Birch Bark Fun for the Holidays

Boy oh boy it is hard to find time to write a post. I had wanted to write about the fun I had with birch bark a couple of winters ago. Of course it was a dog walking day when I noticed all sorts of birch bark on the floor of the forest. It was such a contrast in colour to the rest of the dead fall, moss and autumn leaves. I gathered some on a few walks and brought home to make something. All sorts of ideas popped in my head like wrapping a candle, making a little canoe, and even making a small lamp shade to incorporate the natural holes in some of the bark.
Alas, none of these ideas formed into anything. Instead little Christmas ornament cutouts and a birch bark tree morphed from my mind from inspiration of colouring books and Pinterest.

The first thing I did was put the prized birch bark in a tub of water with a 1/2 cup of bleach. I wanted to make sure it was free of unwanted guests. The kind you see and don't see. It soaked for about 20 mins.
They were quite curly so while wet I place the birch bark between two baking sheets and let the birch bark dry over night. Once dry I made a few cut out ornaments.
Here is a sample of a cut out I drew.

 Next is a sample of how I put together this little penguin. A few were simple cut outs and a few were glued. The Lepage wood glue was ideal and my clothespins made the perfect clamps.

Quite a cute little guy. This is a fun craft for children. Getting them out for a walk in the woods to forage for some birch bark would be a fun way to get fresh air and exercise. Then come in for some creative time indoors.

 I entertained myself for several hours on a cold snowy day making little ornaments. Here are a few more photos I took. Hope you all enjoy.

The last item I made was a birch bark tree. It stands about 15 inches high. I used stray strips of birch bark and pinned each piece underneath another until the foam cylinder was completely full. I used  straight pins. The type with just a little head, not a coloured head on the pin. It took a couple of hours to place and pin the strips of bark but it was fun.