A lot of garden projects never happen because the planning makes them seem like a bigger deal than they really are. Time, cost, or skills – one of those usually becomes the reason to put it off another day or to never fully finish it.

But some of the best garden projects that can give curb appeal a big boost or make your outdoor space more usable and enjoyable, don’t require much time, money, or skills. You can start and finish these easy DIY garden projects in a single afternoon – even if you don’t have much experience or money to spend.

The simple projects below are all beginner-friendly and genuinely affordable. Some add curb appeal, some attract wildlife, and one adds privacy to your outdoor space with no building permit needed. But, best of all, you can complete each one in just one afternoon.

1. Plant a Potted Butterfly Garden

Pollinators need plants that provide food, but most yards don’t offer much to these beneficial insects. A container garden aimed at helping butterflies changes that without requiring any big effort. You don’t need much space either – patio, balcony, or even just one window box is all it takes.

Butterflies aren’t complicated about plants. Give them a few good nectar sources grouped together and that’s usually enough to bring them in and keep them coming back for more. A butterfly container garden is the perfect solution because you can adjust as needed and it doesn’t cost much to change out the plants seasonally.

For this project you will need a container that’s at least 12 inches (30 cm) wide, a good potting mix like my favorite one from Miracle-Gro, and two or three nectar plants. Milkweed, lantana, and zinnias are easy to find at garden centers in spring and attract lots of butterflies.

Simply plant, water, and wait for the butterflies to come. It takes less than an hour from start to finish, once you pick out your plants. You can find tons of beautiful butterfly plants from Jackson & Perkins or buy a monarch butterfly seed mix from Burpee to start your containers from scratch.

2. Make Your Own Air-Dry Clay Plant Markers

Handmade plant markers are one of those small details that make a vegetable bed look deliberate rather than thrown together. Labeling matters for convenience when gardening, too. Seedlings pretty much all look the same until their true leaves appear, so forgetting what’s planted where can be a real problem.

Making your own air-dry clay plant markers is a fun and whimsical way to solve this issue. There’s no need for a kiln or oven. All it takes is some air-dry clay, which you can get from Amazon, and a pencil, stamp, or carving tool to produce beautiful results.

Roll the clay to about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick, cut it into your desired shapes, press or carve the plant name into the clay, then push a wooden skewer into the base before it sets.

Plant labels dry flat in about 24 to 48 hours – longer if the air is humid. After they dry, you can paint or seal your plant marker. The active part of this project takes under an hour and the only wait is the drying time.

3. Create a Hanging Plant Privacy Screen

Turning a clothing rack into a plant stand creates an easy living privacy screen that’s truly lovely and doesn’t require permanent installation. This is a perfect DIY garden project for apartment dwellers or renters and a useful solution for anyone who can’t put up a fence, but needs more privacy in their outdoor space.

You can move the whole structure if you need to and you can swap plants in and out to keep it looking fresh throughout the different seasons. Dense trailing or climbing plant varieties fill in fast and block sightlines more effectively than most people expect from a freestanding setup.

All you need for this project is a freestanding clothes rack like this one from IKEA, S-hooks, and a mix of hanging planters. Pothos and trailing ferns fill in well. Combine them with a couple of climbing plants you can train up the vertical parts of the clothing rack. Assembly and planting only takes about 90 minutes or so. This is the fastest way to add privacy screening to your backyard or balcony.

4. Light Up Your Landscape

Adding smart outdoor lighting is one of the most dramatic changes you can make to elevate your landscape. Luckily, it only takes a small investment of time and money to do.

Path lights along a walkway, string lights between posts, an uplight tucked at the base of an interesting tree – any of these work as a starting point. Simple path lights aid navigation through your garden at night and give your yard structure. Or uplighting a single tree or architectural plant can really highlight the focal point of your garden.

Creative DIY garden lighting ideas are easy to pull off nowadays with so many different light options available. Using simple and affordable solar-powered outdoor lights, which you can find on Amazon, makes installation as easy as just sticking lights into your landscape and letting the sun do the work. There are tons of options, too, so you can find the perfect lights to fit your specific garden design aesthetic.

Planning takes the most time for this project. Installation should only take around 30 to 45 minutes once you decide on the light positions. These solar path lights from Amazon don’t require any tools or wiring. Just stake them in and done.

5. Build a Simple Solar-Powered Water Feature

Moving water adds a soothing sensory layer to a garden that plants alone can’t. It provides sound, activity, and attracts birds to your yard. A DIY solar fountain is the perfect low-effort solution.

Using a solar pump removes the electrical work entirely and an easy DIY solar fountain setup means you can add a water feature to your yard quickly without much work. From unboxing your solar fountain to a finished water feature takes under two hours to do.

The key is picking out a waterproof container and a good solar pump. This submersible solar pump kit from Amazon makes putting together this project so simple. It comes with a solar panel, pump, and tubing, which is everything you need to get water moving in one afternoon.

For the decorative element of your water fountain, choose a design that fits in with your existing landscape. You can use a bird bath you already own or create a fountain in an old metal wash tub or ceramic pot (make sure it doesn’t have a drainage hole). You can stack stones in the basin to hide the pump parts, if you like. This project can be as big or little as you want to make it. But either way, it will be beautiful and draw in lots of desirable wildlife.

Milk jugs are made from HDPE, which is a material that holds up to UV exposure, soil contact, and moisture better than you’d expect from something that started as a disposable container. That durability makes them very useful in the garden.

Milk jugs don’t degrade into the soil, they cut cleanly with a utility knife, and the handle makes them easier to work with than most repurposed containers. The five uses below take advantage of all of that.

Each way to reuse milk jugs fits into a broader approach to upcycling in your garden. Repurposing old milk jugs is a great way to help plants thrive, keep unnecessary trash out of the landfill, and let you save money. Here are my favorite ways to use milk jugs in the garden.

How to Use Milk Jugs in the Garden

None of these easy ways to reuse milk jugs in the garden take more than five minutes or require more than a utility knife or hot nail to do. Before trying out these clever gardening hacks, give your milk jug a quick wash. It doesn't need to be spotless – a basic rinse is enough.

1. Build a Solar Heat Battery

You can turn milk jugs into a simple heat source to protect tender plants from freezing during chilly spring nights. A few degrees is often all that stands between a plant that makes it through a light frost and one that doesn't. So this simple DIY project could be just the thing your seedlings need to stay alive.

Simply circle a few water-filled milk jugs around seedlings before a cold night is forecast and they will act as a slow-release heat source. They soak up warmth during the day and then radiate it back after dark. It's the same idea behind "wall of water" plant protectors, like these ones from Amazon.

Dark-colored milk or other beverage jugs hold more heat than translucent ones. You can apply a quick coat of black paint if you only have clear jugs. Leave the caps on overnight to keep the thermal mass working longer.

In milder climates, the planting window can stretch noticeably in both directions with this clever trick. You can set out seedlings earlier in spring and harvest later into the fall. This smart milk jug trick is a low-effort setup that costs nothing beyond the water you use to fill them.

2. Create a Vented Cloche

Cut the bottom off of your milk jug, then press it over top of a seedling, and you have yourself a mini DIY greenhouse that only takes about thirty seconds to make.

The cap is an important part of this setup. Leave it on at night to hold in warmth and then unscrew it during the day before the interior gets too hot. That's the step most people miss, but it can mean the difference between a useful DIY cloche and a cooked seedling by mid-morning.

For hardening off seedlings, remove the cap for progressively longer stretches each day until your plants are acclimated to outdoor temperatures, then lose the cloche entirely. One jug covers one plant, so stock up on your milk jugs and other beverage bottles. Two-liter soda bottles work well, too.

3. Design a Drip Irrigator

You can make a simple DIY drip irrigation system using just a milk jug and a nail. Poke a dozen small holes into the bottom of your milk jug, roughly 1/8 inch (3 mm) apart. You can hold the nail over a flame to heat it up and make it easier to melt through the plastic, but be careful doing this.

Bury your jug neck-deep into the soil next to a tomato or squash plant and then fill it up with water. The water will seep out slowly at the root level instead of spreading out across the soil surface. This prevents a loss of moisture due to evaporation and sends more water to the roots where it is really needed. This project follows the same logic as slow-drip self-watering watering plant globes, like these ones from Amazon.

Leave the cap off when filling and then put the cap on between waterings to slow evaporation from the top. Refill your DIY plastic bottle plant waterer every few days during hot weather or run a slow trickle from a hose into the neck. One jug per plant is a good ratio for tomatoes. Squash and cucumbers can share one milk jug between two plants without issue.

4. Make a Cutworm Collar

If cutworms are killing your plants, then a milk jug can stop them. Cut a 3-4 inch (7-10 cm) ring from the middle of a milk jug and press it 1 inch (2.5 cm) into the soil around a seedling stem at transplant time. A sharp utility knife from Amazon makes cleaner cuts than scissors and handles the plastic jug without cracking it.

Cutworms feed at or just below the soil surface, so a physical collar stops them without any chemical intervention. The plastic jug holds its shape throughout the whole season and doesn’t break down in wet soil the way cardboard collars do.

One jug yields two or three rings depending on where you cut, which can help protect multiple seedlings for free. Pull out the collars at the end of the season, rinse off any soil, and save them for next year. These DIY plant collars last several seasons without cracking or losing their shape.

5. DIY Durable Plant Markers

You can also use milk jugs to create durable plant markers for your garden. Cut the flat side of a milk jug into pieces that are about an inch (2.5 cm) wide and 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) long.

These DIY plant markers hold up better than almost anything sold specifically for this purpose – wooden stakes turn grey and unreadable by midsummer and paper dissolves after the first heavy rain. One jug yields enough strips for a full seed-starting setup and they can be wiped clean and reused the following year.

You can write the plant name in pencil or permanent marker. A set of fine-tip permanent markers from Walmart is all the additional investment needed and they hold up on the plastic better than standard markers do in wet conditions.

Raised garden beds offer a lot of benefits over simply putting plants in the ground. They allow you to customize and improve the soil, provide better drainage, and are easier to access – especially if you have back or knee issues. Raised beds also give gardens a neat and tidy look.

But the one big drawback of raised beds is how expensive they can be. Whether you want to build a DIY raised bed or buy one premade, the costs can add up fast. That’s why finding free materials to build cheap raised beds is a great way to save money and still reap all the benefits raised beds provide.

You can find free lumber to make your own raised beds from a number of unlikely places, as long as you know where to look. I’ve rounded up the best spots to find free wood for raised beds to help you build your dream garden on a budget.

1. Lumber Yards

Yes, you can start right at the source and possibly find some free lumber for your raised beds at a lumber yard. Instead of assuming you’ll need to buy new wood from your local yard, ask if they have any scrap materials you can have for free.

Lumber yards often have small pieces or slightly damaged lumber that they can’t sell, so it never hurts to ask. One of the best types of wood for raised beds is cedar. So ask the lumber yards if they have cedar or other hardwoods, which are durable for outdoor use.

2. Construction Sites

New home construction sites are particularly fertile ground for free lumber. They usually have a scrap pile consisting of the cut-offs from pressure-treated lumber. The cut-offs are the pieces that are too short to be used in the construction project, but they’re often the ideal length for making raised beds for a small garden.

Another type of construction site to target is any home or building that is getting new doors or windows. Window and door manufacturers use heavy wooden frames to transport and protect the glass. These are typically made from untreated lumber. But you can use the Shou Sugi Ban technique to make untreated wood last longer and add a beautiful dark color to your beds.

If you look for lumber at a construction site, always be sure to ask the person in charge before you take any materials.

3. Appliance & HVAC Warehouses

Appliance and HVAC warehouses are other great places where you can find heavy-duty wooden frames. Big appliances like refrigerators and air conditioning units are shipped on sturdy wooden bases that you can easily turn into raised beds. Manufacturers typically use 4x4 or 2x4 lumber to hold these heavy pieces of equipment and appliances, which are perfect for building recycled raised beds.

If you have a warehouse near you, find the boss and ask if they have any leftover free lumber you can have.

5. Wholesale Tile & Stone Distributors

Yet another product that requires sturdy lumber to support it is tile and stone. These heavy materials are shipped on pallets, but not the kind you see in other settings. These pallets are larger and much sturdier.

Visit your local tile or stone wholesaler to find out if they have some used pallets you can turn into raised beds. They’re often willing to let them go for free because they cannot easily be recycled or reused like smaller pallets can.

6. Local Fencing Contractors

Old wooden fences being torn out and replaced with new materials are often a great of free lumber for frugal gardeners. Fencing contractors often have to pay to have the old fencing shipped to the dump, so they’ll likely agree to your proposal to take some of it away for free.

Of course, old fences are often deteriorated or rotten, so be selective about what lumber you take. Look for old cedar fences first. Cedar raised beds are great because they naturally resist rot, even without being treated. So this type of wood is a great choice for safe, sturdy raised beds.

7. Your Neighbors

Sometimes it makes sense to approach your neighbors for free lumber, if they're doing construction of their own or getting rid of an old fence. Watch for piles of materials they’re getting rid of to see if there’s anything you can use.

Fences and old decks being are particularly good sources of free lumber for raised beds. But you may also find something useful from inside their house as well. If their renovations are extensive, like they're taking down a wall, they may have old framing lumber they're trying to get rid of.

Start a conversation with your neighbor about their project to find out if they have anything you can use in your garden.

8. Online Marketplaces

You can often find free lumber by driving around town looking for renovation projects or going to local warehouses and distributors. But you can also expand your search by going online.

Look on sites like Facebook Marketplace or your local Nextdoor page to find people getting rid of scrap wood or lumber for free.

Word of Warning: Watch Out for Treated Lumber

As you search for free lumber, keep in mind that some types of treated wood are not safe for use in the garden. Modern pressure-treated lumber is considered safe, but watch out for older reclaimed products.

Lumber is often treated with chemicals to help it last longer. The older treated wood for raised beds that you find for free might be contaminated with these toxic chemicals, including some arsenic-based preservatives. These can leach into the soil and get into plants. It’s especially dangerous to use this type of lumber with edible plants in a raised bed vegetable garden.

Modern, pressure-treated lumber uses copper-based compounds, which are safer. They can still cause copper to accumulate in the soil, but it rarely moves far enough to risk plants taking it up in their roots.

If you're worried about chemicals, you can use untreated wood to build your raised beds, but be aware that they won't last as long. Another option is to choose a wood that naturally resists rot, like cedar.

Shop Raised Beds

You know the song, of course you do – with its joyful assortment of musical birds and hyperactive humans celebrating 12 days to see out the holidays into the new year. But for many of us, the days that fall in this ‘betwixtmas’ phase between the close of one year and the start of the new one tend to be a sleepy blur. Filled with TV guides, instruction manuals for appliances we never knew we needed, and sweaters we wouldn’t dream of wearing at any time but December, these inbetweeny days tend to be a time when the garden has a snooze (and yes, so do we). But allowing for a sense of good will and expectation about the future – well, rather than letting the yard go into total hibernation, why not lean into the spirit of the season?

These 12 days of Christmas gardening can be filled not with leaping lords or piping pipers, but with something a lot more rewarding – and simple. This is the ultimate festive listicle with a twist, geared towards achievable micro-gardening moments. By spending just a few intentional minutes each day on a specific aspect of gardening, you’ll be making a massive head start on your spring checklist and setting up your most beautiful and abundant garden ever. Every weed pulled and tool sharpened in your festive donwtime is a gift to your springtime self. So let’s turn this mid-winter lull into a symphony of positive action, with a hearty dollop of festive fresh air. Read on for a 12-day holiday plan of enjoyable, proactive tasks you can tick off during the holiday break to prep for spring and kickstart your best gardening year yet.

Day 1: A Prune of Your Favorite Pear Tree

The first of our garden tasks at Christmas involves giving our pear (and apple) trees some love. While the tree is dormant, we can prune back dead or crossing branches to open up the center. This improves airflow and guarantees a bumper crop of juicy fruit in summer. Winter is the dormant season, which is the safest time for pruning our pears and apples as the trees are asleep. This is prime time for structural pruning, minimizing sap loss and risk of disease. And the goal is to tackle the three Ds: remove anything dead, damaged, or diseased. Grab your best pruning shears, pruning saw or loppers. Fiskars 15-Inch PowerGear Loppers from Amazon are great for pear trees.

Once you’ve cleared the dead and problematic wood, look for crossing branches that might create wounds in the bark. You want to open up the center of the tree to create a wine-glass shape. This allows light and air to reach the middle, which in turn will help flowers thrive and fruits ripen.

Pro tip: Cut just above an outward-facing bud at a slight 45-degree angle. This directs new growth away from the center and ensures rainwater runs off the cut, rather than sitting on the bud and causing rot. A little snip now leads to a heavy harvest later.

Day 2: Two Tools to Clean

It’s time for a tool tune-up. The next of our Christmas and New Year gardening jobs is about cleaning and polishing winter pruners. So grab a rag and some oil to wipe down your shears or pruning saws. A quick polish and sharpen now means clean, healthy cuts on your shrubs and trees when you need them most, so they heal faster and keep plants healthy. Your cutting tools have worked hard all year, and on the second day of Christmas gardening, it’s time to show them some TLC.

Sharp tools mean clean cuts, Use a stiff brush or some wire wool to scrub away dried sap and rust from secateurs and loppers. If they’re feeling stiff, a drop of 3-in-1 oil or a specialized tool lubricant in the spring mechanism will make them feel brand new. To sharpen, use a whetstone or a diamond sharpener, like the AccuSharp Garden Tool Diamond Honed Tool Sharpener from Amazon.

Follow the existing bevel (the angled edge) of the blade and stroke away from your body in one smooth motion. While you’re in the shed, do a quick safety sweep, and check that no wooden handles are splintering, and that your shovel is dry and not hiding under a pile of damp bags. A dry, organized shed means a happy gardener.

Day 3: Three Fab Seeds

Next, we’re looking forward to the first whispers of spring by starting three ‘early bird’ seeds. First up for seed starting now are chillies. These need a long growing season to develop their heat, so get them into small pots or cells now and place them on a warm propagator or a sunny, south-facing windowsill. You can buy Serrano Chili Hot Pepper Seeds from Burpee.

Third, sowing sweet peas now allows them to develop a deep, robust root system before the top growth takes off. You can buy Everwilde Farms 50 Mammoth Sweet Pea Flower Seeds from Walmart. Finally, tiny snapdragon seeds need light to germinate, so just press them onto the surface of the soil rather than burying them. You can buy Heirloom Snapdragon ‘Fairy Bouquet’ Seed Mix from Amazon.

Pro tip: If you’re sowing this early, light is your best friend. Use a simple LED grow-light to prevent seedlings becoming leggy as they stretch for the winter sun. Keep the soil moist but not sodden, and label everything. You'd be surprised how quickly you can forget which chilli is the super hot one.

Day 4: Four Feeding Birds

On the fourth day, we turn our attention to the sweet ‘calling birds’ that bring our winter gardens to life. Keeping bird feeders clean is vital for attracting birds. A quick wash with a 5% disinfectant solution prevents the spread of diseases like Trichomonosis. Once sparkling, fill them with high-energy treats.

Suet blocks are perfect for chickadees and titmice, providing the calories they need to stay warm through freezing nights. Try tiny, oil rich Nyjer seeds for finches, and a scattering of sunflower hearts for cardinals. You can buy Kaytee All American Wild Bird Seed Blend from Amazon, and Old Potters Sunflowers Hearts from Walmart for a balanced diet. You can also try a few raisins as a little high-energy treat in winter.

Pro tip: Don’t forget the water in your private bird sanctuary. Even in freezing weather, birds need to drink and bathe to keep their feathers in top flight-condition. Float a small ping-pong ball or rubber duck on the surface of your birdbath; the slightest breeze will move the ball and keep a small patch of water from icing over. This simple hack makes a world of difference for your feathered visitors.

Day 5: Five Golden Leaves

On the fifth day, we’re hunting for black gold. Leaf mold is one of the most precious substances a gardener can have. It’s a perfect, free soil conditioner that improves drainage and moisture retention. Any lingering fallen leaves are a powerhouse of nutrients just waiting to be unlocked. Don’t let those golden leaves go to waste! Grab a garden rake and collect any damp, fallen leaves from your lawn or paths. You can buy a Gardzen Leaf Rake with a Dustpan Garden Bag from Amazon.

The secret to great leaf mold is time and air. Stuff your leaves into a sturdy plastic trash bag, packing them down firmly. Take a garden fork and poke at least a dozen holes in the bag to let it breathe. Add a splash of water if the leaves are dry, tie the top, and tuck it away in a shady corner. By next winter, you’ll have an earthy mulch, and by the following year, it will be a dark, crumbly compost, perfect for potting mixes to improve drainage and moisture retention in your pots for free. It’s nature’s way of recycling, and it costs you absolutely nothing but 10 minutes of light exercise now.

Day 6: Six Paths for Sweeping

On the sixth Christmas gardening day, we're focusing on the bones of the garden: our paths and walkways. During these damp, low-light days of winter, stone and wooden paths can quickly become coated in a slick layer of green algae and moss, turning a pleasant garden stroll into a skating rink. Embark on a vigorous garden cleanup with a stiff-bristled broom, clearing away the grit and organic matter that algae love to feed on. You can also use a hand brush like the Weiler Heavy Duty Deck Scrub Brush for Decks and Patios from Amazon.

Pro tip: If you have stubborn green patches, a simple mixture of white vinegar, water and a drop of dish soap can lift the grime beautifully. You can buy Iberia Distilled White Vinegar from Amazon. Spray it on a dry day, let it sit for a few hours, and then give it a scrub. For wooden decking, a sprinkle of baking soda before sweeping can help lift the grime. Keeping paths clear doesn't just look neat, it defines the structure of your garden and keeps you safe on those winter walks, making the space feel cared for even when flower beds are fast asleep.

Day 7: Seven Stakes for Straightening

Next, we’re playing the role of garden guardian. Winter winds can be fierce, and a phenomenon called wind-rock can be a silent enemy. This happens when a tall plant or young tree is buffeted by gales, causing the stem to act like a lever, loosening the roots and creating a pocket of air or water that can lead to rot. So take a brisk lap around your yard to check plant supports for shrubs, young saplings, and climbing roses. Give each stake a firm wiggle, and if the ground has softened, drive the stake deeper or reposition it on the windward side. If you need pole reinforcements, buy Gardgue Store’s Natural Bamboo Poles from Amazon.

Pro tip: Check your ties. You want them tight enough to provide support but loose enough to allow the trunk to expand. A fantastic hack is to use old nylon stockings or strips of soft t-shirt fabric; they have the perfect give and won't bite into the bark like wire or thin twine. A few minutes of straightening now ensures your plants will stay grounded and ready to leap into growth come spring.

