rowan is ready.
To dry rowan berries in the oven, you need to scatter the berries in one layer on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place in the oven at 40-50°C for 50 minutes, then increase the temperature to 70°C and dry with the door ajar for 16-20 hours.
With the second option, if you use a dryer, then everything is very simple. Just follow the instructions that come with it.
how to store fruits in winter and prepare them for planting in spring
As already mentioned in the article, the best storage methods are: freezing, storing in sand, canning.
- To preserve peeled chestnut nuts until spring, you can freeze or preserve them, but you cannot keep them in sand.
- If you want to preserve whole chestnut fruits for the winter, then you need to rinse, dry, cut and throw them into an airtight container. And put it in the refrigerator or freezer, depending on what period you do it. Because it will last longer in the freezer.
How to store chestnuts in winter for planting in spring?
If you need to save a chestnut for planting, then you need to hide it properly until spring.
There are several ways:
- You can leave it whole. To do this, you need to place the fruit in a dry fabric bag and put it in the basement. Hide at a temperature of +5 degrees.
- The second way is to germinate and by spring you will already have a grown seedling. To do this, you need to soak the chestnut in water and change it as often as possible. After about two weeks, shoots will appear. After that, we plant it in a pot with moist, fertilized soil and put it away in a cool place until spring.
- Those fruits that fall in the fall are covered with sand in any container and stored all winter, at a temperature of +5-6 degrees. Before planting in open ground, for five days, you need to place the nuts in warm water so that the shell swells and an embryo forms inside. Then, the seeds are planted in the ground.
Frost protection
Chestnut is a moisture-loving and heat-loving tree. Although chestnut is frost-resistant, young trees need to be protected from frost. To do this, fallen leaves are placed under the tree, and the trunk is wrapped in several layers of burlap. This needs to be done every winter until the tree is completely strong.
How to dry rowan berries at home.
Red rowan is usually dried in two ways - natural (indoors) and forced (in an electric dryer or oven).
When choosing the first option, remember that the room in which the red rowan will dry should be well ventilated.
With the second option, if you use a dryer, then everything is very simple. Just follow the instructions that come with it.
If you decide to dry the berries in the oven, then when drying you need to set the temperature from 40 to 60 degrees and monitor the uniformity of drying, constantly stirring the rowan fruits. Drying needs to be done in several stages. After 5-6 hours in the oven, the berries need to be allowed to cool for 12-20 hours. Then, if necessary, continue drying in the oven again, lowering the temperature by 5-10 degrees each time.
It is good to store dried red rowan berries in fabric bags, jars or boxes. From such a simple preparation for the winter you can make healthy desserts, brew tea, add to compotes or decoctions. Thus, knowing how to dry correctly, you can benefit from red rowan berries all year round.
Use the rosehip as a spout, and the mouth, of course, is made from red rowan berries using the same method as earrings, you just need to string them on a wire, and then lay them out in the correct shape and fasten them on a head of cabbage. Decorate your autumn with beads made from rowan berries. These DIY autumn crafts are suitable for any children's creativity competition; moreover, they are very easy and every child can do them.
Autumn gives people a lot of material for creativity - these are a variety of vegetables that can be collected in your garden, and colorful leaves flying from tree branches, as well as cones, chestnuts, seeds, wild berries, which are traditionally used to make autumn crafts .
So, for example, from an ordinary head of cabbage you can make a symbol of autumn or even autumn itself; all that is required for this is the gifts of this wonderful time of year, such as the berries of red and chokeberry, rose hips, pumpkin seeds, watermelon, melon, ash. Also prepare additional materials that you may need to achieve the desired result, such as toothpicks, thin copper wire, plasticine, colored paper and acrylic paints.
Use the rosehip as a spout, and the mouth, of course, is made from red rowan berries using the same method as earrings, you just need to string them on a wire, and then lay them out in the correct shape and secure them to a head of cabbage. Decorate your autumn with beads made from rowan berries. These DIY autumn crafts are suitable for any children's creativity competition; moreover, they are very easy and every child can do them.
Plant selection and preparation
Not all representatives of the flora are suitable for treatment with glycerin, but the choice is quite wide. These are trees and shrubs with unusual, artistic leaves: birch, chestnut, beech, barberry, oak, heather, laurel, maple, rhododendron, rowan, magnolia, eucalyptus, boxwood, oleaster, as well as the climbing plant hop. It is recommended to cut branches with leaves at the end of summer, when they are sufficiently developed and still filled with vitality.
Drying in glycerin is perfectly tolerated by branches of ligustrum, juniper, cotoneaster, blackberry, and silver poplar. Interesting compositions can be made from ornamental plants with beautiful leaves: gladioli, peonies, bergenia, hosta, irises. Fern processing requires a higher concentration of solution than for the listed crops.
