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Nature Crafts: Painted Sticks

I came across this picture of painted sticks by Canadian Artist, Ginette Lapalme. I was inspired by this idea as it brings nature into the home, and I love that!

painted sticks

Our Painted Sticks

On Saturday afternoon, my 11-year-old daugther and I went out in the backyard to find sticks.  Then, we sat at the kitchen table and painted for 20 minutes or so. It was lovely!

painted sticks

painted sticks

Materials

Paint Brush

A selection of acrylic paint

paint sticks

Designs

We kept the designs simple to allow bark to show through.

  • Veritacle Stripes
  • Horizontal Stripes
  • Dots
  • Colour blocks
  • Circles
  • Paint around the stick nobs

Use them

I had a think about where and how we could use the painted sticks, and I came up with these ideas.

1. Shapes and Pictures

Make pictures, letters and shapes with the variety of sticks.

painted sticks -- shapes and letters

2. Rainbow Woods — Imaginative Play Scene

To see how to put this together, click here: Imaginative Play Scene: Rainbow Woods

painted sticks -- rainbow woods imaginative play scene

3. Vases

I LOVE the look of painted sticks in vases. I placed the large sticks in a vase with decorative stone at the base. The smaller sticks, I used in empty juice bottles and a candle holder.

painted sticks -- in vases

painted sticks -- shapes and letters

4. Juice Bottle

This is my favourite. I used a Divine Twine around the neck of juice bottle and arranaged the sticks inside. Perfect for table or desk decoration.

painted sticks -- in juice bottles

painted sticks -- in juice buttles

painted sticks -- in juice buttles

5. Hang

Tie small sticks on a piece of string (I use Divine Twine). Hang horizontally for a wall feature.

painted sticks -- hang

6. Magic Stick

Paint the perfect magic stick.

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20 Comments

  • Reply
    Elizabeth
    June 25, 2012 at 11:58 am

    Such a good idea. I love them so much and they really are very decorative. They make me feel happy. my kids will be very happy to do this activity. XX

  • Reply
    Maxabella
    June 25, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Great fun! They look just as good as the original… x

  • Reply
    Rachel
    June 26, 2012 at 10:24 am

    What a gorgeous and simple idea. luvlee

  • Reply
    Joan
    June 26, 2012 at 12:16 pm

    What a brilliant idea! The painted sticks in vases and jars are cute alternatives to flowers. 🙂

  • Reply
    katepickle
    July 9, 2012 at 1:21 pm

    oooh I love your sticks! I have a hankering to do some really big ones to ‘plant’ in the garden!

  • Reply
    Trish
    July 9, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    If I can find some paint my boys would love this activity, thanks Kelly.

  • Reply
    Kelly
    July 9, 2012 at 4:00 pm

    Such a great craft ~ and they turned out so beautifully! We’ve been planning to do something like this for awhile, so lovely to get further inspired 🙂

  • Reply
    Bek @ Just For Daisy
    July 9, 2012 at 9:16 pm

    What a fabulous idea! They look great – it’s nice to mix nature into some indoor play!
    I love the ones in the juice jars!

  • Reply
    Janice
    July 9, 2012 at 10:57 pm

    I just love your colourful painted sticks Kelly and all the different ways you can display them! You have inpsired me to give them a try! 🙂

  • Reply
    Debs- Learn with Play
    July 10, 2012 at 4:58 pm

    I really loved the painted sticks and thought all the suggestions you had for ways to use them was great! They look so good in the bottles and we’d use them in an imaginative play scene for sure. Just gorgeous photos as well! Love 🙂

  • Reply
    stephanie
    July 10, 2012 at 7:34 pm

    I love, love, love this idea! Pinned it and am going to do it this weekend! Thanks for sharing!

  • Reply
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