Day 8: Eight Minutes Mulching

On the eighth festive day, set a timer for 8 minutes, because we’re going to spread a thick, insulating layer of compost, bark or well-rotted manure around vulnerable plants. This cozy winter blanket will protect roots from deep frost and keep the soil healthy, feeding it for the year ahead.

Mulching is perhaps the best thing you can do for soil health, and by focusing on 8 minutes, you can make it a sprint rather than a marathon. Your goal is to apply a 2-3-inch (5-8cm) layer of organic matter (like wood chips, well-rotted manure, or aged compost) around vulnerable plants (think of those tender perennials or newly planted shrubs). You can buy Back to the Roots Organic Premium Mulch from Amazon.

Pro tip: Never let the mulch touch the stem or trunk of the plant. Create a donut shape, leaving breathing room around the base. This prevents the bark from rotting, while protecting roots from freeze-thaw cycles. Mulching now suppresses weeds, regulates soil temperature to prevent roots from heaving in freeze-thaw cycles, and provides a slow-release feast for earthworms. It’s the best 8 minutes of work you can do this festive season and it will pay dividends for the year ahead.

Day 9: Nine Pots for Cleaning

It’s time to give our empty containers a spa day and clean our pots. It might seem a chore, but scrubbing your pots is essential garden hygiene. Over the season, pots (especially terracotta types) can get crusty with white mineral salts and may harbor microscopic pest eggs or fungal spores that could attack delicate spring seedlings.

Give your container gardening massive a good soak in a bucket of warm water with a splash of eco-friendly dish soap or a bit of white vinegar. Use a stiff brush to get into the crevices. Buy Naturolic Store’s All-Natural Wooden Scrub Brush Set from Amazon. Scrub pots to remove those mineral salts and hidden pest eggs.

Pro tip: If you have stubborn mineral stains on clay pots, a paste of baking soda and water works wonders to lift them. Once they’re clean, stack them neatly (and upside down) in the shed or a sheltered spot. This prevents them from filling with water and cracking if the temperature dips below freezing. You’ll be so grateful for these sparkling, ready-to-go containers when planting fever hits in March.

Day 10: Ten Weeds a-Leaping

Next, we’re going on weed patrol. While most of the garden is sleeping, certain winter weeds (like bittercress, chickweed, and henbit) are jumping into action. These plants love the cool, damp weather and can go from a tiny sprout to a shower of seeds in a few weeks. The trick to tackling weeds-a-leaping is to catch them before they flick seed all over your yard. Spend 10 minutes lifting the roots of these leapers. You can use a hand fork to life the whole root of certain weeds, especially for dandelions. Or buy Grampa’s Weeder Original Stand-Up Weed Puller from Amazon.

Pro tip: If the ground is frozen, don't make the mistake of struggling. Use a hula-hoe or a sharp trowel to slice the heads off at the soil line; this stops them from seeding and buys you time until spring. Just remember, not every weed is a villain. If you spot some dead-nettle or clover, leave a small patch in a corner. These provide vital early-season nectar for those first brave bumblebees that wake up on warm winter days.

Day 11: Eleven Happy Houseplants

It’s time to bring our green thumbs indoors. When the central heating kicks in, our houseplants can feel the stress. To start, use a damp, soft cloth to wipe the dust off plants with large leaves, like fiddle leaf figs or monstera plants, so they can breathe. Dust acts like a barrier to sunlight, and in winter, every photon counts.

You can use leaf shine to boost leaf health. Buy Miracle-Gro Leaf Shine from Amazon. For your snake plants and succulents, less is more, though. They are likely dormant, so hold back on fluid to prevent root rot. Keep a sharp eye out for uninvited guests like fungus gnats or spider mites, which love dry, indoor air. Finally, move calatheas or ferns away from drafty windows or scorching radiators. A little misting or a pebble tray filled with water will keep the humidity high. You can buy Sustainable Village Store’s Copper Plant Mister from Amazon to maintain houseplant humidity levels.

Pro tip: If you see tiny black gnats hovering around peace lilies, try bottom watering by sitting the pot in a tray of water for 20 minutes rather than pouring it on top. This keeps the surface soil dry and discourages pests from laying eggs.

Day 12: Twelve Herbals Humming

On our final day of Christmas gardening, we celebrate by filling our windowsills with herb cuttings. We’re aiming for 12 pots of cuttings to keep our kitchens humming with flavor (but don’t feel like you have to stop at 12). Focus on the Big Three: rosemary, sage, and mint. Take 4-inch (10cm) snips from the tips of healthy stems, strip the lower leaves, and pop them into small pots of gritty compost or even jars of water to see the roots sprout. If you’re feeling adventurous, try Thai basil (my favorite). This vigorous, aniseed-scented grower loves the warmth of a kitchen.

Under a grow-light, herbs will thrive regardless of the short days. An LED light bar set on a 12-hour timer will mimic the summer sun, preventing your herbs from getting leggy and keeping their essential oils (and flavor) truly potent. You can buy Spider Farmer SF4000 LED Full Spectrum Grow Lights from Amazon. For a tighter budget, try the KingLED KP2000 LED Full Spectrum Grow Lights from Amazon.

These fragrant drummers will provide fresh harvests all winter long and a boost of green joy on the shortest days. By the time the snow melts and spring arrives, you’ll have a dozen established herb plants ready to be hardened off and moved into the garden. It’s the ultimate gift to your future self – a year of fresh, homegrown seasoning starting right now.

This gardening action plan has been inspired by the traditional English Christmas carol. If you need even more ideas for getting the most from your garden in the coming year, no problem! You can get all the latest seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox if you sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

Nothing says holiday cheer like beautiful aromas wafting through your warm, cozy house. This year I am trying something new to me: a simmer pot (I know, I am late to the party!). Simmer pots are basically a stovetop potpourri that fills your home with holiday fragrance.

You can use fresh or dried elements from your potpourri herb garden or indoor countertop herb garden. Simply bring water to a boil in your favorite saucepot on the stove, add your ingredients and reduce to a simmer. It’s as simple as that! You can use herbs, dried flowers, spices, and fresh fruits to create any combination you’d like.

Here are some simmer pot recipes that I am excited to try this winter with rosemary, thyme, lavender, and sage from my herb garden. Try these recipes as is or change them up. There is no right or wrong way to do it.

1. Rosemary Simmer Pot Recipe

I have a small rosemary plant growing on my kitchen windowsill and love to add it to my cooking. Rosemary has a long history of medicinal use in addition to its culinary uses. In this simmer pot recipe, the rosemary’s earthy and invigorating aroma pairs nicely with the sweetness of the other ingredients. It smells just like Christmas with the addition of vanilla!

• 3-4 apples slices
• 3-4 orange slices
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 4 rosemary sprigs
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2. Thyme Simmer Pot Recipe

Thyme will shine in this recipe that also features lemon and peppercorns. The spicy, woodsy aroma will waft through your home and add an herbal freshness.

• 3-4 orange slices
• 3-4 lemon slices
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 1 tsp of peppercorns

3. Lavender & Sage Simmer Pot Recipe

Lavender and sage might seem like an unlikely pair, but they balance each other beautifully in this recipe. The fresh floral scent of lavender is tempered by the warm, earthy aroma of the sage. I have lavender and sage in my front garden and this recipe brings the scent of my summer garden inside for a reminder of warmth on the coldest days of the year.

• 2-3 sprigs fresh or dried lavender from your garden
• 2-3 leaves of fresh or dried sage
• 3-4 slices of lemon
• 1/2 tsp cloves

Simmer pots are a wonderful way to use the bounty of your spring and summer gardens during the winter months. Use anything that you love to create your own recipes! Calendula, chamomile, eucalyptus, hibiscus, bay leaves, juniper, pine, rose, mint, and cranberries are all great additions.

Simmer pot recipes make for a thoughtful Christmas gift or hostess gift, too! Place dried herbs, dried fruits like citrus, and spices together in a jar or small bag and the recipient just needs to boil some water to have the scents of the season fill their home.

Simmer Pot Essentials

Don’t have an herb garden yet, but excited to try a simmer pot? Here are some products to get you started!

Are you looking for a natural replacement for soap? Certain plants contain the compound saponin that lathers when mixed with water and are effective cleansers.

These plants historically were used as a soap to wash hands and clothes. You may already be using some of these plants in your garden right now to attract pollinators, but they can serve double duty as soap as well.

Many plants that can be used as soap are native to the U.S. and easy to find. If you want to try making natural soap at home out of plants from your garden, here are a few of the best ones to try. Plus, I'll show you how to extract the saponin to make your own eco-friendly soap the way people have for centuries.

How to Make Soap From Plants

You can make soap out of plants that contain saponins by pruning off the part of the plant that contains the saponins and mixing it with water. Typically the leaves and roots are highest in saponins. It won’t get really soapy, but it makes a slight lather.

You can boil water and the required plant parts to make a liquid soap. Simply let it cool after straining the mixture, then store it in a clean bottle or other container, like these glass pump soap dispensers from Amazon.

To retain freshness, add 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar. To give it a scent, add a few drops of essential oil to the mix. Homemade soap is not as thick as a commercial liquid soap, but works just as well.

Best Plants to Use as Soap

Here are plants worth growing that contain saponin and are suitable soap replacements:

1. Soapwort

Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis), also called bouncing bet, originated in Europe but has naturalized in the U.S. You may see it along roadsides or growing near water. In the garden it makes a pretty perennial wildflower with clusters of pink, rose, or white flowers.

The sap of the flowering stems, leaves, and rhizomes are high in saponins and this plant produces soap when mixed with water. Grow it in full sun in well-drained soil. It is hardy to USDA growing zones 2 to 8.

Note: The roots and seeds of soapwort are toxic to humans if consumed and can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Buy heirloom soapwort seeds from Etsy for only a couple dollars.

2. Soapweed Yucca

Soapweed yucca (Yucca glauca) is a perennial plant native to the Great Plains and prefers a rocky, dry, well-drained soil in full sun. Its long, linear leaves form a rosette. Hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8, soapweed yucca attracts butterflies and provides cover, food, and nesting for various wildlife species.

The saponins are found in the plant's roots, which cause a toxic reaction to horses and pets. To use yucca plants to make soap or shampoo, crush the roots with water to form a lather.

Shop soapweed yucca seeds on Amazon.

3. Soapberry

The skin of the dried berries from the soapberry tree (Sapindus spp.) can be used to make dish soap, shampoo, hand soap, body wash, and laundry detergent.

Western soapberry (Sapindus drummondii) is hardy in USDA zones 6 to 9, while Florida soapberry (Sapindus saponaria) is only hardy in zones 10 and 11. Florida soapberry prefers full sun and grows 30 to 40 feet tall (9 to 12 m) in most soil types.

This unique evergreen tree produces gold berries that can be used for soap. The seeds inside are poisonous, so grow this tree in an area where children and pets are not allowed.

Plant Western soapberry in part to full sun in most soil types. It reaches 40 to 50 feet tall (12 to 15 m) and is an ideal shade tree with glossy leaflets. Its leaves turn gold in the fall before dropping. The yellowish berries of the Western soapberry are smaller than Florida soapberries, but both are poisonous.

According to the University of Florida, you can make liquid soap using the skin of the dried berries. Use one quart (1 L) of water per 10 soapberries and boil for about 20 minutes.

Allow the mixture to cool completely before straining the liquid. Store it in a clean container with 2 teaspoons (10 mL) of apple cider vinegar, which acts as a natural preservative. To scent the mixture, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil.

You can grow your own soapberry tree with seeds from Walmart or buy prepared soapberries from Amazon that are ready to use as a cleaning agent, if you aren't able to grow this tree in your own yard.

4. Horse Chestnut

The common horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a non-native flowering species often used as a street tree. The horse chestnut’s white flowers are showy, long-lasting, and attract hummingbirds and bees. Grow horse chestnut trees in full sun to light shade in well-drained soil in USDA zones 3 to 8.

You can make laundry soap or shampoo by crushing the conkers (aka nuts) and boiling them in water for about 20 to 30 minutes, then straining the mixture into a clean container.

All parts of the horse chestnut tree are highly toxic to humans, horses, and pets, if ingested. Poisonous horse chestnuts are often confused with the edible American chestnuts (Castanea spp.) that are part of the beech family. When in doubt, don't ingest any part of a plant you cannot identify.

Grow a horse chestnut tree with seeds from Amazon.

Bringing greenery inside for the holidays is a beautiful and traditional way to decorate. It’s a promise through the cold, dark winter that life will return again in spring. But you don’t have to get mired down in tradition. This year, try a new way to bring festive greenery into your home: kokedama.

Making kokedama moss balls is an excellent way to get creative with holiday plants. Kokedama is a Japanese practice of wrapping sheets of moss and twine around the root ball of a plant so it can be hung for display. You can also display your plant on a saucer or tray if you don’t have a place to hang it. And using small kokedama succulents is a stunning way to decorate your Christmas tree.

There are many plants suitable for kokedama. Here are four that will make a gorgeous display this holiday season.

Kokedama Plants Perfect for Christmas

Making kokedama can seem a bit daunting, but there is no wrong way to do it! You can make it easy on yourself by purchasing a premade kokedama hanging moss planter, like this one from Amazon. Or you can go the traditional route with sheets of live moss and a spool of natural jute twine, both available from Amazon.

Kokedama moss balls are easy to care for. Simply soak the whole planted moss ball in a bowl of water for 20 minutes when the moss becomes dry, or once a week. Gently squeeze out excess water and let the plant and moss drain for a little while in the sink before hanging back up.

1. Poinsettia

Nothing quite says Christmas like a vibrant poinsettia in the house. Bright red, pink, or white poinsettias will all look lovely against the green kokedama moss balls. Hang smaller kokedama poinsettias or place larger ones on a decorative tray for a gorgeous centerpiece on your holiday table. A kokedama poinsettia will also brighten your entryway and greet guests on a console table.

2. Anthurium

Anthuriums, with their bold red spathes, will add a pop of festive color to your holiday decor. Anthurium plants like bright, indirect light so this kokedama plant will do best near a window that has a sheer covering. To avoid root rot, only soak your kokedama anthurium once the moss ball is fully dry.

3. Amaryllis

Amaryllis blooms brighten even the darkest of winter days and are a fabulous way to add holiday cheer to any home. Up your game by turning a traditional amaryllis bulb into a gorgeous kokedama display. You can hang your kokedama amaryllis in a bright, sunny window for the best blooms, but make sure you keep an eye on the moisture levels since the sun will dry it out faster.

4. Red Bromeliad

There are many different colors of bromeliad plants, but I love a bright red for the holiday season. Display your glorious kokedama bromeliad in bright, diffuse light. Keep your bromeliad moist, but not soggy for the best results in a dry, winter household. You can also use a plant mister spray bottle, like this one from Amazon, to help keep things hydrated.

Festive Kokedama Essentials

Get creative and change up your holiday greenery with unique kokedama plants. I’ll be trying my hand at it this Christmas season!

If you haven’t already started decorating for the winter holidays, now is the time! Christmas is just around the corner and you can easily make decorations as a fun holiday project with the family. Making a kissing ball might just be the perfect holiday craft to decorate your home.

Creating DIY natural Christmas decorations with items foraged from your yard and garden is a great way to bring a bit of nature indoors during the winter. It is also a creative way to decorate for Christmas. Kissing balls are easy to make with just a few simple supplies that you might already have.

Let’s explore the history of the kissing ball and how to make one to decorate your home this winter.

What Is a Kissing Ball?

Kissing balls, or kissing boughs, actually predate mistletoe as hanging Christmas decorations. In medieval England and lowland Scotland, people would wind together vines into a loose sphere shape and decorate with sprigs of evergreens, bay leaves, holly, ivy, rosemary, lavender, rosehips, and (you guessed it) mistletoe!

Traditionally, these evergreen decorations were hung outside above a doorway and a clay figurine of baby Jesus was placed inside the center. The idea is that people would be blessed by walking under the bough as they passed in and out of the building. It’s called a kissing ball simply because people greeted each other with a kiss as they were welcomed into the home!

The Tudors and Victorians evolved the tradition and pieces of fresh or dried fruit were incorporated into the design. (If you are interested in making a Tudor-style Christmas bough, English Heritage has a great instructional video!) There was also a lot of meaning behind which items you chose to add to your kissing bough. Rosemary represented the Virgin Mary and love, mistletoe symbolized life and fertility, and holly represented eternal life. Pre-Christianity, Druids also used holly during winter solstice rituals.

Some kissing boughs in the Victorian period used potatoes or apples as the center structure, but you might not want a rotting potato hanging around for the holidays. Follow along for a more modern way to make a kissing ball.

Supplies

• Foam sphere
• Ribbons
• Foraged greenery, or faux greenery (You could also use any boughs you trim off your Christmas tree!)
• Colorful accents like holly berries, rosehips, pinecones, or dried orange slices
• Pruners, or wire cutters if using faux greenery
• Hot glue gun, or straight pins to secure items

How to Make a Kissing Ball

1. Wrap a long length of ribbon around your foam sphere and secure with dots of hot glue or straight pins. Ensure the ribbon has a few inches to dangle from beneath the kissing ball and enough on top to loop over a hook or any other item you are using to hang the kissing ball.
2. Begin to stick evergreen sprigs into the foam ball using dots of hot glue on the ends of the branches to further secure them if needed. Cover the ball completely so no foam shows through.
3. Continue to fill out the festive look by sticking holly berries, rosehips, lavender sprigs, or mistletoe into the foam between the evergreen branches. Use pins or a hot glue gun to secure other items like dried orange slices or pinecones.
4. Hang your festive kissing ball above your door outside for a traditional look, or hang it inside your home to add some Christmas cheer. Pairing it with a foraged Advent wreath will really bring light and life into your home during the long dark nights.

More Options for Kissing Balls

Not enough time to make a kissing ball? There are some really lovely real and artificial kissing balls you can purchase from your local nursery or favorite home decor store. I have rounded up a few options that will look great indoors or outdoors and get you in the holiday spirit.

Try making a kissing ball this Christmas and see where your creativity takes you. Gather some friends or family together and make it a kissing ball party! Happy holidays!

I’ve always been the sort of person who takes the lyrics of Deck The Halls a little too literally, collecting boughs of holly (along with all the other garden clippings I’d usually chuck in the compost bin) and sticking them up around the house for the holidays.

My dried fruit garlands, homemade wreaths, and evergreen festoons look top-notch (if I do say so myself). My centrepieces and displays, though? Well, things can wind up looking… well, rustic. Not in a good way. This year, much to my husband’s delight, I’ve tracked down a foraging kit that transforms scraps from the garden into a spot of festive and eco-friendly DIY magic with basically zero effort – and it just so happens to be available on Amazon.

Yes, this little Amazon foraging kit is here to inject some festive magic into your homemade holiday decor, providing pretty much everything you need to get from ‘clump of ivy and miscellaneous hedge clippings’ to ‘WOW! Did you buy that on Etsy?’. No wonder it’s made it onto the Garden Media Group’s 2026 Trend Report, eh?

A Crafty Bit of Kit

‘In a world of digital sameness, instant gratification and mass production, collecting is making a comeback,’ explains GMG, going on to note that gathering branches, evergreen sprigs, seed pods, moss, blooms, bark, or berries is no longer seen as scavenging, but ‘intentional curation’.

‘Each item collected tells a story of place, season, and moment. And tools like OASIS Forage Products™ help people turn their findings into living art, from wild wreaths and ikebana-style arrangements to seasonal installations.’

Enter stage left, then, the Oasis Forage Floral Create Kit on Amazon:

Perfect for beginners and haphazard hobbyists like myself alike, this kit contains everything you need to get started on your homemade holiday decorations.

This means that, when you open it up, you'll find a sustainable planter, a spool of teal bind wire, three OASIS Forage Foam bricks, a pair of Ippon Scissors with ergonomic grip, and even a handful of mossing pins to secure all of those lovingly foraged elements in place.

If that isn't enough to get you started on your next project, though, there are plenty of supporting products from OASIS Forage Products™ you can pick up, including their waterproof floral stem wrap, a bottle of nutrient-rich flower fuel for freshly cut stems, and a very cute forage collection bag for all of the natural treasures you stumble across in your backyard and beyond

It’s rare you find something that’s affordable, accessible, and genuinely makes your handmade decorations look professionally done, but this kit really does. And, while I’ll absolutely still be fa-la-la-la-la-ing my way around the garden this December stuffing my pockets with random sprigs, I know I’ve got a kit that can help me turn every little haul into something beautiful.

I have a feeling it’s about to become my new favourite holiday ritual – and if you love a bit of festive DIY, I suspect it’ll fast become yours, too.

Advent wreaths are used to mark the four weeks of the Advent season leading up to Christmas. They originated in Germany in the 16th century, but really caught on in German Lutheran communities in the 1800s. Eventually, the Advent wreath made its way to the United States in the 1930s. I remember making an Advent wreath as a child in my Sunday school class in the 1990s!

I didn’t think too much about Advent wreaths again until a few years ago when my sister and I decided we should make evergreen wreaths from things we foraged around our yards. It was a nice way to bring a little bit of nature indoors as the nights grew colder and darker. And lighting the candles week by week brings light and coziness to the holiday season.

Interested in bringing a little nature and holiday cheer into your house this season? Follow along and learn how to make your own foraged Advent wreath!

Supplies

You will need a few simple items to make your foraged wreath. You may already have some of these laying around your home ready to be repurposed, like old candle holders you haven't used for a while. Here are the supplies you will need:

• Pruners
• Floral wire
• Advent candle ring, or candle holders
• Advent candles

Foraged Greenery & Accents

First you will need to gather your materials. I went around my parents’ wooded yard where they, unfortunately, have some invasive honeysuckle bushes. I cut thin, younger branches and stripped the leaves off to create a honeysuckle wreath base. You can use any vines, willow branches, or any other supple branches you can find on your property. Don’t have any vines or honeysuckle to build your wreath base? You can purchase a wreath frame from Michael’s.

Next, I brought my trusty pruners with me to gather some cuttings from yew bushes and arborvitae shrubs. You can also forage winterberries, rowan tree berries, pinecones, rose hips, sprigs of juniper, and other festive natural elements you might have around your yard. These accents will really make your Advent wreath pop with holiday cheer.

How to Make an Advent Wreath

Remove any leaves from your base material and begin to wind the branches around each other to form a circle that is big enough to go around your Advent candle holder. You can use floral wire to help secure the branches to each other if they are popping out of place. Floral wire can be found at Walmart or your local craft supplies store. Snip off any ends of the branches that stick out from the circle.

Once you have your wreath base, begin to assemble your foliage and accents into small bundles. Cut a length of floral wire that, when twisted around the bundle, will be long enough to have loose ends that can attach the bundle to the wreath base. I found that a 6 inch (15.2 cm) length of wire worked well for the diameter of my bundles and base.