Both annuals (for example, flowering molucella) and perennials - crocosmia, flowering gypsophila, meadowsweet - are dried in glycerin.
Among indoor plants you can choose aspidistra, ficus, camellia, and aralia. Drying is carried out as follows: developed, beautiful leaves are cut off, immersed in a glycerin solution, and immediately removed when the color changes. Then they are washed in clean water, wrapped in absorbent paper and allowed to dry. It is better to use a shallow vessel for soaking, and the drying room should be warm.
How does the canning process work?
The stems and branches prepared in advance are cut obliquely, the hard bark (5-6 cm long) and excess lower leaves are removed, and the ends are split (8-10 cm) to fully absorb the glycerin solution. Next, perform the following actions:
The concentration of the solution depends on the type of flower or tree species. The most commonly used composition is in proportions of 1:2 or 1:3, with a weaker concentration used for plants with soft or thin leaves. To dry crops with hard leaves and stems, a strong solution is needed - 1:1.
To obtain the correct solution, glycerin is placed in boiling water, and the leaves also need to be immersed in a hot, not yet cooled solution, so that the liquid completely covers the entire branch. The solution cools slowly, the glycerin is absorbed along with the water, and in the process the leaves change color. The transformation process lasts from 2-3 days to 2.5-3 weeks. As soon as the leaves become oily, it’s time to remove them.
Types of acorns for crafts
Today, there are about 600 species of oak trees growing around the world. Consequently, acorns and their calyxes have just as many varieties. The most common of them in Russian forests are:
- Chestnut oak acorns - can be found in the foothills of the Caucasus. They have a hemispherical calyx with scales bent back and a length of 2.5-3.5 cm.
- Sessile oak acorns - can be found in the north of Crimea and the North Caucasus. They are small, sitting in small cups.
- Acorns of the pedunculate (common) oak are collected throughout the European part of Russia. They have different sizes (from 1.5 to 2.5 cm). They sit in saucer-shaped cups. In autumn they fall to the ground.
The rest are very difficult to get, so we won’t write about them. For crafts, it is worth collecting acorns of various varieties, colors and sizes.
DIY crafts from rowan. Autumn mood
Joint creativity brings parents and children closer together, awakens the imagination of both children and older children, so DIY rowan crafts will be an interesting experience for a child and will diversify family leisure time.
The child will not only learn how to make various cute things under the guidance of mom and dad, but will also receive positive emotions from contact with natural materials. Creativity develops perseverance, attentiveness, and motor skills. In addition, natural materials are environmentally friendly, which is important for many parents these days.
First of all, you will have to take care of preparing the material. The end of August, the beginning of September is the best time to collect rowan, since it is during this period that the berries become firm and their color acquires rich shades. Don’t be lazy - it’s better to harvest more, because the child should have a lot of material for creativity. In addition, a walk in the fresh air will be beneficial for the whole family.
The collected berries must be cleared of twigs, leaves and cuttings. The material is ready and now you can start making crafts from rowan with your own hands. If you also want to use rowan leaves, then you should choose those that have not yet dried out and are flexible enough. Such leaves can be easily dried under pressure or among the pages of books, and they can also be used to form various three-dimensional structural elements for crafts.
How to collect?
Before we talk about how to dry acorns for crafts, we'll talk about how to collect them. When the right period has arrived, you can start collecting. To do this, you should go to the place where this tree grows (it could be a park, forest, oak grove, etc.). When choosing a gathering place, you should pay attention to its location. It is advisable to collect acorns away from the roadway and railway tracks. Due to the short shelf life, take the fruits in a certain quantity required for the product. You can collect acorns near the foot of an oak tree. But to do this you will have to rake away the branches and leaves. Pay attention to the fruits, they must be whole and “healthy”.
There is another way to collect. To do this, you just need to shake the tree, and you can lay some fabric or, for example, polyethylene on the ground. Be careful with this method because when the acorns fall, several fruits from the tree may fall on you. Choose quality fruits. Break a few things and look inside. Good acorns are the same color both inside and outside, they are free of damage, cracks and mold/fungi. If you notice brown flour or larvae inside, then refuse to collect. Such fruits are not suitable for you. You will not be able to make beautiful products from them that will delight you for many years.
Rowan beads
The little princess will surely love beautiful beads. To do this, in addition to the rowan fruits, you will need a strong thread. When the berries dry out, the thread will become visible, so it is better to take a red one so that it does not catch the eye. The thread should be long enough - you can always cut off the excess, but if the length is not enough, you will have to tie more pieces, which will not look too neat.
