All you need are some objects from nature—and a soaring imagination!

In storybooks, magic carpets whisk characters off to strange and wonderful places. But this is an autumn-colored carpet you can make yourself—out of strange and wonderful objects from nature!

This carpet will fly only in your imagination, but you can make it as beautiful as any storybook version.

HERE’S HOW:

1. Build a frame of sticks.  (See illustration below.)
2. Search for treasures from nature—such as colorful fall leaves, seedpods, acorns, bark, pine cones, berries—to fill the frame. Arrange them to make beautiful designs. (Just be sure not to take things that are still alive or touch anything poisonous.)
3. Leave your carpet for others to discover and enjoy. Or come back yourself to see how it changes over time.