Last year me wrote about the medicinal side of Black Walnut. This majestic tree is one of my favorite plants to work with because of its versatility. Not only does it have excellent medicinal uses, but it also offers a variety of craft uses.
This is a big plus in my book, especially when it comes to teaching children about herbs. Teaching herbal medicine works best when you have a balance between medicinal and craft activities, where you can break up the educational portion with fun components that reinforce the use of the herb you are learning.
Black Walnut is the latest herb to be posted to Herb Club, our membership website that provides step-by-step guides and lessons for children and their parents, making teaching herbal medicine fun and easy. For more information and to get involved, click here.
Let’s look at some ways kids can have fun working with Black Walnut while learning about its medicinal side.
Dyed paper craft
This is a fun project I’ve done in the past with leftover coffee and tea. If you made Black Walnut paint to dye your fabric, you can use the leftover dye bath to dye some paper in it.
Otherwise, place 3-4 black walnut shells in a stainless steel or cast iron pot and add enough water to cover them. Turn on the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes to an hour.
Allow the mixture to cool and pour into a 9 x 13 cm baking dish.
You can prepare your paper by wadding it up and then smoothing it out again. This gives texture and ensures that the paper ‘ages’ more. You can skip this step if you don’t want the extra lines.
Dip your paper into the baking dish. You can add multiple sheets one by one. Let them sit for 5-10 minutes and then gently pull them out. I find that scrunching them is the easiest way to remove them without tearing.
Put them in another bowl and take them outside. Place them on a tree trunk or other surface to dry. Be careful as they will often flake off as they dry!
Once they are dry, they are ready to use. They are great to use with your Black Walnut ink.
Black Walnut Ink
Black Walnut Ink is a fun way to use the rich pigmented color of Black Walnut. Walnuts have been used to make ink since the Middle Ages. Their color is dark and will not fade over time. Be careful as it will stain your skin! The ancient custom for the Roma people was to stain the hands of criminals in their community. The ink would leave stains on the hand for a long time.
For this craft, collect the following items:
12 black walnuts (should be greenish-black in color)
Cast iron Dutch oven
Water
Sharp knife
Rubber gloves
Sieve
Old pantyhose
Can
1 tablespoon rubbing alcohol (to preserve the ink)
Wear rubber gloves when handling the walnuts, otherwise you will end up with stains for days!
Use a knife to cut open the walnuts and scrape out as much of the black goo as possible. You may need the help of an older person with this step. Be careful what you cut the walnuts on as they will stain anything they touch.
Place the walnuts in the cast iron skillet and cover with water. Simmer over low heat for 6-8 hours. Turn off the heat and let it steep for another 16 hours. If necessary, allow it to steep longer before moving on to the next step.
Place the pot in the sink and strain the mixture through the sieve (lined with pantyhose) into the pot. Compost the walnuts and return the liquid to the roasting pan. Simmer again until the liquid is reduced by half. Remove it from the heat and pour it back into the pot.
Add the alcohol. Stir well to mix and store in the jar.
The ink is ready to use. You can use a feather, calligraphy pen or brush to apply it to paper for writing or painting. It can also be used as a stain on wood.
Note: If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can use a stainless steel pan. The cast iron gives the ink a darker shade, but the same effect can be achieved by adding some rusty nails to the pot. If you don’t have rusty nails either, just follow the recipe. The ink will still work, but will just be browner in color.
Painting and writing with black walnut ink
Once you’ve created Black Walnut Ink, it’s time to get creative! For $10-20 you can buy some nice dip pens – Harry Potter fans might enjoy a pen in the shape of a feather. There are also beautiful glass dip pens or simple wooden dip pens. You could even cut off the tip of a turkey feather to make a feather.
This is a great way to practice handwriting! Children love pretending to be characters from a book or movie and using dip pens with a feather and homemade ink adds a fun touch to role-playing pirate or wizard adventures! As a bonus, they can use the Walnut dyed paper for an authentic touch.
Black Walnut Ink can also be used as a paint. After drawing Black Walnut, they can have fun painting their drawing using the ink to color it.
Black Walnut ink is fairly colorfast and does not fade like some other natural inks. The ink itself can be stored for several years.
Dyeing fabric with black walnut
Black Walnut is one of my favorite dye plants! The range of brown shades it provides warms my little heart endlessly. Brown is one of my favorite colors. There is such an extensive palette in the brown family alone that I never get bored of using it as a dye.
Black walnut food coloring is a great plant to use with kids because it’s super simple. You can fill a pot with the hulls, add water and let it sit in the sun for a week, then strain, add your fabric and let it sit for another week and get fantastic results.
A faster approach is to add 30-40 hulls to a stainless steel stock pot, fill it with water and then simmer on the stovetop for about an hour. After the hour is up, turn off the heat and leave it overnight.
The next day, strain the hulls and reheat the dye bath. While it is heating up, wet all your fabrics and wring them out. Place them in the dye pot, let them simmer for about an hour, stirring the pot frequently, then turn them off and let them sit again overnight.
Pull out the fabric, rinse it with cold water and hang it to dry.
Viola! No caustic agents required.
Walnut stamped wrapping paper
This is a fun way to make unique wrapping paper! You will need kraft paper (I save all the paper I get in packets for this activity). You will also need an ink pad and some Black Walnut shells already cracked open. Look for ones that open smoothly and provide an interesting surface to use for stamping.
Press the shell onto the ink pad and then press it onto the paper. I find it easier to stamp if I put my hand under the paper so I can push the paper up while I push down with the shell. Repeat this on the paper as many times as desired. Let your kids use their imaginations to create a pattern, or let it remain wild and random.
Once you’re done stamping the paper, let the ink dry and it’s ready to use!
Black walnut buds
Older children may enjoy making Black Walnut buttons. This is also a great project to use in conjunction with your dyed fabrics. If you use raw fabric, it can be sewn into a garment and the buttons added for use or decoration. If you are dyeing an existing garment, the existing buttons can be replaced with the wooden buttons, or wooden buttons can be added for decoration.
For this project you will need a number of tools:
Branches of a black walnut tree, the diameter you want your buds to be
Shame
Hand saw
Sandpaper (fine)
Hand bow drill with thin bit
Duct tape
Olive oil
Start by sawing off disks from the branch, about 1/4 inch thick. Place the branch in a vice to keep it stable.
Sand each button until they are smooth on both sides. You may want to sand the bark off as you perform this step, or you may choose to leave the bark on.
Stack the buttons together and wrap them around the edge with duct tape. Place the stock in the vise and gently tighten it. Using the hand brace drill and a small drill, drill 2 holes in each knob.
Remove the vise knobs and tape.
Add a few drops of olive oil to each bud and gently rub the oil over both sides of each bud with your fingers. Your buttons are now ready to use!
Conclusion
As you can see, Black Walnut offers many fun craft ideas for kids! I hope this article inspires you and your children to have fun learning about Black Walnut.
And don’t forget, if you want more curriculum ideas, video lessons, and access to a growing community of like-minded parents and kids, join Herb Club!
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