Cover the entire base with your fragrant evergreen foliage and accents. Add in more sprigs to cover any bare spots you see. This wreath will sit flat on a table, so the greenery can be a bit looser and more ruffly than you would want for a wreath that would hang from a door or wall.

Now, it is time to place your candles in the center of your Advent wreath! You can purchase an Advent candle ring, like this one from Amazon, or arrange candle holders you already own inside the center of your wreath. Advent candles include three purple (or blue in some denominations), one rose pink, and a white pillar candle in the center. I personally use these Advent candles from Root Candles, which are also available through Amazon. I love that they are an Ohio-based company that has been making candles for over 150 years!

You could even use these beautiful hand-dipped bayberry beeswax candles from the Root Candle Store on Amazon for a non-traditional look. They are scented with woodsy bayberry and would be perfect in your foraged wreath for a gorgeous seasonal display all winter long.

Safety note: Never leave burning candles unattended, especially when surrounded by flammable materials like greenery. Be sure to place your Advent wreath on a non-flammable table or tray.

Advent Wreath Essentials

Purchase a some candles and a candle holder this year and you can make an Advent wreath every year using the same supplies but newly foraged greenery. It is a great project for kids, too!

Making an Advent wreath from foraged materials around your yard is a lovely way to prepare for Christmas, bring nature indoors, and add a cozy touch to your home for the winter. Try it out and see where your creativity takes you!

Fuzzy bits and fabric threads—these are the end products of wash day that are found in the lint trap after the dryer cycle is done. While many of us empty out the lint trap after the dryer has done its work, we might not think about recycling that lint.

Here’s the good news. You can recycle garbage in the garden to help plants grow, including that lint you just pulled out of your dryer. In fact, there are plenty of ways to repurpose this unwanted fuzz.

Read on for our favorite unexpected ways to use lint in the garden that are actually quite handy.

What Is Dryer Lint?

First comes the washer, then comes the dryer. As your dryer tosses clean, wet clothes around and around to dry them, lint accumulates in a trap built into the machine. This fuzzy buildup is a collection of tiny bits of clothing fabric, human hair, and pet fur.

Since lint can easily catch on fire, you should clear out the lint trap each time after you do your laundry. But what do you do with the lint you clean out? There are some unexpected uses for this fuzz that can help you grow a sustainable garden.

Can You Use Dryer Lint in the Garden?

Some people think of lint as kind of icky and I must admit I was among their number. But I changed my tune when I learned about the many purposes it can serve in the garden. Note that you’ll have to make sure the lint is free of harmful chemicals before introducing it into your yard.

To do this, switch to natural detergents and clothes softeners, avoid dryer sheets, and only use lint from natural fibers, like wool and cotton clothing. When you put synthetic fabrics like polyester and acrylic in the dryer, the lint fibers may harbor microplastics that pose health risks. Keep plastic out of your garden to help protect wildlife and humans.

Best Ways to Use Lint in the Garden

A creative and frugal gardener can come up with dozens of ways to use natural lint in the backyard. But some are more practical and helpful than others. Here is my shortlist of the handiest ways to use dryer lint in the garden.

1. Add Lint to Compost

Thinking of starting a compost bin or pile in your backyard? The general instructions are to layer green material, like vegetable peelings, and brown material, like dry leaves, in a lasagna-style pattern. Or you can use a tumbler like this best seller from Amazon to make it extra easy.

But what else can you compost besides kitchen scraps and yard debris? There are lots of other materials that help make rich compost, including dryer lint.

Lint, which is made up of carbon-rich fibers, fuzz, and threads left over from a dryer load, decomposes quickly when mixed into the compost pile. But a reminder here: you only want dryer lint from natural fibers, not synthetics. Synthetic fibers don’t break down easily and can add microplastics into the soil.

2. Make Houseplant Mulch

Think of mulch as a material you tuck around your plants like a favorite blanket. Mulching helps regulate the temperature of the soil, keeps down weeds, and holds in moisture.

Dryer lint that comes from natural substances makes a great sustainable mulch. Water seeps through it but doesn’t evaporate out from under it and the fibers keep houseplant roots warm when the temperatures drop.

Again, it’s important to use only natural lint, not synthetic, to keep unwanted chemicals out of the soil. The downside to using dryer lint as mulch is that it’s not exactly pretty. But no problem. Just cover it with decorative stones or seashells.

3. Use Lint as a Firestarter

If you have a fire pit in your garden or a backyard fireplace, you need to light that fire. Did you ever consider using dryer lint as a fire starter?

You are supposed to clear out the lint trap regularly to prevent a fire from igniting. That means that dryer lint is flammable and can be used as tinder. Be sure lint is dry before using it as a fire starter.

Natural lint is best for this purpose as well. But the tiny amount of synthetic materials from your laundry or from non-natural laundry detergents shouldn't cause a problem. If you're worried, though, pick up a packet of natural fire starters on Amazon for just a few bucks.

4. Fight Weeds With Lint

Many gardeners use landscape fabric like a rug to stop weeds from growing. It serves as a wall to keep those weeds out. They then put the soil and the plants on top of the fabric, so no undesirable plants will pop up from deeper in the soil.

Here’s a money-saving tip: instead of using a weed barrier cloth, which can be expensive, use your dryer lint. A thick layer of dryer lint can fend off weeds just as effectively as landscape fabric—and it’s free! It may take a while to save up enough lint for this purpose, but if you do a lot of laundry you will have a weed barrier in no time.

5. Clean Tools With Clumps of Lint

I don’t know about you, but I go through lots of rolls of paper towels when I am cleaning gardening tools, especially when I'm oiling my wood-handled tools. I pour linseed oil on a clump of paper towels and rub, rub, rub. I do the same for metal parts after I clean them, too, since linseed oil prevents rusting.

But paper towels are made from trees, which makes me feel guilty. If you are in the same boat, try using a clump of dryer lint to apply the oil instead. This makes good use of dryer lint and is a great use for dryer lint that isn’t fully “natural.” Get linseed oil on Amazon and start collecting lint now to give tools a good cleaning before storing them away for winter.

Before tossing the used lint in the trash, let it dry completely to prevent it from catching on fire. I also keep dryer lint in my work area since it sops up oil spills very effectively.

6. Use Lint to Prevent Erosion

We’ve already talked about using dryer lint as a mulch. For many of the same reasons, it works well to stop erosion in your front or backyard.

If you have a slope or hillside that is susceptible to erosion, gather a mass of dryer lint, wet it, then spread it over the area. It doesn’t have to be a thick layer, even just a thin, scattered layer will help to stabilize the soil.

Now I’ve already acknowledged that dryer lint isn’t the prettiest ground cover on the block. So don’t hesitate to hide it with something more attractive like stones or shells.

When I bought my house a few years ago, I was excited about the back deck. Unfortunately, I toured the house after a snow storm so I could not see the condition of the wood deck under the three feet of snow. The first spring and summer using the deck was fine. The boards were old and had more bounce to them than we wanted, but it worked.

The second summer I almost had an accident with bare feet and a rusty nail, and my partner fell through a board when he was firing up the grill. It was time for our first big home renovation project!

Decks, patios, pathways and other hardscaping ideas in your yard are great ways to enhance outdoor living spaces, but they do need to be maintained properly. The previous homeowner put the deck on my house but never finished it. It was up to me to remodel and refinish the deck to make it safe and usable.

The process of deck refinishing wasn’t as quick and easy as it seems on home renovation TV shows. However, we got it done and it looks nice! Find out my tips to avoid the same mistakes I made when remodeling my deck and hopefully your deck project will go smoothly.

Problems With The Old Deck

As mentioned above, the old deck was not built properly or finished so there were major issues that needed to be dealt with. The joists were spaced too far apart so the boards were sagging, springy, and eventually a few boards snapped as we used the deck. The wood surface was never stained or sealed so the wood was damaged from a decade in the elements. It also had extra water damage from the drip irrigation system I used while growing tomatoes in containers the first summer.

In addition to the boards breaking, rusty nails began to rise from the boards over the two years we used the old deck. I almost broke the skin when I tripped on a rusty nail in bare feet. Tetanus risk aside, the rising nails also allowed the boards to warp and curl up creating further tripping hazards. We could not continue using the deck in this condition which led us to rebuild it.

Deck Remodeling Mistakes

The first steps of rebuilding the deck was ripping up the old surface, replacing rotted joists, and doubling the amount of joists. (I was actually able to recycle the old lumber into a raised garden bed!) The old deck was constructed incorrectly and the joists were spaced too far apart to provide adequate support for the thickness of lumber that is used for decking.

Once the joists were secured, I put tar paper on the top edge of them to help prevent rotting in the future. The next step was to buy lumber, cut it to length, and screw it to the new joists to form the new deck surface. Sounds straightforward, but I made some big mistakes along the way.

1. Poor Lumber Selection

The first mistake I made was the selection of lumber. The goal was to create a budget-friendly backyard living space, but maybe I should have spent a little more money. Although my partner and I spent a few hours going through the lumberyard to find the straightest boards, we went with the cheapest option the store had, and it shows. The lumber looked fine upon initial inspection, but as we were laying it we noticed problems with the quality of the wood. There were lots of knots in the wood which was harder to work with.

Additionally, the wood was green and had not cured for very long which led to the boards cupping and twisting after we secured them. This required extra fasteners later in the process to bring the boards into a flatter position. It also required many hours of sanding to bring down the curved edges of the lumber.

2. Waiting To Sand

On the topic of sanding, mistake number two was waiting to sand the boards after they were secured to the joists. Since the boards were new, they didn’t need a considerable amount of sanding to look nice and absorb stain properly. I wish I sanded them before securing them to the joists. Using a hand sander on lumber that is at a tabletop-height on sawhorses would have been a lot easier than sanding on my hands and knees for days.

I also let my procrastination get the better of me and the deck sat without stain or sealant for a whole year. This mistake meant the boards cupped more than if I had sanded and sealed them right away and resulted in more backbreaking work to sand them flat.

Deck Refinishing Mistakes

As mentioned, my procrastination and waiting a year to finish the deck after installing it resulted in more effort and frustration than necessary. Prepping the new deck surface for stain required power washing to remove dirt and residue and securing a few unruly boards that had come loose and curled up over the winter.

Then came the process of sanding everything smooth with a random orbital sander and blowing away all the sanding debris with a leaf blower. Once the surface was clear and completely dry, it was time to apply the stain. I researched deck stains for days before settling on Behr Premium Semi-Transparent Waterproofing Exterior Wood Stain and Sealer in the color “Russet” from the Home Depot.

3. Waiting To Finish The Deck

I should not have waited a full year between installing the deck and finishing it. My procrastination allowed the wood to split and a few boards curl up from the winter freezing and thawing. The wood suffered needlessly and made me work harder to prep it for stain later.

I also got into a self-induced weather crunch because I waited. It is humid and rainy in Ohio in the spring and summer and I was only able to get one coat of stain on the deck before a week of storms rolled in. The deck still only has one coat of stain on it! I am hoping that there will be a long dry stretch soon and I can give the deck a good scrub and then apply the second coat.

4. Not Keeping A “Wet Edge”

The stain instructions were clear if a little sparse. They mentioned that it was important to “keep a wet edge” when applying the stain but I didn’t take the time to investigate what that meant. In terms of deck staining, keeping a wet edge means you should stain the entire length of a board before moving on to the next one. This prevents “lap marks” where you can see the overlapping sections of stain that were applied.

Unfortunately, I applied the stain to a three-foot section of three boards at a time, so I have some definite lap marks in my final results. However, the Behr Premium stain and sealer went on very smoothly and the color is fantastic. Hopefully the application of a second coat will go well later.

My Deck Remodeling Tips

• Plan ahead and give yourself lots of time. Each step in the process of remodeling and refinishing the deck took longer than expected.
• Don’t procrastinate! Get your deck finished and protected so you don’t have to work even harder later.
• If you aren’t sure of something, do some more research. I didn’t research what a “wet edge” was in deck staining. My deck would look better if I had taken a few extra minutes to research.
• Give yourself some grace! You’re not a professional so you are bound to make mistakes. Even though there are things I would do differently, the deck is finished, usable, and looks nice.

Despite my mistakes, the deck still turned out well. It would have been a quicker, less frustrating process if I had known of these pitfalls before I started, but now I can use the space to host friends and grow low-maintenance patio plants. Hopefully, this will help you in your deck remodeling and refinishing project and you won’t make the same mistakes I did!

Upcycling is a practice of taking unused, discarded items and turning them into something else. It is a practical way of ensuring our landfills aren’t stuffed with things that could be repurposed. Your old satellite dish is begging for a little garden upcycling! Satellite dishes are commonly thrown away when the service is no longer active, especially nowadays when “cutting the cord” on viewing services has become popular. Perhaps it’s a good time for a satellite dish DIY project that will see that one time garbage turned into art or a functioning item.

Satellite Dish DIY Project Ideas

Satellite TV was once the go-to method of viewing, especially in rural areas. But technology has kept pace with demand, and modern programming is available reliably in a variety of other ways. This means that the once needed item, the satellite dish, is a relic. Instead of adding it into a landfill, try making a DIY old satellite dish garden element. The old hunk of metal will look at home with a little bit of work and can provide a focal point in the garden. Here are some ideas.

Satellite Dish Swing

Comfy seating for the outdoors doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy. A couple of old satellite dishes pair up nicely as a hanging swing seat. The style is completely customizable, but a basic swing should have a seat, back, and armrests. Arm rests may be made with scrap wood in any form you prefer. The seat and back are joined with screws to make it sturdy. Using the original mounting brace to attach the two makes a very strong construction.

• Pre-drill the back, seat, and mounting holes and line up the back and seat to make sure it will be even.
• Before assembly, the dish needs to be sanded, primed, and painted.
• Use a file to smooth out the drill holes so there are no rough edges.
• Using a spray paint made for metal will yield the best results. Start with the primer and let it dry and then finish up in any color you choose.
• Once everything is dry, assemble the back and seat. Then affix the seat to a sturdy ceiling, tree, or other aerial space.
• Thick rope or even chain can be used to hang the seat.

Satellite Dish Bird Bath

Once satellite service has been disconnected, the company doesn’t require the return of the dish, just the receiver. That means there are thousands or more of these dishes floating around. Even if you don’t personally have one, a neighbor, junk yard, or probably an abandoned field will yield one of these beauties. Once in hand, what can you do with it?

Try making a DIY hovering bird bath. The mounting hardware that usually affixes the dish to the roof will make a perfect way to mount the dish on a tree, fence, or other vertical structure.

• Spray paint the dish with a non-toxic paint that will not leach into the water if you want to clean it up.
• Drill holes to the installation location at the same distance the mounting hardware bears. The mounting hardware should be long sturdy screws that will hold the weight of both the dish and the water it will contain.
• Mount, fill, and enjoy bird watching.

Other DIY Satellite Projects

Imagination is the only limitation in upcycling these common trash items. The shallow dish makes a perfect succulent container once drainage holes are drilled. Fill with a fast draining soil such as cactus mix, and grow hens and chicks, sedum, Aeonium, or other sun loving plants. Either mount the dish or simply nestle it in a garden bed. The small satellite dishes can also be painted and installed on fences or outbuildings, adding art in your garden. Big dishes are useful as the roof on a gazebo, or as larger planting spaces. Another ambitious way to use a larger dish is to make a pond. Once installed in a depression that fits the dimensions of the dish, line it with concrete, and then a pond liner or a water proof sealer. Birds will love the space, but it will also attract many other types of wildlife.

There have been stories in the news lately throwing into question how much of the plastic tossed into recycling bins is actually recycled. You can hedge your bets by learning ways to reuse plastic in your garden since repurposing is another form of recycling.

Ways to Reuse Plastic in the Garden

There are an infinite number of ways you can reuse plastic products in your garden if you get creative. But to get you started with the reuse of plastic, here are nine of our favorites.

1. Turn an old tote into a greenhouse

Do you have any of those clear plastic tote boxes with lids sitting around the house? If they have already served their storage function – or if you are ready to give up on the idea of better organization – make that old plastic tote a greenhouse for seed starting. Line the crate with seedling pots or potting trays and place in the yard. Open the lid a crack to allow for airflow.

2. Save on soil with recycled pot fillers

Big planters make a real statement in your living room or on your patio. But filling the large pots takes a lot of expensive potting soil that the plant’s roots probably won’t use. Instead, recycle plastic objects into pot filler materials by placing them at the bottom of your pot or planter. I save my plastic peanuts for this, but any plastic or Styrofoam scraps do just fine.

3. Start seeds sustainably

Many restaurants still use Styrofoam cups and cartons for take-outs, made to be used and tossed- where they take hundreds of years to decompose. But stop! If you are planning on starting seeds for the garden, these make perfect DIY seed-starting pots. Just poke holes in the bottom of the cup, add potting soil, and off you go. That’s just one of many ways to reuse plastic containers.

4. Protect plants with bubble wrap

Bubble wrap is often used to protect fragile items during a move or shipment. But you can also use bubble wrap in the garden to protect outdoor plants. Instead of going through all the trouble of wrapping a shrub or perennial in a chicken wire frame, and then stuff it with dried leaves, just use that leftover bubble wrap. Surrounding a container plant or a small shrub, it provides easy-do winter protection. Just wrap, then secure with garden twine.

5. Let old water bottles water your plants

Drip or soaker hose irrigation delivers water slowly to the root area of your plants. But a plastic water bottle irrigator can take that role as well. One way to do this is to poke holes in the bottom of the bottle, then “plant” them in the soil with their neck above the soil line. Fill the bottle with water and let gravity do the rest.

6. Give herbs an early start

Fresh herbs add so much flavor to homemade cooling, but they can cost a lot in the grocery store. Utilize a DIY milk carton planter to grow herbs in your windowsill. Once all the milk is gone, these cartons are destined to be tossed or recycled so why not give them another life? You can use the bottom half of the container or slice the entire carton in half lengthwise to get more seeding space. Don’t forget to poke drainage holes – a large nail works well.

7. Feed the birds

Most of us have more than a few plastic bottles in the refrigerator and even more in line for the recycling bin. Grab a few out of the bin to make a soda bottle bird feeder for wild birds. It’s another great way to repurpose these bottles. Essentially, you make holes in the bottom of the bottle and push some twine through to hang the feeder. Then cut holes near the cap to insert the perches, then holes above the perches to make the seed available. Fill it with seed and hang it upside down in a garden tree.

8. Start seeds in single-use coffee pods

Another idea is to turn those pesky, used coffee pods that seem to proliferate in your kitchen every morning into coffee pod planters for seed starting. The single-use pods are just the right size for sprouting seeds, and your coffee maker has already punched holes into them that can serve as drainage holes. They also work well for rooting small cuttings.

9. Move plants without the mess

Moving is hard enough – just trying to get the things boxed up and ready to transport. But when you’d like to take household plants with you too, it can be truly challenging. Think water everywhere, broken containers, and soil tipped out – not a good scenario for you or the plants. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best: use leftover plastic bags to move plants. If you’re like me, you have a stash of them just in case they come in handy. Place multiple bagged plants in a cardboard box, with lots of empty bags between them to keep them standing. For bigger plants, use plastic garbage sacks.

If you have a leak, poor connection, or other issue, it's time to find uses for old garden hose debris. Whatever you do, don’t recycle or throw it out. Garden hoses are one of the top annoyances in recycling and garbage situations. They tangle with everything, preventing sorting machinery from operating properly. Additionally, garden hoses are made from rubber, vinyl, or both. Natural rubber can compost but it takes a long time. Synthetic rubber is resistant to degrading and releases toxic chemicals. Similarly, vinyl is non-degradable and not suitable for landfills.

So what to do with old garden hose pieces? Find creative uses for old hoses that will not clog machinery or cause problems in the landfill.

Clever Uses for Old Garden Hoses

It happens to all of us over time. The hose connection fails, a split develops in an old hose, or a section is crushed and useless. In the case of a hose connection, these can be replaced easily with a mending kit and a screwdriver.

A split is another matter. Hose repair for rubber or vinyl hoses doesn’t work. It isn’t like repairing a hole in a rubber dinghy. The pressure that goes through a hose usually loosens a patch. But you can cut the section out that has a split and put on a new hose end. The hose will be shorter but still serviceable. If the unit is truly old and cannot be mended, what to do with an old garden hose? Repurpose it in a variety of creative ways. Here are some practical uses for old hoses.

1. Sharps Guard

Slit the hose lengthwise and cut it into lengths that fit sharp blades. For instance, cut a length and slip it onto a saw blade. This will not only protect you from cuts but it helps keep the blade sharp.

2. Soaker Hose

Use an awl or other punching instrument to make numerous holes along the length for your newly upcycled soaker hose irrigation. A soaker hose is useful for delivering slow amounts of water around plant roots. The slow drip will allow plants to uptake moisture better and will prevent the overuse of water.

3. Bucket Handle

Those 5-gallon buckets we gardeners always seem to have come with a wire handle covered in brittle plastic. That plastic will break and come off at some point, leaving just the wire that cuts into your hand. Use a piece of garden hose slit lengthwise to cover the wire.

4. Tree Protection

Trees that have wire supports can get bark damage or even girdling from the slender material. Fit garden hose pieces over the wire to prevent it from cutting into the plant.

5. Winter Protection for Clay Pots

Soil freezes in a tapered pot, causing it to slip upwards. This is called heaving and can expose the plant roots to the cold, drying air. To prevent this, bury a section of hose that has been plugged at both ends, in the bottom of the container. When the soil freezes and expands, it will press into the hose filled with air. This helps relieve the pressure in the pot and can prevent cracking.

6. Doorstop

The rubber material has a nice grip and will hold a door or cabinet open when shoved under the gap.

7. Chain Covers

If you have one of those swing sets with a chain as the handgrip, slit some hose and place it around the chain. This will prevent little fingers from getting pinched and make the grip more comfortable.

If none of these options seems viable and you are still wondering what to do with old hoses, get artistic.

8. Cover a Garden Bench

Revitalize an old garden bench by weaving pieces of hose into a new and cushy seat.

9. Make a Wreath

Hoses naturally want to coil into a round shape. Affix it permanently into a circle and then get your creative juices flowing. Make a DIY winter wreath with a glue gun and decorative items.

10. Outdoor Rug

Coil the hose within itself to look like an old rag rug. It may be held together with zip ties or a glue gun.

11. Harvest Basket

Make a base by coiling the hose to your desired dimension. Use zip ties or glue to hold it together. Then using another piece of hose, start coiling vertically to make the sides of the basket. When you have it as big as you require, cut and affix the end. Then use a piece to make a handle. This will be a functional outdoor basket for years.

