“The Wish Tree” and companion Craft

The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear and Chris Turnham

Have you ever had a desire or wish that people told you was impossible?  Well this is a story about a little boy who’s desire one day is to go and find the Wish Tree so he can make a wish (one which always remains unknown and adds to the magical feel of the book).  His siblings tell him there is no such thing so he sets off on his own with his trusty toboggan to search for it.  He searches all day and along the way finds opportunities to help the woodland creatures by hauling their gatherings on his toboggan.  In the end he gets tired from searching for the tree and his woodland friends that he helped all arrive to return the favor and help him find the Wish Tree.  This is such a sweet story with its beautiful message paired with enchanting illustrations and text with a positively dreamy feel.  It is a new seasonal favorite over here.

Click here to purchase The Wish Tree  *Affiliate link

 

Wish Tree Craft inspired by “The Wish Tree”

The wonderful highlight of this beautiful book is the mysterious and glorious Wish Tree.  It sparked the idea for this craft to make trees inspired by the one in the book.  Below is a photo of the wish tree and the finished product of this craft.

It’s a pretty cute little crooked tree isn’t it?!  And they are so easy and fun to make!  Complete with sparkles, because every Wish Tree needs a little sparkle, don’t you think?  Below is the tutorial for these fun little trees.  They take very few supplies and are fairly quick to make.  Perfect for wishing on when finished.

Supplies:  paper bag, tissue paper, glue, glitter, scissors

Steps:

1. Open up the lunch sack and place upright.
2. Place one hand on the base of the sack to hold it down and flat while twisting the rest of the sack with the other.  I chose to make a bend toward the top while twisting to better match the crooked tree in the book.
3. Cut out strips of tissue paper and cut slits part way across to create fringe along one of the long edges.  The strips I did were the long width of standard tissue paper and about 1 1/2 inches wide.  I also stacked 4 sheets on each other for my strips.  I needed two strips at those measurements to cover my lunch sack tree.  Also, after you cut the strips if you have them stacked like I did, be sure to glue the top corners of each end of each layer of the strips so the stacked papers stay together in one long piece.
4. Starting at the base of your tree glue the end of one strip and then start twisting your fringed strip up your paper sack tree until you reach the end of your strip. (This should be about half way.)  Then glue that end to your trunk.
5. Starting where you left off with the last strip, glue one end of your second strip on your paper sack tree and finish twisting up to the top of your tree.  I had my second tissue paper strip stick up a bit from the sack at the last twist to cover what was left of the sack that was visible and make a more fine-tipped top.  Then glue that end to your tree.
6. Fluff up your tree a bit and then randomly put some glue on “branches” in splotches and shake glitter over it.  I put my tree in a tupperware container to catch the excess.  (And I still got glitter all over my kitchen somehow!  Glitter always finds a way to every corner of my house anytime I release any of it!)

If you give this Beyond the Book activity a try I’d love to hear how it goes! Share it on Instagram using hashtag #beyondthebook (I’m on Instagram as @book.nerd.mommy) or even just comment here with your thoughts. It would make my day! Or to simply save for later pin the image below.