Classic Cherry Blossom Kid's Craft: Anticipating Spring!

Here's a great Spring/Tu B'Shevat cherry blossom craft project, even for those of you who can't quite imagine that Spring awaits! There's nothing like some pink blossoms to cheer things up a bit! In Israel, we call these almond blossoms, as they are also pink and are the first to bloom, right around the time of Tu B'Shevat! Always very exciting!
I have fond memories of doing these blossom pictures in kindergarten. Okay, my pictures didn't exactly look like these, but the techniques were the same. And I still find it amazing that blowing ink through a straw can produce works of art that not only look like Japanese brush paintings but really mimic a tree with branches.  This is a great project for all ages, and a bunch of them hung together  would certainly look wonderful. And you can leave them in their pure form as I did on the left, or add some tissue paper details for the ground and sky. In any case, have fun!

You'll Need:

• Black india ink
• white card-stock weight paper (if paper is too thin the ink will bleed through) or any slick surface, even a piece of plastic or glass might work really well
• pink tissue paper
• straws
• glue, white glue, and optionally, Elmer's school gel (blue), it squeezes out of the bottle so nicely!

How To:

1. Protect work surfaces and children, you don't want this ink to get on anything!
2. Dip straw in ink, cover top with finger and carefully move ink filled straw to paper. Remove finger, releasing ink onto paper. Using the same straw, or a different one if little ones are doing this, gently blow the ink such that it grows on the page in an upwards direction. Move straw to areas where ink pools, and blow some more! In my pictures, each trunk represents one application of ink.
3. Set aside to dry.
4. Tear tissue paper into little pieces and roll to make tiny balls.
5. Apply dots of glue alongside branches, and place balls in glue.
6. For tissue paper sky and ground, mix white glue with about 1/4 water, apply glue to paper with a brush, place torn tissue paper pieces in glue, and go over them again with the brush.
7. Ta Da! Gorgeous works of art worthy of framing!