Blackberry ink + twig paintbrushes

We got crafty this week with the last of the season's blackberries. We gathered the juiciest berries still clinging to their vines, and added a few magic ingredients to make ink!

After we had some beautiful homemade ink, we set to work making twig paintbrushes by chewing on the ends of maple twigs. Maple is a "long fiber" wood, meaning each fiber separates into beautiful "bristles" like a paintbrush after a little chewing. So we became beavers and chewed the ends of the twigs until they turned into paintbrushes, and then we finally got to paint!