ROCKS AND WIRE AND PICTURES

The children and I got a head start on a gift for the dads today using rocks and wire. It is a very simple craft, although not as easy for the younger children as I thought it might be, so I helped. . . a great deal :) 

First, you find rocks that stand up well. The children chose their own rock.

Then you gather wire. I used what we had on hand. I wanted to use colorful telephone wire that we have but it's hiding somewhere in a box. So I settled for regular silver wire that bends fairly easily. And perhaps the silver wire was a better choice anyway.

Next, cut off a good amount of wire and start to wrap it like you would ribbon on a package, pulling it as taut as you can . . .

and bringing it up to the top side, twisting it tight together all the way up. Make some adjustments, if you have to, so it will be somewhat centered and stand straight.

Then you bend some of the twisted wire down into a spiral, that's the part that will hold the picture, note, recipe, etc.

The children chose the pictures they wanted and glued them onto heavier paper. We used watercolor paper. They wrote a note to dad on other colorful paper and glued it onto the back of the picture.

I think some dads are going to be very happy. What do you think?


You can experiment with different rocks as well as different wire and different methods of wrapping it.. I want to use some of the rocks I have collected already and make a whole display area for pictures. I just love decorating with nature. I got my inspiration here.