A terrarium is a special type of container garden that forms a decorative display piece in a clear vessel. It is either completely or partially closed and creates and maintains its own unique ecosystem.

Setting up a terrarium is a great DIY project. They’re fun to build, easy to maintain, and make excellent decorative items. While you can get creative with Wardian cases or fish tank terrariums, a simple jar terrarium is an ideal beginner's project if you don’t have a lot of space – or you just like miniatures.

Materials

Your project starts with a jar. A mason or Kilner-style jar is a great container for a terrarium for a few reasons. The wide mouth makes it easier to put the plants in and the lid allows you to access your plants for maintenance and care over time. Here’s everything else you’ll need:

• Drainage materials
  Because a terrarium doesn’t have holes like a normal plant pot, you’ll need a special drainage layer beneath the soil. You can use pea gravel, but a material that absorbs water and odor is better. Try activated charcoal or LECA balls, a type of clay aggregate.
• Soil
  Choose a soil or potting mix that is very light. The soil in a terrarium is consistently moist, so it shouldn’t be heavy when wet.
• Tools
  A few simple tools will make arranging your terrarium easier. You can use tweezers, a small paint brush, a spoon, and similar tools with handles long enough to reach into the jar.
• Plants
  Most importantly, your terrarium needs plants small enough to fit comfortably inside a mason jar.

Choosing Plants

Ideal terrarium plants are tropical. They do best with indirect or low light and plenty of humidity.

When choosing between an open or closed terrarium, bear in mind you have greater flexibility in choosing plants with an open terrarium – such as a succulent or orchid terrarium. However, a closed jar will get very humid, forming its own self-watering ecosystem, requiring plants that thrive in this environment.

Of course, the plants also need to be small enough to fit. Here are some good options:

• Moss
• Small ferns
• Air plants
• Polka dot plant
• Nerve plant
• Aluminum plant
• Peperomia
• Baby tears

How to Build the Terrarium

Building a terrarium inside a jar requires patience and a steady hand. Placing the plants can be challenging. Take your time for the best results.

Step 1: Add the Drainage Materials

Start with a layer of your chosen drainage material in the bottom of the jar. The size of the jar will determine how deep this layer is, but it doesn’t have to be very deep. A half-inch to an inch (1.25 to 2.5cm) is adequate.

Step 2: Layer the Soil

Next comes a layer of soil or potting mix. You’ll add more of the mix as you place the plants, so this first layer doesn’t need to be too deep.

Again, the depth will also depend on the size of the jar. Aim for an inch or two (2.5 to 5cm), remembering that you can still add more as you work in the plants.

Moisten the soil before placing it in the jar. It should be moist but not soggy.

Step 3: Place the Primary Plant

If you’re using more than one plant, start with the feature plant, typically the largest one. Decide where in the jar you want it first, probably in the middle. Remove the plant from its container and loosen up the roots. Trim them a little if they are too big for the jar.

Placing plants in a jar can be a difficult maneuver. If they fit, you can use your hands. If not, use tongs or tweezers. Use other tools to move the plant around and to gently press the roots into the soil. A small paintbrush is a good tool for this step. You can also add more soil at this point.

Step 4: Add Additional Plants

Add any other plants around your primary plant. If you are using moss, place this last. Cut the moss into smaller pieces to make it easier to fit in around the other plants. Add any additional soil or water as needed.

Caring for Your Mason Jar Terrarium

You can keep the lid on your mason jar to make it a true, closed terrarium. You can also keep the lid off to allow for airflow or to let the garden dry out as needed. Generally, your terrarium should be moist and humid but not soggy.

Examine it regularly for any mold, which is a sign that it has gotten too wet. If you do see mold, remove it and leave the jar open to dry.

It’s also important to ensure the terrarium doesn’t get too dry. Learning how to care for a terrarium is all about balance. If the soil looks dry or if there is no condensation on the jar, give the inside a few spritzes with a water bottle. This is an easy way to add a little water at a time.

Place your jar in a location that gets indirect light, like a few feet away from a bright window. Its location should be out of the way of any cold drafts.

Finally, your terrarium plants will only very occasionally need some pruning. if any of the plants grow too large for the jar, simply open it up and give them a trim. Also, remove leaves as they die or if they look like they are beginning to rot. This is also a sign the terrarium needs to dry out a little.

More DIY Inspiration

• Learn how to grow houseplants in bottles for minimum mess, maximum rewards.
• Make a stunning winter wreath that will take you through to spring, using materials from the garden.
• Try these 5 easy winter container recipes to boost curb appeal over the colder months.

Seed paper, or plantable paper, is recycled paper embedded with seeds. The paper is biodegradable, so you can put it in some soil and the seeds should germinate, sprout, and grow. Most often made with wildflower seeds, plantable paper can be turned into greeting cards and gift tags to offer an extra dimension to holiday messaging.

Making seed paper is a rewarding way to give seeds as presents and share your love of gardening and plants. It's also one of the most creative ways to use leftover seed at the end of the growing season.

Kids will have fun helping out – and if they enjoy this project, they'll also love making seed balls and throwing them onto unplanted areas.

Try your hand at making these unique holiday cards this year to spread the joy of growing plants and reduce paper waste.

What You’ll Need – Materials

Making seed paper for holiday cards requires some effort, but it isn’t difficult. Start by gathering the materials you’ll need:

• Paper: Use any type of non-glossy paper. This is a great opportunity to recycle waste paper. You could even use old greeting cards. Just be sure to remove any metallic or glossy elements.
• Blender: You need a blender to shred the paper. Cutting and mixing by hand will leave you with pieces that are too big and chunky.
• Water and Bowl: Water makes the paper into a pulpy slurry, and the bowl is for mixing.
• Colander: You’ll need something to strain the pulpy mix. You can use a colander or other type of strainer.
• Cloth and Rolling Pin: There are a few different ways to shape and dry pulp into usable paper. Most people have towels or rags that work well. Use thin kitchen towels, cheesecloth, or pieces of flannel.
• Seeds: The most important element is the seeds that go into the paper.

Choosing the Seeds

It’s essential to choose the right kinds of seeds for a successful project. You can either buy a suitable seed mix, use a single variety, or create your own custom blend.

One of the most important considerations is size. The seeds need to be small enough to be embedded in the paper. Larger seeds simply won’t stay in place or will make a thick, bumpy paper.

You also need seeds for plants that are sown by broadcasting and that can be planted densely together. Most vegetable seeds don’t work because they need to be sown separately and to specific depths. Ideal choices are native wildflowers or herb seeds.

How to Make Plantable Seed Paper

Once you have chosen your seeds and gathered all your materials, it’s time to get started on this fun project:

1. Shred and Soak the Paper
   The first step is to shred the paper, which you can do by hand. Place the shreds in a bowl or in the blender with enough warm water to cover and let it soak. Soaking it overnight is ideal, but a few hours will work as well.
2. Blend
   You don’t strictly need to have soaked the paper first, but doing so makes this step easier, especially if you don’t have a very powerful blender. Pour the water and shredded paper into the blender. Blend it until you get pulp with a consistency like thick soup.

3. Add the Seeds
   Pour the mixture back into a bowl and add seeds. Mix them in with a spoon or with your hands. Do not use the blender to mix in the seeds.
4. Strain the Pulp
   Next, you want to get as much water out of the pulp as possible. Pour the mixture into a colander or strainer and press it to drain.

5. Roll into Paper
   Now you’re ready to make the actual paper shape. Spread the pulp onto a cloth on a flat surface, like a kitchen counter. Shape the pulp roughly into a rectangular shape. Place another cloth over the top and use a rolling pin to thin the pulp. Try to keep it rectangular as you roll, although you can trim the edges later.
6. Dry the Paper
   The last step is to let the paper dry. This will take several days. Be sure the paper is fully dry before cutting it into usable cards. If it still has some moisture, it will tear.

How to Use Plantable Seed Cards

Once you have fully dry seed paper, you can use it to make holiday cards. Cut the paper into the sizes and shapes you want. You can also get creative and cut them into holiday shapes. Add string and they become plantable gift tags or Christmas ornaments.

Writing on homemade seed paper can be a little tricky and might cause it to tear. Use pieces you trimmed off to practice and try different pens or pencils to decide what works best. The writing won’t affect planting, but it’s best to keep it to a minimum.

It’s a good idea to send your cards or gifts with planting instructions. For small cards, simply place them in a garden bed or pot and cover them with about a quarter inch of soil. Water regularly to keep the soil moist. If the card is larger, tear it into smaller pieces before planting.

Plantable seed cards are great for holiday gifts and greetings. They take some time to make, but your friends and family members will appreciate the effort and fun results.

More Holiday Inspiration

• Be inspired to make a natural wreath using materials from your garden with these 15 beautiful DIY winter wreath ideas.
• Make a charming holiday porch pot to take you through the festive season and beyond, with these 12 magical plant choices.
• Discover the 6 flower seeds you should gift this Christmas – to inspire gardeners to get growing.

The COVID pandemic in 2020 forced so many of us to stop, slow down and take a good hard look at our deepest values. In many cases, doing that prompted a total change in our life trajectory. It’s a COVID story that pops up time and again, and is often seen as the bright side of a dark period in our history.

Tishana Richards is one such person. Before she dove into the world of gifts for gardeners, her interests lay in television and film, an industry in which she had freelanced over the years.

A gardening business was not on her mind in those days, and she felt she had nothing that even resembled a “green thumb.” In the hot dry climes of Arizona, gardeners need a lot of tenacity and resolve to succeed. While Tishana loved the idea of gardening - watching cooking shows, and craving fresh ingredients – her gardening efforts just hadn’t worked out very well. Outdoor gardening in Arizona proved to be frustrating; even though she learned all she could about seeds, soil pH values, and growing zones, she found herself overwatering to compensate for the dry heat and wasn’t successful with any substantive gardening.

But in 2013, Tishana attended a local film festival in Phoenix. What she saw there led to a change in the course of her life and the birth of Coco & Seed, an ambitious and successful small business that involves - ironically - gardening.

At the film festival, Tishana observed a backyard swimming pool that had been transformed into an aquaponic environment. (Aquaponics is a way to grow food hydroponically, incorporating fish and other aquatic creatures that symbiotically feed the plants with nutrients while the plants keep the water clean.) Tishana started thinking about this huge container of plants living in water, and the idea that maybe it could be done in a smaller vessel began to take shape in her mind. Hydroponics became her fascination and the birth of a lucrative hobby.

Experimenting first with soil gardening in a small vessel, Tishana layered soil and seeds in a clear jar. She studied the soil mixture, lined the bottom with pebbles, and filmed the process of growing a plant in a jar. It worked! Encouraged to try other plants, a culminating moment was when she harvested habanero peppers grown indoors, in the winter, from seed. Energized, she tried lettuce, basil, and other peppers and began to grow seeds hydroponically using coconut husks, called “coir.”

Launching a Business

With time on her hands, Tishana learned all about gardening. She dug into the art and science of SEO, and explored ETSY and Shopify. She often perused farmers’ markets. This was a peaceful time for her, and Tishana realized that simplicity in life was her intention.

She began to develop a way to make gardening “beautifully simple.” She says she feels “There is peace in gardening and time to take care of yourself when taking care of plants. The plants respond in kind.”

Her devotion to sustainability grew strong, and Coco & Seed's products reflect that in every way, from the cheesecloth mesh, non-GMO seeds, bamboo labels and her choice of glass Mason jars over plastic.

The Gardening Kits

Tishana’s Coco & Seed garden kits come both in soilless medium and with soil. Hydroponic kits in simple Mason jars feature clay pebbles as a growing medium - a great way to become familiar with passive hydroponics. Non-GMO seeds range from arugula to eggplant and a lot in between. Staying true to her philosophy, bamboo markers, and biodegradable labels complete the set so you can feel comfortable that all aspects of the products are environmentally friendly.

The Gardening Industry Loves These!

Tishana’s Coco & Seed kits are selling steadily and have gained significant attention in the garden space. The products were featured twice on The Today Show in 2020 and 2023, listed in Oprah Magazine’s Favorite Things in 2020, and were mentioned in Architectural Digest, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, and Garden Gate Magazine, to name just a few. Tishana’s focus on the simple serenity in gardening continues to resonate strongly with consumers.

Tishana encourages her customers to replant the seeds from what they grow and to try new things. She tells them, “Save your tomato and pepper seeds, learn how to keep it going. Stay curious and try growing what you want to eat, or something you think would be exciting for you.”

Easter is a truly magical time of year. After the bleakness of winter, there is such a strong sense of optimism as the natural world awakens, and spring blooms begin to fill our gardens with joyful pops of color.

Let these seasonal delights form the basis of your Easter table decor ideas. From stunning Easter centerpiece plants to simple place-setting ideas, there is so much scope to personalize celebrations.

Many gardeners already grow the perfect flowers for Easter decor. Whether you want to make a display of colorful tulips, cheery daffodils, pretty pansies, or ethereal hellebores, you can make the most of your garden's bounty. Otherwise, buy seasonal flowers from local florists or the grocery store.

BEAUTIFUL EASTER TABLE DECOR IDEAS

These pretty Easter table decor ideas use widely available spring flowers and other easily accessible materials.

From quick and easy arrangements that have a big impact, to more involved projects that will flex your creative muscles, there are options to suit all tastes and skill levels.

1. Fill jars with spring flowers

You don't need floristry skills to make this simple glass jar flower arrangement. It's as easy as it is effective. Use old jars, milk bottles, or small vases – mismatching designs work well for a charming vintage look.

Mini daffodils, grape hyacinths, and hellebores are great flower choices that will suit the scale of the jars.

For each jar, gather a small bunch of spring flowers in one hand. Use your other hand to arrange them in a slightly domed shape – with taller blooms in the middle, and shorter ones at the sides. Then snip the stems to the desired height – with the shortest flowers just peeking out over the top of the jar. Finish by tying a pretty ribbon around each jar.

Display your jars individually – perhaps one for each place setting – or group them as a centerpiece.

2. Get creative with silverware

A silver cake stand filled with layers of spring blooms is one of the most elegant Easter table decor ideas. Combine complementary colors and use a different type of flower for each layer.

Here, tulips, ranunculus, and hyacinths in shades of pink, purple, and white look so pretty – the idea could also work well for a wedding.

Make sure the cake stand has lipped edges so you can add water to each tier and keep the flowers as fresh as possible.

3. Create a rustic egg candle holder

This egg carton candle holder is a sweet idea for a rustic country centerpiece. You can use a cardboard carton but a ceramic egg tray looks more elegant. Choose one that holds a dozen or six eggs, depending on the desired scale.

Fill half of the holes with twigs and seasonal flowers from the garden – tiny spring blossoms and singular flowers both work well. Add a few small decorative eggs or quail eggs.

To make eggshell candles, you will need soy wax flakes and wicks. You can buy wicks in different lengths, though they can be trimmed to size after the candles have set.

Carefully break open each egg, to preserve around two-thirds of the body of the shell. Empty out the eggs, clean the shells, and allow them to dry. If desired you can trim the shells to improve their shape, but broken edges look more natural. Place your eggs upright in an egg carton – preferably not the one you will use for the display, as you might spill wax on it.

Next, melt down some soy wax chips according to the packet instructions. Once ready, dip the base of the wicks in the wax and insert into the bottoms of the eggs, holding them in position until the wax is set. Gently straighten the wicks.

Fill each egg with wax, stopping about half an inch from the top of the shell. Allow to set, then trim the wicks to around a quarter of an inch long. When the wax is setting, you may need to adjust the wicks a little so that they sit centrally.

When lighting your candles, you must ensure that none of the flowers or twigs are positioned close to the flames, as it could present a fire hazard.

4. Decorate a cake with edible flowers

Decorate a centerpiece Easter cake with crystallized edible flowers. A surprising variety of flowers are edible, including pansies, violets, primroses, and cherry blossoms – all prevalent in spring.

To crystallize flowers, separate the white from an egg and put it in a small bowl. Pour a cup of superfine sugar into a blender and blitz it to create an extra-fine coating.

Take a fine new paintbrush and gently paint the egg white onto both sides of the flowers. Carefully sprinkle over the sugar, and gently shake off the excess. Place flowers on a sheet of greaseproof paper to dry.

The flowers will last a couple of weeks stored in an airtight container

5. Plant mini nests with spring bulbs

These mini nests make perfect Easter-themed planters for flowering bulbs. To recreate the idea, you will need a roll of grapevine garland, floristry wire, a small plastic bag, soil, moss, and your chosen bulb flowers – this project uses daffodils and white grape hyacinths.

Start by cutting off a short length of grapevine garland, and work it into a small, flat spiral, holding the shape together with floristry wire. Cut more lengths of grapevine, and add into the spiral, working upwards to create a nest shape. Secure with more floristry wire as you go.

When you have created a desirable nest shape and size, twist, cut, and tie off any loose ends of grapevine and wire. Place a small plastic bag inside the nest – trimming to size if necessary. The goal is to make the nest watertight. Add your bulbs, then fill the nest with soil.

Top with a layer of moss and add any other plants or flower heads as desired – consider trying succulents, anemones, hellebores, or Star of Bethlehem flower heads.

6. Gather a joyful place setting bouquet

Go out to the garden and forage for seasonal blooms to make this beautiful napkin bouquet. A single hyacinth makes a big impact when arranged with mini daffodils, grape hyacinths, and hellebores. Add a sprig of foliage to fill it out, then tie with a piece of string.

The bouquet looks most effective teamed with a plain napkin in a complementary hue – here, blue perfectly coordinates with the grape hyacinths. Alternatively, white allows the flower colors to pop.

7. Arrange a blossom twig tree

Arrange blossom stems into a vase or jug for a simple, yet impactful table centerpiece. Cherry, apple, or pear blossom are all stunning when in flower, and have sculptural branches.

This idea looks effective without any decorations, but to embrace the Easter theme, hang mini eggs and decorations from the branches. Clip on miniature birds for a whimsical feel.

If adding decorations to the branches, weight the base of the vase, to ensure it doesn't topple over. Sand works well.

8. Plant a colorful spring bulb centerpiece

A planter brimming with colorful spring bulbs will create a lasting display that can be moved to the patio once the Easter celebrations are over.

Choose a vintage steel planter to add character to the decor, or a sleek modern design for a pared-back feel.

Many smaller spring bulbs can be planted quite close together to maximize their impact. This container uses hyacinths, daffodils, grape hyacinths, and crocus. Florist kalanchoe is used to break up the stems at the base.

Use moss to cover the soil in the planter, which gives the sense of an Easter nest.

9. Decorate chair backs with miniature arrangements

Add a final flourish to your Easter decor by making chair-back decorations. Use hanging glass jar tealight holders, tied to the chairs with ribbon.

Fill each jar with a handful of spring flowers – white daffodils are a classic choice. Add a small amount of water to ensure they don't wilt.

Finish by tying a ribbon around the middle of each jar, which will help to disguise the stems in water.

10. Use teacups as mini planters

Vintage tea cups and saucers make such charming mini planters that can be dotted around a spring table. Add a name card to each teacup, and they can double up as place card settings.

To arrange your flower stems, you will need to add moss or a piece of floral foam to the base of each tea cup, to provide structure and help keep the flowers hydrated. This arrangement uses yellow daffodils, paperwhites, and grape hyacinths.

Trim your stems to the desired size and poke into the moss or foam to arrange. Finish by topping each tea cup with some moss or bushy twigs.

11. Frame place settings with pussy willow

This is one of the cleverest yet simplest Easter table decor ideas, and it is so quick to achieve. Instead of using placemats, frame the dinner plates with an outline of pussy willow stems, trimmed to the desired size.

If there are no pussy willow trees nearby, then spring blossom would also work well.

Add mini daffodils and white eggs, then finish with a few sprigs of baby's breath – available cheaply from florists.

12. Craft a bird's nest centerpiece

Fill a fake bird's nest with eggs – a mix of duck and quail eggs works well – then add spring flowers to make a rustic Easter centerpiece.

Fake bird's nests can be sourced cheaply online and from craft shops. However, you can make one using dried vining twigs, such as angel hair or grapevine. Alternatively, you may have some trimmings left over from spring pruning.

Use the base of a bowl to form the shape, and wrap your twigs around it, securing the shape with floristry wire. Add some moss to the design if desired.

Insert bunches – or single stems – of spring flowers. Paperwhites are an elegant choice. To prevent them from wilting and to make your arrangement last for several days, try packing your nest with moss or floral foam. You will need to first line the base of the nest with a plastic bag so that you can add water. Disguise it by covering it with more twigs or moss.

13. Make eggshell vases

Fill eggs in egg cups with small spring flowers for a charming Easter breakfast table setting.

You will need to break the eggs carefully, so that the shells stay mainly intact with just the tops removed. Clean them out, fill with water and place into egg cups.

Small spring flowers will be most effective for this arrangement – try mini daffodils, paperwhites, lily of the valley, pansies, and violas.

14. Add an elegant touch with hellebores

A single white hellebore stem used as a place setting decoration is the essence of elegance.

Punch holes into a beautifully calligraphed place name card, and thread through the stem to personalize the setting for guests.

Add vases filled with foliage and white spring flowers to complete the scene.

Terrariums became popular in the Victorian era after a London doctor accidentally made a garden in a jar. A hobbyist naturalist, he kept a moth chrysalis in a jar of soil so he could observe it. But what he didn’t expect was seeds that were contained in the soil and ready to sprout. The plants thrived for years without adding water or fresh air. He shared his discovery, and the micro gardens became known as Wardian cases after Dr. Nathaniel Ward.

What Is an Open Terrarium?

The original terrarium was a completely sealed glass jar. Today, people experiment with varying degrees of openness in terrarium containers. An open terrarium is not sealed shut and usually has an actual opening that allows for some ventilation.

This is different from a standard container or planting pot. An open terrarium provides some closure with high sides but still has an open spot for ventilation. An example would be a jar without a lid or a glass fishbowl.

What Is a Closed Terrarium?

A closed terrarium has no openings. This allows it to create its own contained water cycle. Purists might consider this the only true type of terrarium and would even insist that the closing is sealed and airtight.

Terrarium Open vs. Closed?

Whether to choose a terrarium that is open a bit or one that’s sealed shut depends primarily on the plants you choose and their care requirements.

Care Requirements

The main care difference if a terrarium is open or closed is watering. A truly closed terrarium should not require any watering. If set up correctly, a closed terrarium will continuously recycle water. It moves from the soil into the plants. Transpiration moves water from the plants back into the air inside the container. The water then condenses into droplets on the inside of the container and goes back into the soil.

An open terrarium requires an input of water. How much and how frequently depends on the types of plants and how open it is. A terrarium with a small opening and plants that thrive in humidity will not need much water. Similarly, a container with a wide opening and plants that do not need much humidity does not require much water.