The berries are strung along the cutting, being careful not to damage the berries. Working with a needle is a delicate thing; a small child should not be trusted with it. Let the girl help her mother by giving her “beads.” But an older girl can try to collect part of the beads herself.
After a few days, the berries will dry out and gaps will appear between them. To make them smaller, you need to slightly tighten the beads. This rowan decoration can become an original accessory to a costume at a children's party. Probably, in the future the girl will have a desire to make a rowan necklace for dolls.
Autumn topiary
Another great idea for making crafts from rowan berries with your own hands is topiary, or in other words, the Tree of Happiness. This product is suitable for a children's crafts competition in kindergarten or elementary school. Here you will need a variety of materials that are easy to find while walking through an autumn park or forest:
The child will not only breathe in the fresh autumn air, but will also discover an unimaginable palette of autumn colors.
An unnecessary glass will serve as a pot under the Tree of Happiness. There are many ways to decorate, you just need to put in a little effort and use your imagination. As an option, the glass is carefully covered with colored cloth and decorated with rowan leaves and berries. A sheet of paper or newspaper needs to be crumpled, coated with glue and placed in a glass. The paper should lie tightly inside and occupy about half the volume.
Use scissors or a knife to make a hole in the center. A small stick is used as the trunk of the tree. The more intricate the shape, the more interesting it is. You can even make two barrels. Coat one end of the stick with glue and insert it into the hole. However, there was an empty space left in the glass. It can be filled with acorns and cones, which are also lightly coated with glue on one side so that they do not fall out of the stand in the future.
Multi-colored garland
Bright autumn crafts - garlands can also be made from rowan berries with your child's own hands. To do this, you need to prepare threads of different lengths, multi-colored paper confetti, and also make several maple leaves or flowers using the origami technique.
There are a lot of pieces of colored paper left over from children's crafts. This is also suitable for making confetti. Using a hole punch, the task is completed very quickly. Then the berries mixed with confetti need to be strung on threads. However, threading each circle on a needle is a tedious and time-consuming task. The process will become much easier and faster if you pour confetti onto a computer mouse pad and prick the pieces of paper with a needle. At the same time, you must not forget to alternate them with rowan berries.
If you wish, you can come up with many more crafts using rowan berries. Surely, during the creative process, the child himself will think out the details and make his own additions.
For the first method of drying chokeberry berries, we need to dry the berries for a relatively short period of time. It will take time from picking the berries until spring. In this case, the berries are cut directly from the tree using scissors and they are cut out with a single branch (it looks like an umbrella).
How to store crafts made from acorns and chestnuts – Parent’s Library – Early child development
Acorns come in different sizes and shapes. On one side they are surrounded by a plus - a greatly expanded cup. Acorns begin to ripen in September - October. It is better to collect them when they are already ripe and fallen. Only clean, healthy acorns are suitable for crafts. Along with them, it is advisable to collect pluses, which can be useful for various crafts.
Fresh acorns are easier to work with and last longer. Dried acorns easily split when processed.
Acorns collected for crafts are best stored in a cool and humid place.
From acorns you can make figurines of funny people, various parts for other crafts, etc. For example, from oblong acorns you can make a giraffe, donkey, horse, etc.
When making funny little people, pluses can be used as hats.
Chestnut fruits are an excellent material for simple crafts.
They have a beautiful shiny bright brown surface. The shell of a fresh chestnut is easily pierced with an awl. From whole fruits you can make a head and torso for dolls. To ensure that chestnut fruits do not lose their quality for as long as possible, it is best to store them in a cool place.
After the figurine is made, measures must be taken to prevent it from collapsing. To do this, the figurine and its parts, made from fresh acorns or chestnuts, are coated with liquid carpentry or synthetic glue in the places where the shell is drilled and cut, as well as in those places where the shell is cracked. When dry, the glue will hold the shell together. As the acorns and chestnuts dry, this sizing is repeated. The glue that gets on the smooth surface of the acorn shell will gradually fall behind and fall off, and the glue that gets into the cracks and connecting holes will hold the craft together well. Working with dry acorns and chestnuts is more difficult. In this case, it is very difficult to drill holes with an awl, so it is better to drill holes in them using a drill. When working with dry acorns and chestnuts, you must be especially careful with their fragile, brittle skin. The knife and drill must be sharp, and you must work with them without strong pressure. Each part, when inserted into a drilled acorn, must be immediately placed on glue, that is, its end must be coated with glue. When the work has dried (3-5 days after production), it can be coated with artistic, oil, furniture or alcohol varnish. The varnish emphasizes and sets off the natural colors of acorn and chestnut peels.