Garden Crafts  

Dove Wind Chimes for Your Garden Craft - This wind chime makes a pretty tinkling sound.

What you will need: decorative plastic curtain chain (Found at Wal-mart in their domestic department.), Compter CD, plastic milk carton, heavy duty thread, and a hot melt glue gun.

What to do:

1. Print out the bird patterns (Large file or small file) and use them as templates to cut shapes from a plastic milk carton. Use one pattern twice so you have at least four bird shapes. Punch holes in the bird shapes.

2. Cut four, 9" - 12" lengths of plactic chain and glue them to one side of a computer CD. Tie the birds to the ends of the chains. Glue a string to the top of the CD to hang the wind chime.

Make Seed Packets and Start your own Seed Company - Here is a great project that not only takes creativity but will teach you a little about nature and business at the same time.

What you will need: Seeds, paper, paper glue, crayons or markers, and scissors.

What to do:

1. Buy some flower or vegetable seeds like sunflowers, marigolds, pumpkins or any other kind of plant with seeds that are easy to collect. Plant the seeds and let the plants mature. When your vegetables are mature and ready to eat, cut them open and remove the seeds. Place them on a paper towel to dry. If you planted flower seeds, wait for the flowers to die and the flower pods to dry out. Cut off the dried flowers and remove the seeds.
2. Print out the seed packet pattern and make copies.  Cut out around the edge of the pattern. Fold down the edges and glue  the bottom and sides of the packet closed.
3. Draw a picture on the front of the packet of the kinds of plants your seeds will produce.
4. Think of a name for your company and write it across the top of the packet.
5. Don't forget to write what is in the packet under or above your picture.
6. On the back of the packet write some directions on how, when, and where to plant the seeds.
7. Figure out how much you want to sell your seeds for and write the price on the packet.
8. Add your seeds to the packet and seal the top.
9. Now you are ready to go out and sell them.

"Plant a Little Kindness" plant marker -This little plant marker would look great in a painted pot filled with flowers.

What you will need: Large craft stick, green fun foam, red fun foam, permanent marker, thin black wire and glue.

What to do: Cut out a leaf shape using the pattern provided from green fun foam and a red oval for the ladybug from red fun foam. Glue the leaf to the large craft stick. Use a permanent marker to draw spots and a head onto the ladybug body.  Glue black wire onto to back of the ladybug for antennae.  Glue the ladybug onto the leaf. Write "Plant a Little Kindness" on the leaf.

Bold Garden Crow - Are you trying to figure out what to do with those left over pickets? Here is an easy craft that takes less than an hour to finish.  This cute little guy looks great above my sign saying, "No weeds allowed".  Of course, my garden is full of weeds and crows.

What you will need: 1 - 3 1/2" picket cut to 24" long, 2 - 2" pickets or boards, small garden gloves found at craft stores, staple gun, yellow, black and white paint.

What to do:
1. Cut the 3 1/2" picket to make it 24" long.  Single pickets are very cheap and can be found at Home Base or Home Depot. Cut the top to shape the head if you would like.  I used the bottom side of the picket and cut two triangles out to form the head shape. If you don't have pickets any thin board will do.
2. Draw in a face with a pencil and paint the eyes, beak, and the body.
3. Cut the two smaller pickets to measure 13" each with the pointed end being the end of the crows wings. Paint them black.  When the paint is dry, staple them onto the body.
4. Fill the gloves part way up with sand to fill out the fingers. Paint the gloves to look like the crows talons.  When they are dry, staple the talons onto the crow's body about 6" up from the bottom.
5. Place the crow on your fence on in your garden.  I had to use two screws to keep the crow from falling off.

Keepsake Stepping Stones - These are easy to make and inexpensive but a little messy.

What you will need: Premixed Concrete (the kind you just add water. You can buy 60 pounds for a couple of dollars) (Mortar mix works even better because it doesn't have the gravel in it, however it is more expensive.) One bag makes about 6 stepping stones. Water, at least two buckets, plastic gloves, garden trowel or something to mix the cement, corrugated cardboard or something to use as a mold like a box, dusk mask or bandana, plastic to cover the wet concrete, pretty stones, ceramic tiles, marbles, or something to decorate the stones with.

What to do:

1. Before you start get everything ready. Decide what shape you want the stones. You can buy molds to pour the cement into that will save you some time or you can construct the molds yourself out of cardboard and hot melt glue. Here is a pattern for the six sided stone.  Press down hard with a pen when you are drawing the pattern so that the cardboard will fold on the lines easily. Fold up and glue with hot melt glue.  You might be able to use the mold more than once. If you don't want to use a mold, you can dig a hole in the ground, line it with small stones and pour the cement directly into the holes.
2. Fill one bucket with water.  Use the other one to mix the cement.  Make sure you use rubber or plastic gloves when handling the cement it can cause skin irritation.  ONLY ADULTS SHOULD MIX THE CEMENT! It tends to spatter when mixing so cover your skin with long sleeves and long pants.  Keep the children back when you are mixing.  Where a dust mask or bandana when mixing. You don't want to breath in the dust. Have the children wear gloves when decorating their stones.  Keep a bucket of clean water available in case the cement gets on your skin.  It's a good idea to keep some eye wash close just in case or better yet wear goggles.  If you are putting foot prints or hand prints into the cement, cover the skin with Vaseline beforehand and have the children wash their skin with soap and water afterwards.
3. Follow the direction on the package for mixing the cement.  I used about 14 cups of cement to 3 1/2 to 4 cups of water.  Start with a cup of water and gradually add the cement stirring as you go. Keep adding cement until it is the consistency of oatmeal.
4. Pour the cement into the mold. You want it to be about 2 inches deep. Gently pick up a side of the mold and tap it on the ground to get rid of the air bubbles.  Wait until the water on the top is gone, about 10 minutes, or until the cement leaves a lasting impression then start adding your decorations.
5. When you are finished cover your stones with plastic so that they don't dry to fast. This will keep them from cracking. Do not move the stones for at least 12 hours or longer.  When they are completely dry, remove the cardboard.