Plants You Can Grow in Open vs. Closed Terrariums

Another important difference between closed and open terrariums is the types of plants you can grow successfully. Tropical plants that grow in high humidity conditions are best for closed terrariums. Even some types of plants that like humidity will struggle to grow in a closed environment. The high moisture levels can lead to rot.

When choosing plants, consider both the humidity levels and light needs. Low-light plants work best. Plants grown in terrariums generally get light that is indirect and filtered. Direct light from a window can create excessively high temperatures inside the terrarium. Some examples of plants for closed terrariums include:

• Philodendron
• Pothos
• Peace lily
• Venus fly trap
• Ferns
• Moss
• Nerve plant
• Polka dot plant
• Prayer plant
• Peperomia
• Aluminum plant

All of these plants will also grow well in an open terrarium as long as you water them frequently enough. The degree of openness dictates how often to water. Generally, the soil should remain moist.

Non-traditional plants can grow well in terrariums with wide openings and infrequent watering. Cacti and succulents, for instance, will thrive in an open terrarium with plenty of sunlight and drier conditions. Terrariums can be created with different themes, sizes and combinations.

Frequently Asked Questions

The most magical Christmas gift wrap ideas incorporate natural elements, evoking the feel of an enchanted woodland.

These crafty ideas are easy to recreate, and are the ideal complement to natural Christmas decorations.

Gather materials from the garden, or forage for foliage, berries, and pinecones on festive winter walks. Even a simple sprig of greenery tucked into a ribbon makes a big impact.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on patterned gift wrap – simple brown paper is the perfect foil for nature's rich tones.

Why not make your gift wrapping even more sustainable by going zero waste? Use reusable fabric offcuts to wrap your presents, and decorate with garden finds.

DIY Christmas gift wrap ideas to inspire

Many of these Christmas gift wrap ideas are ideal craft projects for children to help with – and if you want even more festive makes to keep busy, then download our free ebook.

1. Tie on dried citrus fruits

Dried citrus fruits add an inviting warmth and fragrance to gifts, especially when teamed with aromatic rosemary.

Brown paper makes the perfect pairing for these natural elements, and old gift wrap can be repurposed as ‘ribbon’.

Drying fruit slices is easy if you have a food dehydrator, but they can also be dried in a warm oven.

To do this, place fruit slices on a tray in a preheated oven at 140-150°F (60-66°C). Leave the oven door slightly open to allow excess moisture to escape, and heat for four to eight hours – checking and adjusting the slices every 30 minutes until dry.

To attach your citrus slices to gifts, make a hole in either side and thread through string or ribbon.

2. Use pinecones as ornaments

There are so many lovely pinecone Christmas crafts, and turning them into gift tag ornaments is one of the simplest ways to make an impact.

To attach pinecones to gifts, you need to utilize the lower scales of the cones, wrapping string, raffia, or ribbon around them.

If the scales are too tight, then place the pinecones in a warm spot for a few days and allow them to open naturally. You can speed things up by placing them in an oven set no higher than 200°F (93°C) for 30 minutes.

If you have managed to collect a lot of pinecones, then why not use some to make a pinecone garland?

3. Arrange a floral gift box posy

This simple posy adds a decorative – and entirely natural – touch to gift boxes. Go bigger or smaller depending on the size of the gift.

Here, heather has been used with mimosa and eucalyptus, but you can use whatever flowers and foliage you have in your garden.

Trim similarly sized sprigs of your foliage and flowers – two of each – and then layer them up in six alternate layers.

Tie a simple knot at the base using green string or raffia and neatly trim the ends. Attach the finished posy to the gift box with ribbon.

4. Top gifts with a poinsettia

As far as Christmas gift wrap ideas go, this one couldn’t be more simple and impactful.

Poinsettias are symbols of the holiday season, and while traditionally thought of as red come in a range of stunning colors, from candy pink to yellow, and pure white.

The plant’s ‘flowers’ are actually bracts, and they stand up well to being used as gift toppers. However, they are best when fresh, so cut your poinsettia on the same day you intend to present the gift. Leave enough stem so that you can poke it into a ribbon.

5. Use sprigs of foliage with fabric for a zero-waste celebration

There is often so much waste around the holidays, so buck the trend by wrapping your gifts with reusable fabric remnants.

This sustainable zero-waste option is inspired by furoshiki – the traditional Japanese art of fabric wrapping.

To do it yourself, wrap the gift with a fabric square and tie a knot to hold in place across the center. Insert a simple sprig of foliage, such as eucalyptus, spruce, or fir.

6. Decorate gifts with dried flowers

Using dried flowers and seed heads to decorate gifts is a great way to enjoy plants from previous seasons.

Flowers can either be air dried or by using heat or desiccant – the best method depends on the size and robustness of the flower head.

Blooms with smaller heads, such as lavender, are best air dried by hanging them upside down in a warm, dark place – this will take a few weeks.

Larger flowers, such as roses, can be quickly dried in the microwave – simply bury the flowers in silica gel in a microwave-safe container, and heat in one-minute intervals.

Delicate blooms, such as dahlias, are best dried using a desiccant, such as silica gel. Cover them in the gel, seal in an airtight container and leave for 3-7 days.

Bear in mind that dried flowers are fragile, so take care when attaching them to your gifts.

7. Use fragrant herbs from the garden

There's nothing like fresh herbs to add an inviting aroma to winter celebrations. Rosemary and bay leaves are some of the best holiday herbs and make a beautiful flourish to gifts. If you have any dried lavender leftover from the summer, this is also lovely.

Using herbs is one of the simplest Christmas gift wrap ideas, but really makes an impact with the recipient.

Simply trim a sprig of fresh green growth from your plant, and tuck behind string or ribbon, next to the name tag.

8. Make an impact with berries

If you are lucky enough to have plants with beautiful red berries in your garden over winter, then take some cuttings to embellish gifts.

Holly, firethorn, and cotoneaster are all good choices, but even rose hips can double as berries.

For a different – yet equally festive – feel, take cuttings from plants with white berries, such as snowberry or mistletoe.

Make sure you have plenty of stalk on your berries so you can easily insert them behind a ribbon.

9. Add sparkle with gold foliage

Shimmering metallic foliage adds an opulent touch to gift wrapping, and is so easy to achieve.

Simply spray-paint the leaves with gold or silver paint. Work in a well-ventilated area, and put down newspaper to protect surfaces.

You can use any attractive foliage from the garden – look for interesting leaf shapes, ensuring they have long enough stems for slotting under string or ribbon.

10. Make potato stamps to print custom wrapping paper

For a spin on the idea of using natural elements to wrap your gifts, try printing your own wrapping paper using a vegetable stamp.

Take a potato and cut out your design with a knife. To make things easier, you can push a Christmas cookie cutter into the potato and cut away the excess. Dip the stamp into paint and get busy printing.

If you want to add more of a natural touch to the design, use leaves from the garden to print wrapping paper, or even citrus fruits cut in half.

11. Trim name tags with foliage

Turn foliage such as rosemary into a mini wreath. To recreate this gift wrap idea, take two lengths of hessian, long enough for each to wrap around the sides of the box, and secure both ends to the top with double-sided tape.

Cut a circle from card to make the label, and place in the center on top of the hessian 'ribbon'. Then very gently bend the sprig of foliage to form a mini circular wreath shape, and secure the ends with florist's wire.

12. Make a moss wreath gift topper

There are so many fabulous DIY winter wreath ideas you can make. However, a mini moss wreath gift topper adds such a natural touch to Christmas gift wrapping ideas.

To recreate this idea, take a small wire wreath frame – around 5-6" diameter. If you can't find one, then you can make one with wire.

Take small clumps of moss and mould around the frame, wrapping round binding wire, or florist's wire, to secure it in place.

When finished, rest your mini wreath on kitchen paper over night to take out most of the moisture, before attaching to your gift.

Nothing adds a rustic festive flourish more than the humble pinecone – and these pinecone Christmas crafts are brimming with seasonal charm.

If you are lucky enough to have conifer trees in your own yard, then you can take advantage of these when collecting your pinecones. Otherwise, forage for them on local walks, or purchase them in bulk on Amazon.

The pinecone is such a versatile item that can be used in many natural Christmas decorations. Paint cones to suit your festive color scheme, dust them with fake snow or glitter, or leave untouched to allow their natural beauty to shine through.

Make Natural Pinecone Christmas Crafts

There are so many beautiful ways to decorate with pinecones. Some of these pinecone Christmas crafts can be saved for future years, but when they are mixed with fresh foliage, the decorations can simply be composted.

Have fun getting the whole family involved – and if you want even more DIY decor ideas you can make over winter, then download our free ebook!

1. Add Pinecones to a Wreath

Pinecones add a rustic woodland feel to winter wreath ideas, and look particularly effective when a range of sizes and species are combined.

You can make a pinecone wreath without using any greenery, but to copy this design you will need a foliage base. To create this, take a wire wreath frame and attach handfuls of moss to it by wrapping around florist’s wire. Amazon offers a 2-pack of wreath frames for under $10, as well as craft moss to create your base.

Then, insert foliage gathered from the garden or on local walks – spruce, fir, holly, and eucalyptus are ideal. Simply poke the stems through the moss, working in a circular motion around the wreath, and secure with florist’s wire, also available on Amazon.

To attach your pinecones, wrap a length of wire around each cone, between a layer of scales near the base. Then use the free end of the wire to fix to your wreath.

If desired, you can add other natural materials to your wreath, such as berries and dried citrus fruits.

2. Turn Pinecones into Tree Ornaments

Pinecones can be turned into wonderful Christmas tree ornaments. Simply tied with string or ribbon, they make an impact on their own, or can be dressed up with hazelnuts and bows.

To copy these ornaments, first make a loop of string and tie it around one of the scales. Then, take three hazelnuts – horse chestnuts would also work – and attach them securely to the top using a glue gun, available at Target.

When dry, finish by tying a ribbon around the join, which will disguise any glue and add a festive flourish.

3. Make Pinecone Place Settings

One of the most simple pinecone Christmas crafts – this place setting adds a magical touch to the dinner table, and is so easy to make.

Use a long, thin ribbon to wrap the pinecone – as if it were a gift – and then attach a small decoration or name tag at the top. Alternatively, you could push a name card between the scales of the pinecone. Consider a variety pack of holiday-themed name tags, like this one from Amazon.

Place one on top of each napkin, and guests will feel extra special.

4. Use Pinecones in a Festive Garland

Make a pinecone garland to sit above the fireplace and add a warming focal point to the room.

To make your garland you will need a selection of small evergreen branches, green-covered thick wire, cut to the desired length of your garland, and a reel of finer-gage florist’s wire.

Attach the end of the reel of fine wire to one end of the thick wire. Take a handful of greenery – all facing the same direction – and secure to the thick wire by wrapping the florist’s wire around it.

Don’t cut the wire – it’s best to keep wrapping it in one continuous piece. Continue until the garland is full, then at the end tie the wires together to keep the greenery in place.

Now, use your florist’s wire to attach pinecones and any other decorations. This design uses citrus fruits and lotus seed heads, but you could use berries and ornaments, and even add lights.

5. Mix a Festive Potpourri

Creating your own fragrance is easy using pinecones and other fragranced items, such as dried citrus fruits, herbs, and flowers.

Add a few drops of scented oil to your pinecones – good festive choices include cinnamon, mandarin, sandalwood, frankincense, or pine. This essential oil set is perfect for the holiday season.

As well as being one of the most aromatic pinecone Christmas crafts, your potpourri will be visually appealing, so display it in a bowl and it will double as a centerpiece.

6. Make Pinecone Bird Feeders

Pinecone Christmas crafts aren't just for humans – they can be employed to feed backyard birds too. These mini tree-like bird feeders are so charming, and are filled with a suet-seed mix that will help feathered friends stay nourished over winter.

You will need to place your pinecones in a warm spot to help open up the scales. When they have opened up, secure a doubled piece of floral wire at the base of each pinecone and twist together, leaving a stem for use later.

Next, prepare your fat mix – you can use suet, lard, or coconut oil – mixing it with seed at a ratio of two parts fat to one part seed and nuts. You can get bird seed at Walmart.

Gently soften the mixture in a pan – you don’t want it to be completely liquid – then dunk the pinecones into the fat, pushing the mixture into the scales. Roll the pinecones into seeds to further enrich the feeder, then shake off excess and allow to cool.

Put some moss or florist’s foam into a pot, then push the wired cone into the foam.

7. Add a Natural Flourish to Gifts

Customizing your gift wrapping is one of the most versatile pinecone Christmas crafts. This rustic decoration adds a personal touch to gifts, and when teamed with simple brown paper is an inexpensive wrapping idea.

To do it yourself, tie string in the lower scales of the pinecone, pushing it in as deep as possible. Wrap your gifts with brown paper, then tie string around the middle.

Attach your pinecones to the string, then finish with a sprig of greenery from the garden.

8. Hang a Kissing Ball

Add a rustic statement to a porch with a handmade kissing ball. Originating from days gone by when festive foliage was hung above a door to welcome guests, these are easy to make with a little patience.

Push a piece of thick wire through the center of a large polystyrene ball, available on Amazon, then bend and trim off the ends with some wire cutters to create a loop at either end.

Thread one end with a loop of string. Take the pinecones and begin to attach to the ball with a glue gun, spreading the glue so the cones attach to each other as well as to the ball.

Cover any gaps with berries or foliage, such as holly, gluing in place as before. Finally, attach a ribbon bow to the top before hanging up.

9. Add a Pop of Color with Yarn

Elevate the humble brown pinecone with colored yarn, then make a simple garland or use them for a festive display.

This idea has a much more homespun feel than painting pinecones – and is a lot less messy too.

To get the look, take your yarn and push the end between the lower scales of the pinecone. Wrap the yarn around a couple of times, securing the loose end as you go, then work your way up the layers of the pinecone.

When you get to the top, tie a knot around one of the scales, then either make a loop, so you can hang your pinecone, or cut the end and tuck it in.

10. Make Mini Pinecone Christmas Trees

With their branchlike scales, pinecones make perfect mini Christmas trees. You will need small containers to display them in – such as plant pots or tins. These festive red mini terracotta pots from Amazon would do perfectly. Alternatively, you could attach them to corks or small blocks of wood.

Paint your pinecones using either green, for a natural look; white, for a snowy feel; or metallic paint for a magical touch. If using green, then dust the tips of the 'branches' with white glitter.

Using a glue gun, attach small gems, buttons, or pom poms to the branches to recreate ornaments, and top with a festive star.

11. Create a Woodland Table Centerpiece

Team pinecones with foraged greenery and berries to create a natural Christmas centerpiece.

Start by placing candles in the center, which will add an atmospheric glow to the celebration. Use glass candleholders, as this will provide an extra dimension when displaying your greenery.

Next, add sprigs of foliage, such as spruce or eucalyptus, and strands of berries. Lie them all around the base of the centerpiece, and poke some into the glass candleholders.

Slices of dried fruit will enhance the festive feel, or you could use fresh flowers.

12. Add Pinecones to Lanterns

Filling a lantern with pinecones is such a simple yet effective way to make an impact. The lantern can be displayed in the room as a centerpiece, or alternatively used in a porch or other outdoor area.

Spray your pinecones with fake snow or metallic paint for an extra touch of Christmas magic. Alternatively, intersperse rustic brown cones with metallic baubles.

You can add battery-powered LED lights to bring the lantern to life in the evening, but if using outdoors make sure it is in a sheltered area.

There are so many beautiful DIY winter wreath ideas that you can make using natural materials. Collect foliage, flowers, berries, fruits, and other interesting items from your garden – or forage for them on seasonal walks.

Simple winter wreaths for the front door can make an impact throughout the coldest months of the year, or you could go all out and make a DIY natural holiday wreath to enjoy over Christmas and New Year.

Want even more DIY decor ideas you can make over winter? Download our free ebook!

Beautiful Winter Wreath Ideas To Make

In these projects we have given you guidance for making your own wreath from scratch, but alternatively you can skip making the base and add to a plain wreath with plants from your yard.

1. Go All White with Hellebores and Pussy Willow

Some of the most stunning DIY winter wreath ideas use just one color set against a rustic backdrop. In this case, white woodland hellebores and pussy willow are used to adorn a stick wreath. A few strands of foliage provide just enough pop of green.

To recreate the idea, you will need to first make a stick wreath. First, collect sticks from the yard, either ones that are fallen, or from trees or shrubs that need cutting back.

Cut the sticks fairly short with pruning shears – in mixed sizes between 3-6" – and gather randomly together into little bunches. Hold them in place with florist's wire, then attach to a wire wreath hoop – which will provide a base for structure. Move around the wreath in a clockwise fashion, working with the shape of the sticks.

Once you have your base, weave in stems of pussy willow catkins, or strands of white berries, and a few sprigs of foliage. Finish by attaching your hellebore flowers – thread the stems through the base, then fix with floral wire if needed.

2. Make it Aromatic with Homegrown Herbs

This is one of the easiest yet most delightful DIY winter wreath ideas. Not only will an aromatic herb wreath smell divine when it’s first made, but as the herbs dry out it will retain much of its fragrance and character.

Rosemary, bay, and sage are classic choices but you can experiment with any leafy herbs you have to hand.

To make an herb wreath you will need a wire wreath frame. If you want the herbs to stay fresher for longer, you can attach moss – available to buy from garden centers – to the frame using florist’s wire. To do this, simply hold clumps of moss on the frame and wrap wire around to secure.

Cut your herbs to length using pruning shears or scissors, then gather them in bunches and affix to the frame using florist’s wire. You can either mix different herbs together, or as here, keep them separate.

Tie a ribbon to finish and hang your wreath. Spritz the finished wreath regularly with water to keep it moist.

3. Feed the Birds with a Peanut Wreath

Spare a thought for garden wildlife this winter, and make an edible wreath for the birds to enjoy.

You’ll need a twig wreath frame of around 12” diameter, and a small birdhouse. You can make your own twig wreath frame using pliable lengths of twigs or vines from the garden – good options include willow, grapevine, dogwood, birch, and poplar. Avoid species that secrete resin.

To make a twig wreath, trim your twigs using pruning shears and strip them of their leaves. Manipulate the twigs to form a rounded shape – you can use two or three shorter lengths to make a circle, or one long length, then keep building it up. Discreetly wrap florist’s wire around your wreath to hold the shape.

Next, attach your birdhouse to the middle of the wreath using florist’s wire. Then, cut a few lengths of wire to around 8” in length, and use them to tread through peanuts in the shell, leaving a couple of inches of wire at either end.

Attach one end of each length to the back of the wreath, wrap around the front, then attach the other end to the back. Continue at intervals around the wreath.

Finish your feeder by adding in foliage, winter berries, and rose hips from the garden, then hang it up with ribbon.

4. Add Seasonal Color with Berries and Rose Hips

This beautiful wreath would work well for Christmas, but can equally be displayed at any time over winter.

Statement foliage breaks out of the classic wreath shape for a dramatic look, while rich red berries and rose hips add a pop of color, and rustic pinecones give a woodland feel.

You will need longer branches of your main foliage type, such as fir, for this wreath. This should be attached to a wire wreath frame padded with moss (see no. 2). Leave plenty of loose, hanging greenery on each branch and work in a clockwise direction so they face the same way, attaching them to the frame with florist’s wire.

Intersperse sprigs of other types of foliage, to add further interest, and then decorate with other seasonal bounty such as berries, rose hips, and pinecones. If desired, hang a single bauble or bell in the middle for a subtle festive touch.

5. Elevate Garden Foliage with Glitter

This is one of the simplest DIY winter wreath ideas – and the kids will love helping to decorate it. Glitter painted onto seasonal foliage adds subtle festive shimmer reminiscent of a magical frost.

To recreate the idea, attach branches of lush leafy foliage to a wire or twig wreath frame using florist’s wire. Then, to highlight the leaves, paint on green glitter glue, or craft glue followed by glitter.

Bunches of cinnamon sticks, thistles and seed heads have been used to further embellish this wreath.

6. Bring Woodland Warmth with Leaves and Pinecones

Perfect for fall or winter, this wreath is packed with seasonal color from golden and red leaves. You’ll need to trim small branches from trees once their color has changed, but before the leaves fall.

Twist the branches around a wire wreath frame, and fix in place with florist’s wire. Build up enough branches to get a good coverage, then add other decorations.

Pinecones enhance the woodland feel and can be added with wire. Bronze and gold decorations add a magical seasonal touch.

7. Mix Different Textures from the Garden

Making a winter wreath offers so many opportunities to get creative with different textures.

This eye-catching seasonal wreath uses a mix of lush foliage and herbs as a base (see no.2) and then is adorned with pieces of attractive tree bark, pinecones, and dried lotus heads, adding interesting textures.

Deep purple berries and glistening baubles give midwinter richness to the design.

8. Go Big with Statement Branches

This beautiful winter wreath uses long willow branches, and pink and white peppercorns to make an impact.

To recreate it, use a moss-covered frame (see no.2) as your base, then poke in your willow branches. These aren’t supposed to look tidy, but you can shorten any overly long branches with pruning shears.

Next, add some foliage – here, pine is used for a woodland effect, but you can add any foliage you have in the garden. Just insert them evenly around the wreath, only using florist’s wire if necessary.

Finish with a selection of other foraged items, such as peppercorn branches, velvety sage, and berried eucalyptus.

9. Add a Vintage Feel with Dried Flowers and Grasses

Including dried flowers, foliage, seed heads, and ornamental grasses in your DIY winter wreath ideas adds a lovely vintage touch to the design, and looks stunning mixed with fresh foliage and berries.

This wreath uses an abundance of different textures and colors from the garden, and is a clever way to mix lush new greenery with foraged items from the previous season.

You will need to build up this wreath in the same way to the other designs, but take care when handling dried flowers and grasses, as they can be fragile.

10. Make a rustic apple wreath

If you still have a lot of leftover apples in storage after a bumper crop, then use some to make a charming country-style front door wreath.

To recreate this idea, you will need a metal wreath-making hoop – this one is about 10” in diameter – and a piece of medium-gage wire cut to a length of around 8” longer than the hoop circumference. For this wreath, 32" of wire was needed.

Clean your apples gently with a damp cloth, and polish them with a dry cloth. Then, push the apples onto the wire, and shape into a circle of a similar circumference to the hoop. Twist the ends of the wire around the hoop to secure.

Add foliage to your wreath by attaching stems to the hoop with florist’s wire – this wreath uses ivy, but you can use any suitable greenery from your garden. You could also add rose hips and berries. To finish, tie a hessian ribbon bow at the top for a simple finishing touch.

11. Use Dried Fruit for a Festive Touch

Drying fruit is generally a great way to extend a harvest past the growing season. However, it also adds festive fragrance and color to DIY winter wreath ideas.

