Simple Craft Projects for Your Home and Garden

Whether making gifts, decorating your home or just crafting for fun, there are a variety of projects that you will want to try. With some projects, you will be decorating useful items to use either inside or out.

Craft projects do not have to cost much, and may be created using materials that you already have on hand or can be found when you are out walking. Be sure to have the basics such as paints and brushes, or a glue gun and glue sticks, at the ready when starting your project.

Painted Garden Planters

Use bright or bold paint colors to make the planters stand out when placed in the garden, or pastels for a lighter look. Mix and match colors, if desired, and use one color on some planters while using more than one on others. Choose brushes of different sizes, depending on the designs that you will create, and start by cleaning and rinsing pots made of clay, plastic or other materials, and allowing them to dry. Paint the outside of each planter, and don't forget to decorate the drip trays. Create designs such as stripes and polka dots, or paint pictures of bees, birds and butterflies.

Pine Cone Ornaments

Use these ornaments when decorating for the holidays, or match them to your homes d©cor for use as every day decorations. Bake large pine cones in a 200 degree oven for 1 hour and allow to cool, so the sap dries and does not make a mess. Glue a ribbon to the top of the pine cone to use as a hanger, then decorate as desired. Use colored ribbon or strings of small beads to glue around the top of each pine cone, allowing them to drape over the sides. Apply glitter or paint to the tips of the pine cone for added decoration.

Basket of Ornaments

Take a medium size basket, and wrap ribbon to match the occasion around its' handle. Tie the ribbon in bows at the base of each side, so that the ribbon ends hang half way down the outside of the basket on either end. Use pinking sheers to cut a fabric liner to fit in the basket, while allowing the four corners to hang out over the sides. Heap ornaments of colored Christmas bulbs within the basket, and stick a few holiday picks into the crevices between bulbs. Place this centerpiece on a white or colored lace doily at the center of a mantle or coffee table.