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BIRCHBARK BOX
The native people of eastern Canada made waterproof birchbark containers for collecting sap from maple trees. They used one or two stitches of split spruce root to fasten the box. You can make a small birchbark box, tied with yarn and filled with nuts.
MATERIALS:
- Birchbark from a fallen log or dead tree
- A pencil
- A ruler
- Scissors
- Newspaper
- Clothespins or paper clips
- A large-eyed needle
- Yarn or embroidery floss
- Unshelled nuts
DIRECTIONS:
- Soak a wide strip of birchbark in water overnight. Weigh it down with a brick or heavy rock.
- Lay the wet bark on a thick layer of newspaper. Cut a 20 cm square from the best part of the bark. Now peel off the first few layers from the white side. This side will become the inside of the container. To make the bark easier to bend without snapping, you may need to peel a few layers off the brown side as well. If necessary, spray the bark with water to keep it moist.
- With a pencil, draw an enlarged version of the pattern shown below onto the lighter side. The centre square will be the bottom of the container. Cut around the pattern.
- Crease all solid lines. Bring points A and B together by folding along the dotted diagonal line. Fold the point against the square beside it, and clip to hold. Repeat at the other three corners.
- Using the darning needle, make four holes at each folded side, as shown below. Then thread the needle with red yarn or embroidery floss. Criss-cross it through the holes on one side, and tie on the inside with a double knot. Repeat on the other side.
- Fill the finished box with nuts.
| NEVER peel bark from living birch trees! It will cause them to weaken and die. If you cannot find any bark from a fallen log or dead tree, you can draw a birchbark design on Bristol board instead. |
Pioneer Christmas Crafts, text © 1999 by Heather Patterson and Joanna Rice. Photographs by Wally Randall and illustrations by Susan Gardos are copyright © 1999 by Scholastic Canada Ltd.
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