Nature's Beauty

Often times, we tend to overlook the small things in life, because the big things are what hold our attention, but it is usually these small things that conatin the true beauty of life. 

     Today, my family and I went snowshoeing in Vaughn Woods Memorial State park in South Berwick, Maine.  I took about 30 pictures on my digital camera, but these are just a few of my favorites.
   
     The first picture is the view of the river from the Hamilton House (a house located up on a hill above the water).  The second, is a picture looking up at two trees from the frozen river bed below the Hamilton House.  The third is just a broken wire fence just off the trail that I thought looked neat.  The fourth is an interesting-looking gnarly tree that was standing at the base of the river.  Last, but not least, is a picture looking at the trail ahead.

    

     When we arrived back home we trudged outback to make a sledding track so that it will freeze and hopefully be ready for next weekend when we have family here for my Great Grandmother's birthday (they want to take the kids out sledding when they come).  

     It was quite a tiring day, but it was also a lot of fun.  :)

Original image 

http://truebluemeandyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/button-tree.jpg

End result:

 

     This was a project I found while browsing Pinterest.  There were no real instructions on how to make this, but it seemed self explanatory.  Basically, all you need are wire cutters, pliers, thick bendable wire, buttons, something to hold the tree up (I used a wooden spool and wrapped thread around it, but anything would work), and beads for the birds beak and tail.  First, I started by wrapping the thread around the spool.  I then began making the tree by twisting a length of wire until I had a couple of inches left on the other end.  I put the first button on by going up through the back of the button and down through the top, then twisting it down towards the trunk.  I repeated this process for all the buttons, moving up and down on the trunk until the tree seemed full enough.  Finally, I made the bird by continuing the button wrapping process to put two buttons together to make the body and head of the bird and twisting the ends into curly cues with beads for the tail, and adding a triangular shaped bead on the opposite end for the bird's beak.  I put a small amount of glue in the whole on the spool to help keep the tree in it and let it dry.  

     

     Overall, I'd say that this project was a success; it didn't take a terribly long time to complete and was fairly easy despite the lack of directions I had access to when making it.