Sliced or even whole citrus fruits can be dried – though if drying whole, you’ll need to add slits to the fruits’ skin.

If creating a wreath with dried fruit, then a food dehydrator is the best tool for the job. However, you can also do it in an oven over a long period. Simply place fruit slices on a tray in a single layer in a preheated oven at 140-150°F (60-66°C.)

Open the oven door slightly to allow the excess moisture to escape, and every 30 minutes check on the fruit and stir it around a little.

Drying can take anywhere from four to eight hours for slices, and up to a day for whole fruits.

12. Opt for a Minimalist Foliage Candle Wreath

This Scandinavian-inspired candle wreath couldn’t be simpler to make, and creates a warm welcome for guests on a bleak midwinter night.

Simply buy a basic wire wreath hoop – or make one with medium-gage wire – and attach a clip-on candleholder, into which you can sit your taper candle, held in place with a little melted wax.

Choose one or two attractive sprigs of foliage from the garden – enough to cover around two-thirds of the wreath – and secure with florist’s wire.

Never leave an open flame unattended. If you want this wreath to be used for long periods, then invest in a realistic battery-operated LED candle.

13. Make a Feature of Pinecones

There's nothing like decorating with pinecones to add a festive feel to natural winter wreath ideas. Pinecones can be so readily foraged and look perfect teamed with lush foliage. Collecting different sizes and species will add more interest than keeping them uniform.

When making a pinecone wreath, you need to first make a foliage-covered frame on a moss base (see no.2).

Then, attach your pinecones. You can wire them by wrapping a length of wire around each pinecone near the base, pushing it between the scales. This can then be discreetly fixed to your wreath.

Battery-operated lights offer winter sparkle.

14. Add Midwinter Magic with White Berries

If you are lucky enough to have plants with white berries in your garden, then you will know how special they are. Adding berries to your wreath will truly imbue a winter feel.

Here, eucalyptus makes for a beautiful base foliage and gives a lovely forest fragrance. Though not in season at this time of year, baby’s breath – or gypsophila – gives an elegant, airy feel to this wreath, and can be sourced from florists year round.

15. Keep it Simple with a Twiggy Wreath

Celebrate the humble charm of twigs or vines with this simple wreath. You can use a variety of trees or plants for your branches – see no.3 – although making a grapevine wreath is particularly effective.

To adorn your twiggy wreath, simply gather a couple of handfuls of different garden foliage, then attach to the base of your wreath with florist’s wire. Adorn with decorations, pinecones and anything else you have to hand.

What Can I Put in a Winter Wreath?

Foliage, berries, and pinecones are mainstays of DIY winter wreath ideas, but there are other natural items you can include.

Consider adding dried fruits and flowers, rose hips, seed heads, and even textural barks.

Finish your winter wreath with festive decorations, twinkling lights, and ribbons if desired.

What Kind of Wreath to Hang After Christmas?

After Christmas, keep festive decorations to a minimum and opt for a theme of midwinter magic. This can be achieved with lots of foliage and berries – particularly white ones. Pinecones are ideal for adding a woodland feel.

For something really special, create a hellebore wreath once the flowers start to bloom in your garden.

Alternatively, you can keep things really simple if you make an evergreen wreath with no adornments.

Discover Our Most Popular Projects for Your Home

One of the best parts of being a gardener is benefiting from all your hard work. But those benefits don’t have to end with fresh vegetables or a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Try your hand at some of our favorite fall and winter DIY projects that all start with your garden.

Check Out Our Staff-Made Projects

At Gardening Know How, we’re gardeners just like you. Over the years, many of us have leaned on our love of gardening to decorate our homes, nourish our backyard ecosystem, and make DIY gifts for friends and family. Here are just a few of the projects many of our staff members have taken on themselves.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, it’s never too early or too late to talk about how Christmas and your gardening knowledge can go hand-in-hand in spreading joy.

Find the Perfect Gift for the Gardener In Your Life

Human beings have been adorning themselves with botanical jewelry made from seeds for thousands of years, and so can you. Dried bean beads for jewelry are inexpensive and come in an array of colors and patterns, and you can even grow your own. Jewelry made from seeds is a relatively simple project -- the only difficulty being drilling a hole through the bean.

Bean Beads for Jewelry

Any type of dried bean can be made into bean beads for jewelry. Some of the heirloom varieties have fabulous colors and patterns but even the common black eyed pea or pinto bean look stunning when polished and buffed, encircling the wrist or throat.

Mescal bean beads have been a popular jewelry bead for centuries as well as being used for trading among many Native American people. Today, mescal bean beads can be purchased and they make beautiful jewelry with their deep red coloration.

Whatever type of dried bean beads you choose, prepare your seeds and beads for jewelry making by sorting through them and removing any broken or misshapen beans. Wash the beans if they are dirty and then polish them with a cotton cloth.

How to Use Seed Beans for Jewelry Making

1. If you have harvested your own beans you must first let them dry. Lay them out flat in a dry area and allow them to cure for a few weeks, stirring occasionally.
2. After the beans are completely dry, you need to drill a hole through them. Use a vise to hold the bean or make a depression that will fit the seed in a bench pin, then either drill a hole, burn through with a hot ice pick or use an awl to auger out a hole in the cried bean beads. Voila, you have seed beads for jewelry making.
3. Once you have holes in the beans, you are ready to make jewelry made from seeds. All you need to complete your jewelry project is an idea and nylon fishing line or even better, waxed line. You can also use jewelers’ wire or even ribbon.
4. String the dried bean beads according to your whim. Secure either by tying a knot at the end or by utilizing a bead clasp.

Die-hard crafters are always looking for that next project. If you're a plant parent with containerized plants indoors or even outdoors, what could be better than creating some colorful plant cozies? These handy items can be sewn from fabric, but are often knitted or crocheted.

A cozy is often associated with teapots, but these plant cozy projects serve to brighten up and decorate plant containers, and they allow you to color coordinate with your home decor. You can differentiate your container covers according to the room’s decor or color scheme, by plants’ watering needs or plant types, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

What Are Plant Cozies?

A crocheted planter takes the 1960s macrame idea to a whole new level. DIYers have been stitching and weaving covers for plant containers for a very long time, but these days we see them more often as formal crocheted or knitted planter holders. Container cozies are great for covering up old pots, or the plastic ones that plants come in.

Container cozies warm up the feel of a room with their color and design, and add texture and interest that can make a special plant even more visually appealing.

Benefits of Plant Cozies

A plant cozy will keep your plants’ roots and soil warm, a definite benefit in winter. A crochet plant cozy is a great little project to use up leftover materials from larger projects. All knit and crochet crafters have a "stash" -- little balls of leftover yarn because no project uses exactly the amount you buy. Plant cozies make perfect "stash-busters," or ways to use up all those little odds and ends.

As an added bonus, making a plant cozy doesn’t take a lot of time and is a quick and easy craft that will fill time waiting in a doctor's office or the DMV line. There's research that indicates that hand crafting is a mood booster that reduces stress and increases concentration – great benefits for any age.

Crochet Plant Holder Ideas

The internet is filled with free patterns for crochet planter ideas. If you're working with random yarn weights from your stash, they might not match up perfectly with a pattern. But it’s easy to adapt to any weight of yarn by increasing or decreasing the needle or hook size, or holding multiple strands together.

If there isn’t enough of one color of yarn, use two or more -- stripes, zigzags, and other patterns will only make your plant cozy more interesting and personalized. Most plant cozy patterns are designed to wrap around a pot, but a few are made to easily slip on. If your plant sits in a saucer, make the type that wraps around. There are also wonderful patterns for suspended planters that will stylishly display hanging plants.

Knit Plant Pot Cover Ideas

Knitted plant covers can display a host of different kinds of stitches, or just the simple knit/purl classic look. Most knit patterns require just a few ounces of yarn. When making hanging cozies, avoid using yarn with too much stretch, because the weight of the soil and container will drag the cozy down over time.

Using circular needles and knitting in the round will keep the project from requiring a seam. This works well for larger containers. Smaller container cozies will be too stiff on round needles and should be worked on straight needles in a flat piece that will be sewn together after binding off.

Designing the cozies without a bottom will allow you to remove them when you water so they don’t get muddy or wet.

Knit a Plant Holder Without Needles

Hand knitting has become really popular, and the internet is filled with quick and easy projects. This particular art form is done with either fingers or arms. Arm knitting makes for a big finished object, like a blanket. It's also perfect for a really large planter.

Arm or finger knitting doesn’t require traditional knowledge of basic knit stitches and is a perfect beginner project. All you need for most patterns is a basic loop and slip technique to make a beautiful and snug plant cozy.

So get out there and get crafting for yourself and the plant parents in your life.

Expecting a baby? There are so many gender reveal ideas out there, many of them adorable, some of them dangerous, and some less than environmentally friendly. If you’re looking for sustainable gender reveal ideas you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn how to make or source your own environmentally safe gender reveal in the form of gender reveal seed paper.

Eco-Friendly Gender Reveal Ideas

You may have seen a gender reveal party where the expectant couple reveals (or learns) the sex of their baby by opening a box filled with either pink or blue helium balloons, which are not eco-friendly. Instead, spew a pop of color into the air with biodegradable alternatives, such as natural flower petals, biodegradable confetti, and edible paint.

You can also craft seed balls or seed bombs that your family and friends can toss in a field or garden and wait to see the results.

Since not everyone will be able to make it to your gender reveal party, here’s an idea that can be sent in the mail (snail mail that is) to friends far and dear. We’re talking about gender reveal seeds embedded in paper, made at home.

Gender Reveal Seed Paper

Paper makes up about a quarter of waste in landfills. A year's worth of paper products requires 68 million trees. Factor in these amazing facts with the costs of logging in energy and water, the air pollutants and waste produced, and you’ll see that a single piece of paper is a precious resource. So what better way to honor that then by reusing paper? Gender reveal seed paper can be purchased or, to make the reveal really special, made by you.

The first ingredient you will need is previously used paper. The paper can be old grocery lists, some doodlings, the New York times crossword, or scrap stationery or cards. It doesn’t matter because the next step will be to shred the paper.

• Shred the paper in a shredder, then blend it with water in a blender or grinder until you get a smooth pulp.
• Lobelia, hyacinths, and cornflowers are great options for blue
• Zinnias, tulips, and petunias come in beautiful shades of pink
• Tomatoes, peppers, and carrots can come in shades of blue
• Beets, radishes, and kale can all be found in vivid shades of pink
• Stir the seeds in, don’t blend them.
• Pour the pulp mixture onto a window screen or strainer, or something similar to drain the excess water.
• Spread the pulp out on the window screen or if you used a strainer, pour the mixture out onto a paper towel and spread it out. Or, you can firm the seed mix into cookie cutters or other molds.
• Place your shapes on parchment paper or plastic wrap to dry.
• Allow the seed paper to dry for at least 24 hours.

How to Grow Gender Reveal Seeds

You can turn seed paper into cards for a shower, birth announcement, birthday party, baptism or, as we have suggested here, a sweet gender reveal.

• Select a sunny site.
• Place the seed paper on soil that is slightly tamped down but not hard-packed.
• Cover the seed paper with a sprinkling of soil -- just enough to cover it.
• Water the seed paper and soil.
• Keep the seed paper consistently moist.
• The seed paper should germinate within 7-10 days.

Once the plants mature, they'll reveal flowers or vegetables in your special color.

Throwing confetti at weddings and other festivities is a long standing tradition. However, today's celebrations are considering more sustainable and environmentally friendly options. Environmentally friendly confetti is one way to laud the occasion while preventing harm to animals, waterways, and other wild spaces. Luckily, it is easy to make DIY eco-friendly confetti that will degrade naturally and cause no harm.

If you are planning an event and want to use confetti, think again. Some confetti is made from plastic, an item that won't degrade for centuries. It also leaves behind petro-chemical residues that are not earth friendly. Additionally, birds are attracted to the shine and will eat the stuff, resulting in gut damage. Instead of purchasing confetti, consider eco-friendly confetti ideas that will still provide that celebratory feel, while producing no ill effects.

The Problem with Confetti

Much of the confetti available is brightly colored, shiny, and often glittery. The stuff is vibrant and exciting when tossed in the air, catching the light and providing a non-pyrotechnic firework effect. Some of the stuff is bad for our environment though. Not only will some animals find it attractive, but it will work its way into the food chain. The tiny bits of plastic have the ability to accumulate in animals' stomachs, which can lead to starvation. Some may wash into rivers, lakes, and oceans, finding its way into marine life. It also creates an eyesore and pollution on the surface of the land as it blows willy nilly. Many venues have outright banned confetti due to its polluting properties. Metal and plastic laced confetti can melt in high heat and deposit toxins in the soil. It will also take 1,000 years to break down when made of PVC.

Alternatives to Confetti

Several decades ago, it was decided that birdseed was the way to go. It was a suitable alternative to raw rice, which has the capacity to swell in animals' guts and create gastronomic problems. Birdseed is a reasonable substitute to traditional confetti and rice, but it should be carefully sourced. If there are non-native seeds involved, they may sprout and create invasive plants.

Instead, opt for items like biodegradable substitutes or even dried leaves. A very colorful and pretty option is dried flower petals. Often items like rose petals can be sourced from florists, or you may opt to collect your own flowers and dry them in the months preceding the big event. Many types of blooms are suitable, some of which will scent the air, such as roses or lavender. This biodegradable flower petal confetti provides plenty of festive vibes but will re-join the earth in a matter of weeks.

How to Make Natural Confetti

Sustainable, environmentally friendly confetti can still be fun. For a fall themed event, collect colorful autumn leaves and dry them. Or in the growing season, gather spring and summer flowers to preserve. There are several ways to dry blooms and foliage. They may be placed in a dehydrator until desiccated. The items can also be air dried on a rack in a dry location of the home. The easiest way to do this is to take stems of the plants and hang them. Once dry, remove the leaves or flowers. A classic way to dry flowers is by pressing them. This results in perfectly preserved models of the living plant. Placing the plant material between the pages of a heavy tome, which is weighted, is the simplest way to press. There are also plant presses available for big jobs. Other ways to preserve are by burying the material in Borax and white cornmeal, silica gel desiccants, or by using Oolitic sand. Once you have your dried plant pieces, they can be crumbled smaller, or used whole for an unconventional, yet less polluting party favor.

Caroling is one of our cherished holiday traditions. An old fashioned holiday song is "Here We Come a Wassailing," a classic from years ago. It probably isn't the most popular song today, but it once referred to another old tradition, drinking wassail punch. What is wassail? Christmas wassail is a warm spiced cider, perfect for stoking a nice gentle heat in the belly on cold nights.

Wassailing referred to the delightful practice of downing some warm cider, usually prior to setting off caroling in the winter cold. It was most common in regions where cider apples grew, due to the availability of the beverage's key ingredient. It all started well before Christmas existed and was a part of the Yuletide celebration, which fell around January 5th or 6th.

What is Wassail?

A traditional wassail recipe featured mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and sugar. Drinks that featured these type of spices were reserved for special occasions. This is because spices were expensive and came from far away. The drink is named for the Anglo Saxon phrase 'waes hael,' which means "good health." The beverage was served in large bowls, often made of wood, but occasionally pewter, silver, or porcelain. The Twelfth Night tradition saw the bowls filled with the wassail and topped with roasted apples or pears. Revelers would travel to nearby orchards and make a ruckus, apparently to scare away evil spirits. They were also there to celebrate the orchard owner and the trees themselves. The wassail bowl would be passed around and the trees would receive a draught directly to their roots in thanks. Sometimes cakes or bread soaked in wassail were placed directly into the tree branches. Amidst this chaos were also chants for the trees to wake up and begin producing anew.

A Traditional Wassail Recipe

Original wassail recipes included egg. The egg addition resulted in a frothed beverage. Traditional recipes started with spiced wine or ale, but brandy is a worthy substitute.

You will need:

• 4 peeled, halved apples
• 1/8 cup brown sugar (28 g.)
• 8 cups (2 L.) cider
• a spoonful of ginger
• a spoonful of nutmeg
• 8 allspice berries
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 separated eggs

Roast the apples with brown sugar until lightly caramelized. Mix the liquids in a sauce pan and add the spices wrapped in cheesecloth. Warm gently. Beat the egg yolks until frothy and in a separate bowl beat whites until they form stiff peaks. Add the yolks to the whites and fold in slowly. Remove the cheesecloth containing the herbs. Take a cup full of warm wassail and slowly whisk it into the egg mixture. Then add the tempered eggs to the wassail. Garnish with the apples.

Modern Homemade Wassail

Today we frown upon serving young people alcohol, but our ancestors didn't have such qualms. Today's recipes are likely to eschew wine or brandy entirely and use spiced fruit juices as the base. You simply simmer 4 parts apple juice to 2 parts orange or cranberry juice. A bit of lemon juice and a similar amount of whole spices as listed above. Sweeten with brown sugar if necessary. Serve with roasted apple slices and a dash of nutmeg. A dollop of fresh whipped cream will really make the beverage special. This is a family friendly version of wassail that will still warm the belly and bring the scents and flavors of autumn into the winter home.

Fruitcake is a holiday staple in certain parts of the world. It is also the butt of many jokes due to its unpopularity (to some), as well as its incredible staying power. But fruitcake also goes back to the Roman period where it was a bit more like an energy bar. What fruit is in fruitcake? The fruit in fruitcake is generally candied and can be almost anything, although some items are more traditional. Combined with nuts and spices, this holiday classic is easy to make, and you can grow your own fruits.

There is a variety of fruit cake in almost every European tradition. Italian panforte, German stolen, and others all have their twist on the candied fruited cake. The resulting concoction is quite heavy and dense, deeply sweet, and often kissed with some alcohol and citrus. Fruitcake fruit runs the gamut from common apples to persimmon seeds. During the cake's heyday, many of the fruits were dried imported delicacies such as dates. These were candied in a simple process that made a chewy, sweet filling for the cake.

About Fruitcake

Fruitcake has an incredibly long shelf life. This is due to the cake's dense texture combined with the dried fruit. The low moisture in the cake makes it very shelf stable. Many cooks believe fruitcake is at its best flavor after storing it for 3 months. The cake usually has some sort of spirits in it, except during Prohibition, where such items were impossible to acquire. In the U.S. south the preferred alcohol is bourbon, but rum, brandy, and other beverages are also frequently used. The candied fruit is also called crystallized fruit due to the crystals that form after it dried. It was often fruits from the harvest that were preserved dried. Once the Postal Service was modernized, fruitcake became one of the most popular mail order treats during the holidays. Its ability to stay good during transit made it a perfect gift.

Traditional and Non-Traditional Fruitcake Fruit Blend

One popular brand of fruitcake available for purchase lists its ingredients as papaya, raisin, pineapple, and cherry, with walnuts and pecans. The cherry in most fruitcake is maraschino cherries that have been dried to an intense red and green. To make the green, the cherries are soaked in calcium chloride and then sweetened and dyed. Essentially, the original flavor and color are removed, and artificial flavors are added. But these are classics in English fruitcake, and something not to miss if the recipe is traditional. Other fruits are dates, figs, candied citrus, apricots, apples, currants, sultanas, and really any other dried fruit that you prefer. Candied citrus peel is also a common ingredient that helps tone down the sweetness of the other fruits.

If you grow these or any other fruits in your garden, consider adding them to your fruitcake recipe.

How to Make Candied Fruit for Fruitcake

You can candy fruit in 2 ways. The first is by drying the fruit initially. Thicker fruits and those with a lot of moisture work best if they are pre-dried. Apricots, raisins, figs, etc. are dried on a rack in the sun, a low heat oven, or a dehydrator.

Once the fruit is dried, prepare a simple syrup and boil until a candy thermometer reaches 235 degrees Fahrenheit (113 C). Drop the dry fruit into the syrup and turn the heat to medium, simmering it for 20 minutes. Strain out the fruit and place it singly on racks. At this point you can toss it in sugar or simply let it dry.

The second method uses fresh fruit. This works well on items like citrus rind. Make the syrup and boil to soft thread stage. Add the fruit and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the fruit is translucent. Dry the fruit in the same manner.

Once your fruit is prepared, choose your favorite fruitcake recipe and get baking.

Growing your outdoor succulents in a birdbath planter is a great idea. It makes a nice outdoor display and can be located in an area with proper sun exposure. Birdbaths look best when heavily planted, in my opinion; however, you can certainly use your own taste and judgement about this. Always allow room for plants to grow.

Some say they’ve planted trailing succulents around the edges of the container so they can spill over the sides. Others have created a mound of soil in the middle of the top to add height. Some have planted to continue attracting birds. Give thought to your purpose before you work out a design. Consider it the same as any shallow dish for succulents.

How to Make a Succulent Birdbath Container

Bore extra drainage holes if needed, being careful not to crack the part you’re planting. If this part has already cracked, consider this as a drainage hole. Add a plastic liner if the dripping water is a problem.

Use a well-draining soil with amendments if needed to make your soil drain quickly and hold limited moisture. If needed, use sharp sand, extra pumice, grit, or perlite to amend cactus soil.

Using a birdbath as an outdoor planter is a functional idea -- in most cases it's a great place to grow succulents. If you experience winters with temperatures below freezing, plant succulents that can withstand the cold or make plans to move the planted part into a protected area for the colder months.

Birdbath Planter Ideas

Many birdbaths separate into two pieces. If you’re using one with a detachable top in which your succulents are planted, take advantage of using this part for succulents that need cold weather protection. Or plant succulents that are hardy to cold weather, like…

• Delosperma
• Opuntia
• Orostachys
• Ruschia pulvinaris
• Sedums

Plant your succulents into an attractive design inside the planted part. The best spot for a permanent display is in morning sun for a couple of hours, then afternoon shade or dappled sun for the rest of the day.

Add a layer of top dressing over the newly planted succulents for a more professional appearance. Keep in mind that a darker color of top dressing will attract sun, meaning you may have to cut back on your daily sun limit.

Birdbath Succulent Care

Depending on where the succulents were prior to planting this time will determine how much adjustment time they’ll need in the new location to avoid sunburn. Take all things into consideration. Once succulents are sunburned, they must grow out of it, which is time consuming.

Once adjusted to the new location, assume regular watering on a limited basis. With little direct sun, your plants won’t need to be watered as often. Too much water can instigate root rot, as can soil that does not drain properly for the plants.

Plant and care for your birdbath in the same way you would with a succulent dish garden. With the right lighting and care, it should last for several years.

If you’re an avid gardener and want to extend your growing season, you might be thinking about building a cold frame. Cold frames can be purchased or made from all sorts of reclaimed materials. A particularly easy cold frame design is a hay bale cold frame. Read on to learn how to make a cheap cold frame.

What is a Cold Frame?

A cold frame is in essence a small greenhouse. It may be a temporary or permanent structure in the garden. The goal of a cold frame is twofold.

