For April's craft, we made planters for small plants and succulents from pieces of wood and foraged branches. As the spring season awakens the plant life around us, it's nice to add touches of plant life around the home. These small planters made from repurposed wood are a great craft to make collectively, and the creative possibilities are endless. Find some wood that you like the look of and gather your succulents or small weeds and try out this craft.
Eggshell Seed Starters
1 CommentThe Vernal Equinox is upon us this weekend. Take this time to plant your seeds both literally and figuratively. This brink between winter and spring holds enormous potential energy, as represented in the seed and the egg. Used eggshells make great biodegradable seed starters for beginning your seedlings indoors before you transfer them into your garden. Imbue the seeds with your hopes and intentions and watch the seedlings grow as you manifest your hopes into reality this spring.
Herbal Tea Blends
1 CommentWith the February full moon, also known as the Hunger Moon or the Snow Moon, bringing us more frigid temperatures and food scarcity, it is a time for self care to get through the remainder of the winter. Home made tea blends are a great entry point into herbalism - learning about the healing and restorative properties of herbs.
Notebook Binding
1 CommentFor the first full moon of the new year, we explored the art of bookbinding and made our own notebooks of varying sizes, from recycled materials. This way we could choose how many pages we wanted, and the size and shapes of the notebooks. This craft is a great entry point into crafting with your coven, and will provide you with the tools to make notebooks as needed throughout the year, as you fill yours up.
Dream Catcher Wreaths
1 CommentLet me start this out by recognizing that dreamcatchers are a craft deeply rooted in the spiritual observance of many native tribes. Lately the mainstream culture has co opted and appropriated a lot of native iconography and presents it completely separate from its roots as something fashionable or trendy. We must all recognize this as a problem. If you're not familiar with this concept, it's never too late to educate yourself.
Black Walnut Natural Dye
Intermediate1 CommentCandle Casting
Beginner1 CommentFor this craft, we used elements from the natural world - bones, crystals, tree trunks, geodes - to make silicone molds which we then made candles from. Once you make the mold, you can make unlimited amounts of candles from it and you can even experiment with different wax colors and scents, though my favorite is just plain, undyed beeswax.
Twig Trivets + Placemats
Beginner1 CommentThese trivets are designed to absorb some of the heat from the pots and hot skillets when you place the pots on the serving table. They're versatile and utilitarian, and the only supplies you need to make them are twine and some foraged twigs. It's also one of the easier crafts and is a great starting out point.
Woven Wall Hangings
AdvancedCommentAntler Pendants, Hair Pins & Bottle Openers
Advanced3 CommentsThe July full moon is known as the Buck Moon. Accordingly, we used antler bones to make adornments. Natalia was the host this month and it was her idea to make pendants and bottle openers by drilling into the antlers and fastening bottle openers or crystals into them for naturally inspired and useful items.
Arranging Wildflowers
Beginner1 CommentI've seen flower arranging classes out there, and although exotic varieties of cut flowers are visually appealing, I have trouble buying them because they're expensive and so many resources go into growing them and transporting them. I have always loved wildflowers, of which there are many to go around and they grow off of whatever the land has to give. No matter what the climate I've always found a way to make visually striking bouquets or local flowers and weeds.
Wood Burning
IntermediateCommentWood burning plaques, signs, wooden boxes, or really anything made out of wood is a great activity to do in groups. The most challenging part of the process is finding a decent piece of wood to burn into. THough they sell wooden pieces at craft stores, we always prefer to use reused or reclaimed wood so as not to directly contribute to deforestation.
Stamp Carving
AdvancedCommentBalms and Salves
Intermediate2 CommentsTincturing
BeginnerCommentThis is a project I've been wanting to tackle for a while and it's really one of the simplest of the crafts I have on here, which allows for you to make many different types of tincture in one sitting. All you need to allow for more than some of the other crafts is ample time for aging. So get out your herbs and barks and berries, some high proof neutral grain spirit, and gather as many recycled/reused jars and small bottles that you can get your hands on.
Seed Art
Advanced1 CommentThe upcoming January moon is the Wolf Moon. In honor of it, I made seed art of a wolf in front of a full moon. Wolves occupy a very important place in our ecosystem as they keep herds strong and maintain the natural order in the world. They are fierce hunters but they also have very strong relationships in their packs. This craft uses natural seeds, beans, pods, and rice and you can get creative and make anything you can think of.
Yule Wreaths
Beginner3 CommentsThese wreaths are made from foraged pine branches that would have otherwise gone wasted and are a sustainable alternative to buying a tree that has been cut down for the sole purpose of enjoying it in your home for one month. Wreaths were originally made for use in pagan rituals including solstice holidays celebrating the change of seasons and fertility. Use your own creativity to make your holiday wreaths.
Bath Scrubs & Soaps
CommentThis is a really fun and visually engaging craft that allows you to use herbs, flower petals, citrus peels, and other natural elements in creating beautiful and high-quality gifts that won’t break the bank. In fact, the more you make, the more cost-effective it becomes. It also allows a lot of room for creativity and experimentation- let your intuition guide you to create new combinations of flavor, essence, and color.
Holiday Gift Guide
CommentThis overconsumption of meaningless things that were most likely manufactured by exploitation of workers in faraway countries is not what the holiday spirit should be about. It should be about connecting with family and loved ones. So while supporting local artisans and craftspeople who source responsibly is one of the better solutions to this conundrum, it can be really expensive to buy all of your gifts that way.
Metal Working
CommentThis weekend the Ravenous Craft Coven did an intro to basic metalworking at our friend Marc's metal shop. We learned how to weld, patina, sand, and grind metal and each of us made our own metal boxes. So while this post is not exactly a tutorial, it's an example of a past event that might generate enough interest to do again at a later date.