Crafting: String art heart of Minnesota wall hanging

String art is back and when paired with the other current trend of “home-state” pride, it’s rather irresistible. I gave it a try and had a lot of fun and just a little frustration. But the end-product pops and makes me Minnesota proud. I’m lucky to have a visually interesting shape state, though Nebraska would…

Craft: Garden photo wood blocks

Now that most of our garden photos are being taken digitally and tend to get stowed away in folders on our phones and computers, preserving our favorite shots is more important than ever. Plus, nothing beats having your favorite flowers surrounding you indoors in the winter. Transferring photo images onto wood is garden crafting magic…

Craft your own rock mosaic

Crafting a rock mosaic could be the perfect garden DIY project. You can fashion the piece to fit into any sized outdoor space and they fold nicely into any garden style from classic to cottage to kooky. No special supplies or skills are needed and the learning curve is easy and fun. The process is…

Garden craft: Air plant wall hanging

Tillandsias are the “it” indoor plant at the moment. Commonly known as air plants, most of the species are epiphytes, which is a classification of plants that grow on other plants, without the benefit of soil, and do no harm to their host plant. They absorb water and nutrients through their leaves. A commonly known…

DIY Painted Terra Cotta Pot

Gardeners are by nature a creative lot, dedicated to designing spaces and places where plants can thrive and give pleasure. For that reason, many are also arts-and-crafters. This DIY painted terra cotta pot is an easy project for anyone to undertake and results in an inexpensive garden planter with a sharp pop of color (that…

Make your own garden plant markers

Decorative plant markers may seem more fun than function, but they’re actually quite useful to have in the garden, especially in the vegetable beds where they help you track emerging seedlings. How many times have you forgotten where or what a row of budding plantlets are or worse yet, weeded them away before they’ve popped?…

DIY: Vertical Planter Wall

Vertical gardening, both indoors and out, is a hot trend right now. It’s space saving and striking in appearance. Nothing brings the outdoors in like an interior vertical planting wall…you really do feel like you are in a garden when beside it! 1970s gardeners used macramé plant hangers to create the effect. Plants set on…

Build your own conservatory terrarium

A conservatory terrarium is much like a traditional terrarium – a tiny garden under glass – but is easier to create and maintain because of the structure it lives within. The concept is the same. The enclosed environment creates a self-sustaining ecosystem, but in a mini-conservatory you can pot your plants in their own individual…

DIY: Garden photo pillow

I’ve written quite a few times on how well gardening and photography go together. Snapping photos in your garden is creative and fun and it records your gardening joys and successes so you can relive the beauty of the season in the winter months. Photos also come in handy to plan revamps of areas that…

DIY: Holiday Wreathmaking

Wreaths are full of symbolism. The holiday wreaths we know today are offspring of Christian Advent wreaths, symbolizing strength and endurance through the harsh winter, which could be why they’ve become some beloved by us Northerners. It’s not just holiday décor, but a badge of honor! Making your own is not only much cheaper than…

Creating a garden mosaic: Could it be knitting for gardeners and a perfect winter gardening activity?

The art and craft of mosaic seems to have suffered an identity crisis as of late — maybe a few too many uninspired stepping stones have popped up here and there and it’s been done to death — but I would like to encourage you to consider creating one for your garden. Mosaic is like…

More funky garden junk: Silverware windchimes

It’s been warming to the soul to discover I have fellow garden junk lovers out there. I knew you were out there, but it’s good to connect. Let me share an old favorite DIY project. These old silverware windchimes were flying around the arts and craft fairs about 10 or so years ago and even…