The first reason for a cold frame is to harden off plants. It can be somewhat challenging to shuttle new plants from a protected area outside to harden them off prior to transplant. A cold frame will protect the seedlings from wind and sun allowing them to slowly acclimate to outdoor conditions.

Cold frames can also be used to grow crops, often a fall secondary crop or early spring crop. Much cheaper than a greenhouse, a cold frame also has the capacity to modulate temperatures using passive and active heat sources.

Where to Put a Cold Frame

“Location, location, location!” as the saying goes. It is important to position your cold frame(s) in full sun with a nearby water source and out of the frigid north winds. An area on the southern side (or northern if you live in the Southern Hemisphere) of your house or garage is ideal as these buildings are not only in full sun but will radiate heat.

About A DIY Straw Bale Cold Frame

Cold frames can be extremely complex. Some people include thermal mass and ventilation systems, and their cold frames may be almost as large as a greenhouse; and as expensive.

If you are looking for a simpler approach, as well as less expensive, a DIY straw bale cold frame is the design for you.

A straw bale cold frame really can’t be any simpler. A basic design is simply six 2-string straw bales arranged in a square and then covered to protect the plants. How you cover the bales of straw determines how simple the project becomes.

How to Build a Straw Bale Cold Frame

First you need to select your southern exposure area. Depending upon your topography you may need to level off the area prior to placing the bales. The size depends on the size of bale you acquire. Bales come in two sizes called 2-strings or 3-strings: 18 by 36 inches (46 x 91 cm.) and 48 by 15 to 16 inches (1 m. x 41 cm.). Most people use the first size which is also 14 inches (36 cm.) high.

The basic design for a straw bale cold frame is to place six 2-string straw bales to form a 6 foot (2 m.) square with a 3 foot (just under a meter) opening in the center for plants.

Now you need to cover the cold frame. Some people use a tarp or even old blankets that can be removed during the day but that isn’t entirely convenient when the weather is drizzly. A better bet is to get a hold of some old windows that can be laid across the top of the hay bales.

The windows can stay closed at night to retain heat. In the morning they can either be removed or canted to allow sun and air to circulate around the plants. Window covering can make the inside of this DIY cold frame five to ten degrees warmer than outside.

You will need to keep an eye on your cold frame to monitor the temperature. Ideal temperatures should be 50 to 70 degrees F. (10-21 C.) for cool weather plants and 60 to 80 degrees F. (16-27 C.) for warm season crops. Nighttime temperatures should drop no more than 10 degrees from daytime temps.

That’s it. Easy to set up and tear down, low cost, and at the end of the season you can recycle the straw in the compost bed or use it as mulch your vegetable beds.

Floral arranging has changed throughout time without a doubt. Over the decades, trends have fluctuated to favor the use of certain types of flowers and/or styles. Though the art of cut flowers can vary greatly by occasion and period, several types of arrangements have withstood the test of time. Many of these floral styles link directly back to the Victorian era. Learning more about these specific practices is an interesting study in how many modern-day techniques came to be.

Victorian Era Floral Design

As an immense interest in botany became popularized in the Victorian period, so did an increased fascination of flowers and the art of arranging them. The Victorian era is frequently associated with lavish, ornate design, and it makes sense that Victorian era floral arrangements demonstrated much of the same intricacy.

In examining the Victorian tradition of flowers further, one will find that both bouquets and arrangements were an important aspect of social culture. It was not uncommon or both men and women to adorn themselves with flowers in attendance at parties and other special events.

Boutonnieres and small hand-held bouquets were among the most common Victorian accessories. Frequently, women would carry small nosegays with them, which were arranged in a bouquet holder. Most of these bouquet holders were made of brass or another metal and highly decorated with jewels or detailed work. The bottom of the holder often contained a small vessel for water or some type of moistened medium to make certain that the flowers remained fresh. Most of these “Porte-bouquets” would then be attached to the dress or another garment via a pin and eyehole attached to the end of the holder.

When it came to Victorian romance, bouquets were given frequently by suitors as a means to convey their love. In turn, the bouquets would be worn as a means to show their returned interest and affection towards the sender. The Victorian era also gave way to much of the meaning and symbolism related to flowers that many of us still value today.

Floriography

Though most blooms today are considered to have a positive connotation, people living in the Victorian era used a very detailed “language” which depended greatly upon the type of flower used. This “language of flowers,” also known as floriography, allowed people to further express their true emotions and better convey their feelings for others. Interestingly, the presentation of certain types of flowers have even been used to display disdain, distrust, and other negative emotions.

Victorian wedding bouquets were among the most meaningful arrangements during the period. Just as other bouquets had conveyed special meaning, each stem used in wedding décor had a very special significance.

The floral arrangements and bouquets used in Queen Victoria’s own wedding are believed to have popularized the use of meaningful flower décor even further. Among the most commonly used blooms were orange blossom and myrtle. At the time, orange blossoms were believed to be a symbol of both innocence and purity. Likewise, myrtle stems were to acknowledge the bride and groom’s hopes of good luck and a happy marriage.

The wild flora in your area may be a secret source of deliciousness. Wildflowers beautify the landscape, feed the pollinators and birds, and may provide a delightful jelly to enjoy with morning toast. Our ancestors had many flower jelly recipes, yielded from blooms collected in the wild. Learn how to make flower jelly and enjoy the free, sweet, tastiness of native flora.

Foraging is a popular activity which has experienced a resurgence in recent years. Many wild plants can produce nutritious and tasty recipe ingredients. Just as the bees enjoy the nectar of blooming plants, we can also utilize that in homemade recipes. Make some dandelion jelly, or enjoy the flavors of a clover jelly. There are plenty of wild flowers to harvest and turn into scrumptious preserves to adorn our tables.

Plants for Jellies

A day hike in spring or summer will astound with the colorful, scented, and tasty flowers nature provides. Many of us have heard you can make dandelion jelly, along with wine and other appetizing treats, but other flowers can similarly be turned into preserves. Wild violet jelly is only 4 ingredients and produces a sweet, fuchsia hued spread. Clover jelly has notes similar to clover honey, a much sought after treat. Other plants with flowers that can be used in preserves are:

• Elderberry
• Rose
• Lavender
• Chamomile
• Hibiscus
• Lemon Balm
• Passionflower
• Citrus Blossoms
• Bee Balm
• Queen Anne's Lace

A great way to enhance the flavors of the jelly is by combining blooms in the recipe. You can add citrus zest or herbs to bring out certain notes in the preserve. The choice is entirely up to the chef and personal taste. A little trial and error will show you how much amendment the jelly needs to suit you.

Tips on Gathering Flowers

Try to ensure the blooms you are targeting haven't been sprayed with chemicals, which often occurs along roadsides where herbicides are used. In general, an open field is safe, or you can harvest directly from your own garden.

The best time to harvest is in the morning. Select flowers that are new and still holding all their petals. Watch out for the bees that will likely be competing with you for the nectar. Wash the flowers in a colander and let them air dry a bit. Roughly chop the flowers and then make a decoction. Cover the flowers in enough water to cover them in a sauce pan. Boil this for a few minutes and take the pan off the heat. Then let the flowers steep overnight. Strain the solids away and it is time to make jelly.

How to Make Flower Jelly

Whether you are making a clover or another type of jelly, once you have the decoction it is time to proceed. Set up your canning station, or you can pour the finished jelly into sterile glass jars and store in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks.

Consult the pectin instructions for the amount of sugar, and pectin, for the amount of decoction you have. Depending on the flower, some added citrus may help keep the recipe from turning out tooth achingly sweet. Stir together the flower tea, sugar, and pectin and let it come to a rolling boil for a couple of minutes. Take the pan off the heat and skim off any foam. Then proceed to the canning step, or decant into glass jars with lids.

Foraging for decorations is a fun fall activity that gets you outdoors even after your gardening for the year is done. It’s easy to create a gorgeous wreath in only a few hours using natural materials you can find in your own backyard – and the best part is it’s free! Keep reading to learn how to make an easy fall wreath from foraged plants, plus gorgeous DIY fall wreath ideas.

Foraging Vines For Wreaths

You can find grapevine wreath forms at any craft store, but it’s a lot more fun to create your own! The best time to harvest vines is late fall through early winter when leaves are falling and vines are starting to go dormant. If you harvest vines in late winter or early spring when the sap starts to flow (think maple syrup season), then your vines are likely to snap instead of bend.

Wild grapes are a wonderful choice, but you can use any kind of vining plant you have on hand to create natural fall wreaths. Willow, honeysuckle, kudzu, and raspberry canes are all good for weaving. Using foraged vines keeps unruly or unwanted plants, like honeysuckle and kudzu, from taking over your yard and garden. Yet another benefit of making a fall wreath yourself! 

If you don’t have any vines in your yard, ask your neighbors if they might let you forage from theirs. Never cut vines or any plants from someone else’s property without their permission. Most people will be happy to be rid of overgrown vines, just be sure to ask first! Once you find a good patch of vines, get your pruners and start cutting. 3 to 5 foot lengths work best for wreath-making, but you can always trim them shorter if you need. 

How To Make A Grapevine Wreath

If your vines are still covered in leaves, the next step is to remove them. Be sure not to cut off the curling tendrils. They will help hold plant material in place as you shape the wreath, plus they add lots of character. You will need at least 10 to 12 vines to create a wreath, but of course that number can vary depending on the size. A bigger wreath will require more vines. 

Once your vines are free of leaves, it’s time to gently place them in a tub or bucket of water to soak for at least one hour. Depending on how woody your vines are and how long you wait between pruning and weaving, this process could take from one hour to overnight. As soon as your vines are soft and bendy, they are ready to weave. 

Weaving With Vines

Start with the longest and thickest vine. Create a circle in your desired size. Wrap the thin end over and through the looped vine to create the base of your wreath. Pick up the second thickest vine, insert under the base vine, and weave over and through until you reach the end of the second vine. 

It’s around this step you start to realize why you don’t want vines that are too long. They can be quite unwieldy! If any of your vines are too long or too stiff at the thick end, cut them shorter to make them easier to weave. Keep wrapping each vine until you reach the end, then pick up the next thickest vine and repeat. Do this over and over until your wreath reaches the desired thickness. 

Each time you add a new vine, insert it about a hand’s width away from the previous vine end for a consistent and even look. You can weave vines either over or under, it’s a matter of what is more comfortable for you. Try to be consistent and stick with whatever direction you choose. You can alternate under and over every other vine for a more nest-like appearance, but if this is your first time weaving it’s easiest to pick just one direction.

Tuck in any unwanted pieces that are sticking out. It can be a bit tricky to weave when there are lots of little tendrils, but they are so cute and add so much character they are worth the trouble! When you are happy with your wreath, hang it or lay it flat somewhere dry and breezy and dark for a few days to weeks. Your wreath will shrink as it dries, so it’s always better to make wreaths larger than you think you need. 

Foraging For Fall Wreath Decorations

While your wreath is drying, you can continue foraging for flowers and greenery to decorate it. You can use fresh flowers or make a longer-lasting dried fall wreath. Pick your favorite fall flowers and greenery. Sunflowers, asters, black-eyed Susans, dried seed pods, boxwood and other evergreen cuttings all look great. You can also add acorns, pinecones, gourds, leaves, or twigs to your wreath. It all depends on what you can find. Every foraged wreath is unique!

How To Decorate A Grapevine Wreath For Fall

Gather your foliage and flowers, scissors or pruners, and some zip ties or floral wire. Add the biggest, boldest decorations first. Secure flowers to the wreath with zip ties. You can also use zip ties to help shape the flowers, so they bend with the curve of the wreath. Add in some green with clippings of evergreens. Weave the stems into the wreath frame or secure with more zip ties. Trim any flowers and greens that are too big to get the look you want. 

Keep adding and arranging and if you don’t like how your wreath looks, stop and start again! Play around with the arrangement before securing it. Then once you are happy, come in with the zip ties or floral wire. 

Trim any long stems and clip the tails off the zip ties. Make sure to leave some wreath exposed so everyone can see your gorgeous woven grapevines. Now the final step, it’s time to hang your wreath!

What could be more fun than a backyard movie night on a beautiful summer evening? With some simple DIY backyard movie night ideas, you can host an intimate family night or get the whole gang together for a screening. 

Backyard Movie Theater Ideas

Before you dig in and build your garden theater, take inspiration for your next backyard outdoor movie night: 

• Build community by inviting neighbors over for a viewing. You could make it an ongoing event with a summer movie series. Ask neighbors to bring popcorn and other snacks to share. 
• Have a late night picnic date in front of the big screen.
• Take family dinner outside for the night with a movie and a meal. 
• Screen the film version of a book you read for your next book club’s meeting. 
• Entertain your kids’ friends with a movie night, and don’t forget to invite their parents. 

Get Your Tech Gear Together

Now you have the idea, but you need to put it all together. Most importantly, you need some devices and electricity: 

• Projector. You’ll find a lot of projectors on the market, and some are inexpensive. Spend a little more to get a high-quality device that will be bright and clear enough for outdoor viewing. Some even come with built-in streaming apps. 
• Movies. You can bring a DVD player outdoors, but most projectors come with a USB port. All you need to get movies and TV is a streaming stick to plug into it. 
• Speakers. Before inviting people over for a movie, check the sound. Most projector speakers will be inadequate, so set up a couple of additional speakers that you can connect directly to the projector. If you have wireless speakers, look for a projector with built-in Bluetooth connectivity. 

How to Make an Outdoor Movie Screen

Save money by skipping the pricey collapsible projector screen. Making your own isn’t difficult or expensive. If you have a white, solid wall, like on the side of a garage, you can use that. 

If your walls don’t work, a plain white bedsheet will do. To make a sheet work, it should be ironed flat and stretched as tautly as possible. You can attach it to a frame, stretching it like a canvas, or tie the four corners to a fence or trees. 

Don’t Forget the Extras

Above are the musts, but to make movie night a true success, you also need the extras for comfort. You can ask friends to bring over camp chairs for seating or make it a picnic-like affair and spread out blankets and pillows. 

Serve drinks and snacks for a real movie theater experience. Since you’re outside, you also don’t want to forget the bug spray and citronella candles.

Charcoal is one of humanity’s oldest artists’ tools. It’s perfect for sketching, drawing, and shading. But charcoal sticks for drawing go fast and the costs add up. Knowing how to make willow charcoal or from vines is a fun craft and a way to save money. 

What is Vine Charcoal?

Vine charcoal is simply charcoal made from vines, often grape vines. You can also make it from other plant materials. Willow switches work well too, as do twigs from many trees. Just be sure the growth isn’t too new. Depending on what you use and how you prepare it, you can end up with charcoal sticks of varying hardness and even warmer or cooler tones of black. 

How Do You Make Charcoal from Garden Plants?

Knowing how to make charcoal for drawing means you can keep a steady supply of art materials just as you like them. The process is much simpler than you might imagine, and the supplies are minimal: 

• A metal container that closes, like a cookie tin or two empty food cans, one inverted and nested inside the other
• Sticks to turn into charcoal, cut to the size you want
• Fire and fire building materials

Cut the vine or sticks into uniform pieces that will fit in the metal container. Keep in mind that they will end up smaller once turned into charcoal. You can trim off the bark for a more consistent texture. Put couple of small holes in the lid of the metal box so gasses can escape. Put all the sticks inside, as many as you can fit, and close the lid. 

Start a fire and position the box right in the center so that it is engulfed in flames. It needs to sit in the fire for at least an hour. Carefully remove the metal box from the fire and let it cool completely before opening it. The charcoal pieces can burst into flames if you open it too soon. If the wood has not completely carbonized, you can put them back in the flames. 

Making charcoal is surprisingly simple, but it might take some trial and error to get the sticks as you like them. Experiment with different types of wood, size, removing the bark or not, and cooking times. 

Upcycled raised garden beds perform multiple functions. They are an excellent way of using items that would otherwise be thrown away. But they also raise gardening tasks up to the gardener, reducing back strain and assisting persons with disabilities.

Repurposing by building recycled raised beds is only limited by one's imagination. Many common items make perfect recycled garden beds that will add whimsy and charm to the landscape. 

Recycled Raised Bed Ideas

When spring cleaning time comes around, we often find items that are not used. Consider using some of these for recycled raised bed ideas. Even an old bucket can make a perfect mini, recycled plastic raised garden bed.

Sources for materials might also include construction sites, grocery stores, transport companies, and other areas where excess items go unused. 

Pretty much anything that can hold enough soil for root growth may be used to make a planter or raised bed. An old wagon, a bathtub, old washtub, bricks, concrete blocks, water troughs, stones, door panels, pallets, unused dressers, and much more, can be turned into functional and interesting planting spaces.

Many gardeners use old tires, but be careful since these contain toxic substances which will leach into soil.

Railroad ties are another material to watch for, especially if using them to make a vegetable bed.

Natural materials, such as a hollowed out stump, are generally safer for planting than manmade items. 

Considerations for Recycled Raised Beds

As mentioned, soil depth is important, but so are several other key characteristics. Plants need plenty of drainage so roots don't get rotten. Drill several holes in the container.

If using a metal or other heat-conducting item, make sure your plants can take the heat. Ensure your soil mixture is correct for the variety of plants. 

When selecting an item for a raised bed, determine if it will be a long term or short term site. Many items will break down and aren't suitable for long term gardening goals.

It is a good idea to line any wood or basket type material with weed barrier fabric to slow break down and plug any side holes.

Whatever vessel or material you’ve selected, place it in its site before filling with soil or amending the existing soil if it is bottomless. 

Basic Recycled Raised Beds with Pallets

Wood pallets are durable and a dime a dozen. Once you have acquired your pallets they need to be screwed together to form a raised barrier. Use good outdoor wood screws.

It may be a good idea to run strips of wood vertically at each joint site to reinforce the structure. Around the inside, staple fabric such as weed barrier or shade cloth to contain the soil.

Amend the base soil as needed with compost or other amendments and then back fill up to the level you require.

That is all there is to it. You may opt to paint the wood pallets or leave them natural. These raised beds will last for years and sections are easy to replace if necessary.

Root beer is one of those quaffs that tingles the taste buds and pairs magically with a scoop of ice cream. It is a combination of roots, herbs, and spices brewed to perfection. Homemade root beer is a possibility with a little preparation. The ingredients may be grown in certain climates or outsourced. The key is knowing how to make root beer in order to produce your own home brew. 

What is root beer? It is a very old brew that became popular in the late 1800’s, and even more so as a substitute for real beer during the prohibition era. Originally a tea, by the time the temperance period came about, carbonation became part of its makeup. Root beer ingredients vary slightly, but usually include the roots of the sassafras tree, birch bark, juniper berry extract, ginger, and licorice. The result is a complex yet satisfying flavor that invigorates the palate. 

What is Root Beer?

Root teas enjoyed a prominent place in many societies for centuries. In America, root tea was a combination of several tree components with seasonings for flavor. Sassafras root beer was a brew called Sarsaparilla and an old time favorite. Originally valued as a healthy tonic, the intense flavor made it an everyday thirst quencher. Sassafras root beer was actually distilled from the roots of the sassafras tree, which later was removed from the concoction due to health concerns. A similar drink brewed from the Sarsaparilla vine was more common. Cut to the 1800’s and other seasonings were added, as well as a fermentation process to give the beverage its carbonation. 

Root Beer Ingredients

Root beer ingredients today differ a great deal from the original recipes. You may still make homemade root beer which will be closer to the first concoctions. Originally the recipe called for birch bark, sassafras root, ginger, licorice, and possibly dandelion root for its slight bitter notes. Today our purchased root beer is extracts and chemical compounds designed to impart the distinctive flavor. Homemade brews can source many of the components online or in specialty shops. Better yet, you can grow your own herbs and spices and harvest your own roots. 

How to Make Root Beer

Sassafras root has compounds that may contribute to liver damage and is discouraged. The Sarsaparilla plant grows well in warm climates with little to no freezing, though. It is a vigorous vine whose roots impart the classic flavor necessary for a root beer. You can also substitute wintergreen. Additionally, the recipe calls for licorice and dandelion roots, as well as ginger. Smash and simmer the roots in water that just covers them for half an hour. Strain the mixture and sweeten it to your taste with sugar, agave syrup, or other sweeteners. Then add a starter culture to the mix and bottle it. This will begin fermentation and produce the carbonation. Ferment in a warm location until bubbles are observed and then it is ready to drink.

Mom may have told you not to play with your food when you were a kid, but you're all grown up now. It's time to have fun taking pictures of vegetables from your garden. Whether you want to post your gardening successes on social media or promote your Farmer's Market with a veggie blog, learning how to photograph vegetables is essential for creating scrumptious-looking food pix. 

How to Photograph Vegetables

With today's smart device technology, anyone can learn how to photograph vegetables. Start by taking a few minutes to familiarize yourself with your camera's features, then follow these simple vegetable photography tips for the best results:

• Use perfect veggies – Nothing is more disappointing than getting that ideal shot, only to have it marred by a misshapen or blemished vegetable. Harvest in the morning for the freshest-looking veggies and soak them in ice water to brighten colors and crispness. 
• Plan ahead – Have a few vegetable photography ideas in mind before you start. Consider classics such as the stunning color of a red tomato splashing into a crystal-clear glass of water, crispy lettuce draining in a metal colander, or the artsy feel of brightly-colored peppers shining out from a dark background.
• Opt for artistic lighting – On-camera flashes create unsightly shadows resulting in flat pictures. Instead, use filtered natural light streaming in from the side or try backlighting to highlight the texture of your subject matter.
• Spritz with water – When photographing vegetables, keep a spray bottle handy to recreate that morning dew freshness. Adding equal parts glycerin to the water makes the droplets less prone to evaporation. Just be sure to toss the veggies when you're done as glycerin is toxic.
• Add appropriate props – When taking pictures of vegetables, use this opportunity to tell a story. Instead of photographing a single tomato on a plate, add a sprig of parsley and decorative bottle of olive oil. Keep the props to a minimum to avoid overpowering the main subject of the photo.
• Create visual interest – Play on the natural texture of veggies and use repetition to create stunning images. Try backlighting a plate of sliced cucumbers or artistically arranging Brussels sprouts to highlight their leaf structure. For additional vegetable photography ideas look to food ads online and in magazines.
• Take advantage of color – Whether you're picking a bowl to hold the veggies or selecting the background color, complementary and neutral tones can really make your veggies pop off the page. 
• Mix it up – Borrow one of the vegetable photography tips from food stylists. Dress up a bowl of chili peppers by displaying one that has been cut in half. Use a sharp knife to avoid ragged edges and a lemon juice dip for veggies that are prone to browning. 
• Create a focal point – Use the rule of thirds when taking pictures of vegetables to create a balanced, eye-pleasing composition. Do this by putting the subject of your photo in the left or right third of the image. For example, try placing one red pepper in the lower third of a plate filled with green peppers.
• Get in close – Improve your skills at photographing vegetables by experimenting with the macro setting on your digital camera. Try taking focused closeup shots of your garden veggies. The natural details will produce an intriguing shot.

