Easy DIY Christmas Cards - Helicopter Seed Mistletoe

These Christmas cards are super cute and super easy, and use items from nature so we get the added bonus of going out for a walk to collect the bits.

Most kids will know of helicopter seeds - the little twizzlers that come from Maples and Sycamores, and we also used the little balls from Lime seeds too, but if you can't find these you could use a white button, small pompom or white sequin instead.

This was another great opportunity to talk about trees and specifically the different methods of seed dispersal, why it happens and why it's important. For more information, this free spotters guide from the Forestry Commission is really useful.

We are knee deep in these type of seeds round here so they are very easy to pick up.  It's a little more tricky to find the helicopters still in pairs, but as you'll be glueing them in place don't worry, just find some similar sized ones and you can pair them up yourself.

Paint the Sycamore seeds with green paint, and the round part of the Lime seeds with white paint them leave to dry.

Arrange on your card in the mistletoe shape, and glue in place.

We had a lovely discussion about mistletoe and how it's a parasitic plant that grows on other trees - mainly apple trees.  I told Ruby that real mistletoe is poisonous so we shouldn't really touch it. We talked about the tradition of using it to decorate at Christmas and of course, we talked about kisses!

If you want to find out more about festive forest activities, check out all the events happening at Forestry Commission sites across the country, from festive fairs, illuminations, santa's grotto and special arts and craft activities.

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