You have no doubt seen or even used coconut plant liners for hanging baskets, but how about a coconut shell bowl plant hanger made from a fresh coconut? It can be done, and the only real difficulty is in cracking the coconut. Read on to try this DIY coconut shell hanging planter craft, a twist on coir lined hanging planters. 

Fresh Coconut Hanging Planter

Coir lined hanging baskets are great. They retain water while providing excellent drainage, are organic with a neutral pH, and contain some potassium and phosphorous. All good things, but for a unique take on hanging planters, try using a fresh coconut. The first step in making a DIY coconut shell planter is to make a coconut shell bowl. 

How to Prep Your Coconut Shell Craft

As mentioned, the hardest part about this coconut shell craft is cracking the coconut. First, using a screwdriver, ice pick, or clean nail and a hammer, poke a hole through two of the eyes at the end of the coconut shell. Then simply drain the liquid out of the shell and into a container lined with cheesecloth or through a sieve. 

Yes, this will make holes in one end of the coconut shell, but those can be filled with small stones, moss, or the like. If you don’t want any holes, simply use a small saw to cut the coconut in half before removing the liquid. FYI, this method is messy and best done outside, plus you don’t get to drink the delicious juice!

If you do drain the coconut first, all that is left to do is cut it in half. You can use a saw for even halves or, if you don’t care about symmetry, go for the bang method. The latter is simply putting the drained whole coconut in a pillowcase and then smashing the entirety on a concrete curb or step. Beware that this method may result in multiple broken pieces not useful for either a planter or coconut shell bowl. 

The last step is to use a sturdy spoon to remove the meat from the copra. 

How to Make a Coconut Shell Hanging Planter

Now that the prep work is done you can either leave the coconut au naturel or sand it lightly and finish with a rub of either coconut or linseed oil. 

To make the DIY coconut shall hanging planter, simply fill with potting soil and plants. Succulents work well as they do not require lots of water which can cause the coconut to rot. 

Measure out four even lengths of jute or rope. The length depends on how far from the ceiling you wish to hang your planter. Tie them together at the bottom of the coconut shell planter and then secure the four ropes at a hook in the ceiling. If you wish, use some glue to further anchor the roping to the coconut shell hanging planter. 

“Laissez les bons temps rouler.” Or, if your Cajun French is bit rusty: “Let the good times roll.” This phrase embodies the Mardi Gras holiday, best known for the debauchery that occurs in the French Quarter on Fat Tuesday. Yet, Mardi Gras is largely a religious and family holiday. As gardeners, that means it's time to make Mardi Gras-themed floral arrangements to decorate our tables and homes.

Creating Mardi Gras Decorations

The Mardi Gras season comes to a climax on Fat Tuesday, the last day before the start of Lent. From King cakes to crawfish boils, the day centers on food, fun and indulging oneself before 40 days of abstinence begins on Ash Wednesday. 

It's the perfect time for creating Mardi Gras table decorations in the traditional colors of purple, green and gold. Chosen by Krewe of Rex in 1872, these colors each have a special meaning. The purple represents justice, the green means faith and the gold is power. 

Whether you're purchasing cut flowers from the florist or you're picking them from the garden, you'll find spring blooming flowers to be abundant during the Mardi Gras season. Here's a list of flowers and foliage which are perfect for creating Mardi Gras decoration ideas such as centerpieces, door wreaths and boutonnieres.

Flowers and Foliage for Mardi Gras Themed Floral Arrangements

• Allium – As a relative of the onion, the purple ball-like flowers of Allium are perfect for Mardi Gras table decorations. Vase life: 1 to 2 weeks.
• Columbine – For the longest lasting cut flowers, harvest the intriguing blossoms of Columbine as they open. Vase life: 1 to 2 weeks.
• Dahlia – Available in a variety of colors and petal shapes, Dahlias add visual interest to Mardi Gras themed floral arrangements. Vase life: 1 week.
• Fern – The delicate laciness of a leather fern leaf incorporates both texture and Mardi Gras green to flower arrangements. Vase life: 1-3 weeks.
• Foxglove – Choose purple or yellow varieties of foxglove, then use the spike-like racemes to add height or lines to flower arrangements. Vase life: 2 weeks.
• Hyacinth – Available in shades of yellow and lavender, the spiky flowers of hyacinth add both visual interest and vertical lines to Mardi Gras decorations. Vase life: 1 week.
• Ivy – The triangular leaves of ivy, which gently cascade along flexible stems, make this evergreen foliage plant ideal for wreaths or for adding flow to live arrangements. Vase life: 2 weeks.
• Myrtle – The glossy leaves of the evergreen Myrtle not only supply the green color needed for Mardi Gras decorations, but also adds a lovely fragrance to the room. Vase life: 1- 2 weeks.
• Narcissus – Use the brilliant yellow color and fun shape of daffodil flowers to embody the spirit of the Mardi Gras season. Vase life: 7 to 10 days.
• Siberian Iris – As the inspiration for the fleur de lis flower, the classic lines and deep purple color of the Siberian iris creates a focal point in flower arrangements. Vase life: 5-7 days.
• Tulips – For one of the quickest Mardi Gras decoration ideas, fill a vase with brilliant shades of yellow and purple tulip flowers. Vase life: 7-10 days.
• Yarrow – The brilliant yellow, multi-flowered heads of yarrow add a splash of color and texture to Mardi Gras themed floral arrangements. Vase life: 1 week.

Looking for a fun and easy gardening project you can do indoors? Why not try a floating air plant frame? Air plants are extremely easy to care for. Most only require a quick soak in water every couple weeks and misting as needed between waterings, depending on the type you have. This is a project I did from MyGardenBox subscription, but you can do it too with little effort. Here’s how.

How to Make an Air Plant Frame

First things first… gather some supplies. Nearly any type of box-shaped frame would work. Make it as big or small as you like. You’ll also need the following items:

• Wooden Box Frame
• Tacks or small nails
• Plant mister with water (optional)
• Twine
• Driftwood or cork
• Spanish moss
• Reindeer moss
• Tillandsia plants

Start by adding some tacks halfway in along the sides of the frame. If you choose small nails, you can simply use a hammer to tap them in.

Now take your twine and wrap it around the tacks to secure in place. It doesn’t need to be glamourous or in any specific order. If you’re planning on hanging your floating air plant frame, leave a little extra twine to wrap around the tacks along the top corners.

Once you’ve got all the twine in place, flip the box frame over and add a decorative driftwood or cork piece. Use the twine to help keep it in place.

Now you’re ready to fill it in with moss. I started with Spanish moss and just stuck it wherever I wanted. It’s totally up to you as to how you want the finished design to look. Grab some of the bright green reindeer moss and do the same thing. Again, weave it into the twine as needed to hold in place.

Adding the Air Plants

After you’ve finished filling in the frame with moss, it’s time to add your air plants. This project used three types of Tillandsia, but it’s your design so use however many you would like depending on the overall size of your frame. Simply stick them into the spaces between the twine, arranging them to your liking. (Note: I misted mine afterwards to moisten the moss enough where the smaller pieces wouldn’t be dropping out.)

That’s it! Your air plant frame is now complete. Hang it up in an area with filtered or indirect light and enjoy. 

Finding room for multiple houseplants can be challenging. One alternative is hanging plants from the ceiling, but you don't need to purchase specially-made planters to do the job. You can make a simple macramé plant holder in less than an hour using materials you might already have around the house.

How to Make a Macramé Planter

Here are the materials you will need to make an easy macramé plant hanger:

• Heavy-duty cord – For a 6 to 8 inch (15-20 cm.) pot, you will need four 8 foot (2 m.) strands of heavy-duty cord. Choose a color of macramé yarn that accents your home décor or go for the rustic look and use heavy-duty jute.
• 1 inch (2.5 cm.) metal macramé hoop or heavy-duty carabiner clip (optional)
• Decorative beads (optional)
• Planters – Choose an attractive or decorative 6 to 8 inch (15-20 cm.) planter made from plastic, terra cotta, ceramic, metal, or fiberglass (if you select a planter without drainage holes, you can nest a slightly smaller planter with holes inside the larger one – this will prevent dirt and water from falling onto the floor).

Step one – Tying the knot for hanging the simple macramé plant holder. Fold the four pieces of cord in half making sure the ends are fairly even. Insert the folded section of the cord through the macramé hoop to form a loop. Thread the loose ends of the cord through the loop. Pull the loose ends of the cord tight to make a knot around the macramé hoop. 

Alternative method: If you choose not to use a macramé hoop, fold the cord in half and tie a knot to form a 2 inch (5 cm.) loop for hanging the macramé plant hanger. If desired, a carabiner clip can be attached to this loop to make hanging the planter easier.

Step two – Tying the knots to hold the planter. Next, separate the cords into pairs (if desired, decorative beads can be strung onto each pair of cords before continuing). For each pair of cords, measure 2 feet (61 cm.) from the hoop. Then tie a knot in each pair. Form new pairs by taking one cord from each original pair and partnering it with one cord from the adjacent knot. Measure down 6 inches (15 cm.) and tie knots in the new pairs. 

Step three – Finishing the simple macramé plant holder. Gather all the macramé cords and tie a knot approximately 3 inches (8 cm.) below the last row of knots. Trim the ends of the cords so they are even. If desired, the cords below the last knot can be untwisted and gently brushed to make it fluffy.

Additional Macramé Planter Designs

Once you've mastered the basic technique for creating this simple macramé plant holder, you can experiment with additional macramé planter designs:

• Use traditional macramé knots to create flat or twisted cords.
• Weave in an array of beads to add bling to your macramé plant hanger.
• Select two or more colors of cord to add eye appeal.
• Cut your cords longer and make a double or triple macramé plant holder. Simply add a new area to hold a planter every 2 feet (61 cm.).
• Make multiple macramé planters and hang several plants at different heights in front of a large window. 

Herbs have been part of sacred ceremonies since the dawn of man. Ancient smudge sticks were primarily derived from the endangered white sage, Salvia apiana. This is different from common sage, which many of us grow in our gardens to feature prominently in our holiday cuisine. You can make a smudge stick and carry out your own rituals by growing this herb and others. 

Smoke cleansing sticks are traditionally made with sage, but can also be concocted with other herbs such as lavender, cedar, sweetgrass, sagebrush, and other herbs with resinous sap. The herbs are lit and the resulting smoke used to cleanse the home or body. It was thought such a practice would remove negative or evil spirits and humors. In effect, it is similar to incense. You can grow your own incense and experience a similar calm, cleansing effect. 

How to Grow Sage for Smudging

Organic herbs work best for smoke cleansing sticks. And the best way to ensure your herbal quality is to grow sage for smudging in your home garden. White sage is a slightly tender perennial that will thrive in USDA zone 6-8. The plant prefers loose, sandy soil and, once established, has a good tolerance of drought. Stratify the seeds for one week and then sow in good potting soil indoors in flats. 

Keep temperatures at least 70 Fahrenheit ( 21.1 C) at night, and 80 F ( 17.78 C) during the day for germination. Keep the flat moist and be patient. Germination can take up to 3 weeks. Plant outdoors when soil is warm and the plants have several pairs of true leaves. 

Grow Your Own Incense

Natural herb incense can also be used as a smudge. The fresh herbs from your garden have potent aromatic essence that releases during burning. In addition to already listed plants, you can use plants like juniper, pine, mullein, catnip, rosemary, bee balm, and yarrow. Many common herbs thrive in the average garden. The discarded stems from using the herbs in cooking or other applications make excellent smudge sticks. This natural herb incense is a zero-waste way to perfume your body and home. Bundle up the stems and light them, blowing out the flame and allowing the embers to gently eat up the stem, releasing fragrant steam. 

How to Make a Smudge Stick

Whether you are using pure white sage or other herbs, smudge sticks are easy to make. You can combine herbs if you wish for different scents. Harvest on a dry, sunny day. Immediately use natural twine or string to bundle the stems. Keep stems the same length and start at the top, tying a knot. Wrap the binding a few times around the stem and tie another knot. Repeat until the whole bundle is trussed. 

Hang the bundles to dry or lay on a wire rack in a cool, dark location to protect the aromatic oils. You can use these immediately once they’re dry, or save them in a container for later use. 

Before you send your box of unwanted clothing to a resale shop, pick through it for items you can use in the garden. What? Reuse your old clothes in the garden? Yes! Of course!

There are many uses for discarded clothing, hats, gloves, blankets, and sheets. And nylon pantyhose for gardening has multiple uses. They can dress a scarecrow for the garden, keep squash borers off your vines, support your cucurbits, protect your plants in winter, and more. 

Learn how to reuse old clothing and blankets in the garden.

New Uses for Old Clothes: Scarecrows, Pantyhose Squash Supports, And Frost Protection

Here are ways you may not have thought of to reuse items headed for the donation box in the garage. 

Vertical Garden Support: Are you running out of room in your garden? Grow vertically! Even smaller-fruiting squash, watermelons, and pumpkins can be grown upwards if they have the support of a sling and a firmly grounded trellis. Use old cloths, T-shirts or nylon pantyhose to create the supports for the cucurbits. The sling is attached firmly at each end of the trellis or other vertical support. A trellis cemented in the ground offers an ideal structure. 

Frost Protection Ideas: When temperatures drop in the winter, be prepared for freezing weather by keeping old sheets and blankets on hand to cover your plants. If you create a frame to hang the cover on, the blankets will offer better protection. Also, if the blankets touch the ground, they will insulate the plant by trapping warm air. 

Best Dressed Scarecrow Ideas: When unwanted critters come calling, it’s nice to have a resident scarecrow in the garden to scare them off. Reuse your old clothes on a new garden friend. After creating a frame, dress the scarecrow in old jeans, shirts, hats, gloves, scarves – the brighter, the better. 

Put the Kibosh on the Squash Vine Borer: Don’t want to use pesticides in the garden? Wrap the vines in nylon pantyhose to discourage the borer moths from laying eggs on the vines. The pantyhose will not feel right to the borer moths, so they won't lay eggs. 

Tomato Vine Tie Options: Old sheets, pillowcases or nylon pantyhose make excellent ties for the tomato vine. As the vine quickly grows through the tomato cage, attach stems to the cage with ties to keep the cage upright and the vines off the ground. For the pantyhose, cut the legs off, roll up the top and cut it into strips. The pantyhose stretches as the stems grow, but the cloth sheets and pillowcases will do in a pinch.

A fun and easy family project is to build a snailarium. What is a snailarium? It is simply a pet snail terrarium which will house one to many pet garden snails. Children are enthralled by the slow moving decapods and enjoy making a house for them. Snails don't need much care, which makes them ideal pets. 

What is a Snailarium? 

Your snailarium is where you house pet garden snails. Pretty much an enclosure, some substrate, a food set up, and a water bowl are all you need. Pet garden snails aren't fussy about their home but you can dress it up a bit to make it seem more natural. 

Adding plants, rocks, sticks or other organic material will make the container homier. Just avoid items that are sharp, as this could hurt the soft belly and foot of the snail. Keep in mind that snails will breed, so if you have 2 or more you will soon have many. Make the enclosure big enough to contain a growing family. 

How to Make a Snailarium

Keeping snails as pets starts with an enclosure. If you've ever had fish, you may have a glass tank. This will work, provided it has a lid so snails can't escape. Any other viewable container will do. Make a lid with breathable fabric such as cheesecloth or cut holes in a plastic lid. Just make them small enough so snails cannot escape the container. 

The soil or substrate for the container is a subject of debate. Your garden soil could contain harmful bacteria, so you may want to bake it for 20 minutes or so to kill any bad bugs. You can also use potting soil or a combo of both. You could put grass on top of the soil or moss to keep soil moist and cool. Provide a shallow dish for water and one for food. 

Tips on Keeping Snails as Pets

Freshen the water daily and keep fresh vegetables and fruit in a dish. Change these out as they get old. If you want to pretty up the place, use shells, rocks, or aquarium decor. 

The choice of live plants is up to you. Choose plants that snails (and their counterparts, slugs) usually avoid, unless you wish to replace them frequently as they get eaten. 

Also, place a small pot or other sheltering device inside for snails to hide and keep cool. Keep the container out of direct sunlight and mist it with purified water as needed to keep it lightly moist. For just a few bucks your kids can have their own snailarium to learn from and enjoy.

Are you wondering how to make a homemade garland? This simple holiday decoration can be crafted at home using inexpensive materials right from your own backyard. It's easy to do and beautiful too!

DIY Natural Christmas Garland

To make a natural evergreen garland, you'll first need to collect the materials you'd like to use. These can come from your own backyard or from the yards of family, friends and co-workers. It's advisable to ask permission from property owners before foraging garland natural materials from fields and alongside roadways.

Here's a list of suggested materials that can be used to craft DIY natural Christmas garland:

• Evergreen cuttings – Pine, spruce, cypress and junipers are aromatic choices, but don't forget about traditional Christmas evergreens like holly and mistletoe. 
• Pinecones – From the adorable small cones of a pinyon pine to the massive cones of the coulter, the shape and size of pinecones varies with species. And although we often collectively call them pinecones, the cones of spruce and fir trees can also be incorporated into natural evergreen garland.
• Fruit – Dried fruit such as apples, oranges and cranberries make a welcome addition to any garland. If you have plenty of fruit to spare, consider making a dried fruit garland to decorate your porch railing or outline your front door.

Download 13 of Our Favorite Fall & Winter DIY Projects

How to Make Homemade Garland

Once you've collected the garland natural materials you wish to use, it's time to assemble the evergreen cuttings. Fresh greenery is the easiest work to with, as the branches are the most supple. These young branches will be held together using floral wire.

Step one: Begin by tightly knotting the wire around the main branch of one of the evergreen cuttings. Next, wrap the wire tightly around the branch toward the cut end. Make sure not to catch any of the smaller needle-bearing branches underneath the wire. These should hang freely when the garland is complete.

Step two: Overlap the first branch with a second branch of greenery. Completely cover the main branch of the first piece so only the greenery shows. Using the floral wire, tightly tie a knot around the second branch to secure it to the first branch. 

Step three: Once the branches are secure, make a loop in the floral wire by forming a circle then twisting the wire at the base of the circle. These loops will be used to hang the natural evergreen garland when it is complete. 

Step four: Wrap the wire tightly around the branch to secure the loop. Then continue wrapping the wire around both the first and second main branches. Again, make sure the smaller needle-bearing branches are free. 

Step five: Continue this process until the DIY natural Christmas garland is the desired length. Incorporate the final branch onto the garland in the opposite direction. Secure the last branch by tightly wrapping the wire around the branches and tying with a knot. 

Step six: Decorate the natural evergreen garland with the pinecones and dried fruit. The garland is now ready to hang.

Browse Even More Fall and Winter DIY Projects

Traditionally, potpourri refers to any collection of dried botanicals that can be used to perfume small spaces. These natural elements generally offer a subtle aroma, but may also be enhanced by essential oils or fragrances. Though many types of potpourri are available for purchase, crafting one’s own Christmas potpourri in a jar can be a fun seasonal DIY project. 

Holiday Potpourri DIY Crafts

Homemade Christmas potpourri gifts are a great, budget-friendly option if you’re looking to spread joy to others through the holiday season. To begin gathering natural Christmas potpourri, crafters need to consider readily available materials. These could include potpourri components which can be purchased in stores, as well as those which can be collected from your own backyard. As with any garden craft, always make certain to carefully research and identify each type of plant, making sure to avoid any which are potentially toxic or that may be protected by local regulations. 

Dried Christmas Potpourri Recipes

Dried Christmas potpourri “recipes” can vary greatly from one region to another. Among the most popular items used in holiday potpourri blends include seeds, various types of nuts, flower petals, fragrant leaves, dried citrus, pinecones, and different types of herbs. Once you’ve gathered all your potpourri ingredients, they will need to dry thoroughly. This will help prevent the growth of mold and decay. 

Other highly fragrant potpourri items include things like cinnamon sticks, star anise, whole allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. Experiment with different materials that can enhance both the overall look and fragrance of your potpourri blend. 

Heighten the Aroma

Though the natural fragrances of the potpourri are often enough, you may wish to add additional scent. To do this, crafters must first add a fixative which will absorb the scent. Various natural fixatives are available, each offering a unique look. Among the most popular potpourri fixatives are cellulose fiber and orris root. 

For many, creating natural Christmas potpourri is essential to indoor decorating for the holiday season. Using Christmas potpourri in a jar is a sure way to bring the festive scents of the season into the home. Regardless of the combination, the aromas of holiday potpourri DIY crafts can brighten and bring joy to even the smallest of spaces. 

Sloe gin is a liqueur with a flavor reminiscent of plums, which is no wonder since sloe fruit is a species of plum. Sold as a traditional Christmas tipple in Great Britain, you can actually make sloe gin at home. As they say, timing is everything, so it is important to know when to make sloe gin for Christmas, since the process is simple but does take some time. Read on to learn when to pick sloes and how to make sloe gin from scratch for the holidays. 

When to Pick Sloes

Prunus spinosa or blackthorn bush is a species of flowering plant commonly found growing along rivers, canals and in hedgerows. The blooms give way to deep purple fruit in the fall. 

When to pick sloes has become somewhat of a contentious subject, but what is certain is when picking sloes for a sloe gin recipe, you should either pick after a freeze or pick earlier and freeze the fruit yourself. The drupes should be dark purple and soft. 

The idea here is that the freeze, either natural or manmade, will split the skins of the drupes so the juices will more easily marry in the gin. 

When to Make Sloe Gin for Christmas

If you want to make sloe gin at home for Christmas, Mother Nature has timed things perfectly. Sloe fruit is not ready until later in the fall when frost is imminent or has already struck. This gives the fruit time to be picked and infused in gin and sugar to create the ruby red and oh so delicious liqueur sloe gin. 

How to Make Sloe Gin from Scratch

There aren’t too many variations from one sloe gin recipe to another. The ingredients are simply sloe fruit, gin, and sugar. How much sugar you use depends on your sweet tooth. As to your choice of gin, use a drinkable gin, but it doesn’t have to be the most expensive. 

Fill a clean, sterilized glass jar about a third of the way with frozen sloe fruit. Add ¾ to 1 1/4 cups (150-300 g.) sugar to the fruit and cover with a liter of gin. Stir to distribute sugar. 

Cap the bottle and store the mixture on its side in a dark area, turning the bottle every other day. 

After three months (some say two), the liqueur is ready for Christmas cheer. Strain the sloe gin into sterilized bottles and enjoy.