62 Nature inspired outdoor projects

Nature inspired outdoor projects help to connect with the natural world while staying at home. Nature art and crafts not only make you feel close to the natural elements but bring peace and serenity while you involve in activities that bring you close to earth. It also nourishes the soul by imparting positive vibes and a sense of harmony, you may consider Hygge Decor Ideas for Home. This list is ideal for kids and adults alike and will be ideal for your spring and summer excursions and even scavenger hunt.

Some small ideas include flower and leaf art, painting rocks, exploring earth, making wreaths, bird feeders,  painting seashells, dry flowers, suncatchers, and even sensory activities like floral bracelets and crowns. You can also make unique items by hammering leave prints, make sunprints, make pine cone crafts, make seed bombs to gift, and even make resin projects.

Biophilic designs draw inspiration from natural patterns, materials, and elements to help humans embrace serenity and a sense of connection. One can create a productive and aesthetic space featuring plants in an indoor garden, organic materials, natural light, and water features to mimic the beauty and practicality of nature in the comfort of your living space.

Let’s look at some cool ideas revolving around the concept of crafting for garden (patio or backyard) with nature in focus.

Upgrade outdoor space with natural elements

Nature brings a blend of multiple textures and materials. Some commonly discovered natural items include:

• Greenery: Adding greenery to your property is not only good health and general well-being but also helps to support local biodiversity, improves water management, purifies the air, lowers temperature, and reduces noise pollution. According to Wageningen University and Research eDepot, adding green spaces to the house can increase the value of the property by 4-15%. They are also ideal for privacy.
• Wood: Adding wooden accents brings warmth and character to any space without compromising the modern aesthetics.
• Organic lifestyle: One can embrace the simplicity of nurturing organic fruits, herbs, and vegetables while maximizing well-being. Consider these affordable raised garden beds to capitalize on the aesthetics of an outdoor space.
• Native plants: Native plants are well adapted to local environmental. They are valuable and require less maintenance, water, and fertilizer.
• Natural dye: Dyes are a prized possessions for artists and crafters. Grow your own dye plants while ensuring no health hazards and harm to the natural environment.
• Outdoor art studio: Garden studios are the ultimate source of inspiration for artists. Boost your creativity and mental well-being in an environment with DIY Fire Pit, painted birdhouse, and adequate Backyard Lighting.
• Rocks: Rocks are nature’s wonders to incorporate aesthetic displays for your garden. Different types of rocks such as river rocks, cobblestones, bricks, crushed stones/granite/bricks, and flagstones are used for edging and creating pathways. Consider painted them or checkout these Backyard Landscaping Ideas.

Dried Flowers Projects

These ideas are not outdoor projects but you can use dried flowers and pressed flowers for indoor decoration in many ways.

1. A simple dried flower bouquet turned into a centerpiece uplifts the entire room.

2. Use flowers to make bas relief casting art.

3. Use your nature finds to bring your imagination to life on paper like these stunning pieces from Hannah Bullen Ryner.

Dried flowers art by Vicki Rawlins.

Nature-inspired outdoor projects

Now lets look at outdoor projects using natural items and materials.

Ideas for nature crafts:

1. Hearth and Vine has a fantastic DIY to sort out garden twigs by crafting a garden trellis from branches.

2. Have fun making a garden sculpture using bark, dried flowers, twigs and leaves.

3. Build your own low-maintenance and personalized pond in your backyard using a shovel, gravel, sand, liner, flagstones, empty plant pot, and plants using a simple tutorial for water feature from craftionary.

4. Collect random branches from your garden like Tomfo to make an abstract tree art structure for any corner of your house.

5. Empress of Dirt has an excellent idea of adding a unique Giant Bird Nest in the garden using natural materials such as twigs and branches.

Cool nature outdoor projects:

6. Crafts a bubbles wand in five minutes by Laura Noelle.

7. Use food colors and other homemade paints and create painted flower pots for your backyard.

8. DIY natural paint brushes using twigs, pine needles, and strings for arts and crafts projects by Brandy Wine.

9. Nature crafts construction kit to keep by The Crafts Train to have uninterrupted arts and crafts fun activities for hours.

10. Give your birds a fancy treat by crafting birdseed cakes by Craftionary.

11. DIY Fairy house from branches and wooden logs by craftionary.

12. Painting with plants: Make wall art with pigments of flowers and plants on paper. The natural colors from them produce beautiful patterns. You can use hammer and print the colors of flowers into the canvas, fabric, or sketch paper for a beautiful result.

12. Paint candle votives with food color and mod podge. Simply add drops of food color to mod podge and paint the inside of the votives. When the glue dries the color stays. Idea by unoriginal mom.

12. Craft a grapevine basket planter by Hearth and Vine to utilize extra vines growing in your backyard.

13. A Little Knick and a Little Knack has an appealing idea to convert surplus wooden pieces into Fall leaves decor.

14. Spring basket wreath by Homemade by Carmona using a vine wreath, foliage, flowers, and moss.

15. DIY a wooden coat rack for a modern interior using branches.

16. DIY a fall leaves bowl by Christine Crafts.

17. Have a look at this breathtaking table decor by Anaya Chaudhary using fresh flowers, leaves, and vines.

18. Make an insect and bug hotel from craftionary.

Nature-inspired pathways

18. Natural log pathway by Home Talks featuring different-sized logs.

19. Wooden Cedar Stepping Stones by Green House Carol.

20. Driftwood pieces for marking garden bed borders.

21. Design a masterpiece pathway using gravel to cover the soil like This Old House.

22. Recycle your old bricks, stones, and pebbles to form a distinctive pathway for your home using the inspiration by Suzanne Tucker.

Nature weaving ideas:

Nature weaving is a fun activity that performs wonders for the mind and soul. It is an excellent form of meditation that helps to develop fine motor skills, and hand and eye coordination and helps to practice designs with creativity.

Supplies needed for nature weaving projects:

Nature offers tons of materials and textures that can be used for nature weaving and found easily in your backyard. One can gather twigs, sticks twine, and a variety of flowers, grasses, and stems that can be arranged beautifully for outdoor decor. Use garden clippers, yarn, and glue to join materials together.

23. Nature weaving wall hanging idea by Celia Linne Mann.

24. Recycle an old ring using jute and airflowers to create this dreamy decor by Petra Defuk.

25. Craft mats using the foliage weaving technique by Young Blooms.

Nature-inspired holiday decor:

26. Gather large-sized sticks from your garden and cover them with vine wreaths prepared with vines. Follow EGrapevine Store for complete tutorial.

27. Achieve an outstanding Halloween decor by crafting leaf Men using dried leaves as shown by Lavender Blog.

28. Craft Witches Broom using twigs and branches from your garden by Real Simple.

29. Craft a Valentine’s day nature craft gift using grass like Nature Play Ideas and Printable.

Nature-inspired projects for outdoor spaces:

30. Infuse new life into your outdoor fireplaces by adorning them with vines and flowers like The One Bespoke.

31. Craft a ladder for your garden using dried branches to display miscellaneous flowers like Gingham Gardens.

32. Craft a basic pallet wooden planter for your outdoor spaces like Makeet C Books.

33. Mold large vines to mushrooms for a contemporary garden decor. One can also elevate this idea by adding solar lights.

Leaves emboss and decor:

How to emboss leaves and patterns?

Nature embossing is a fun activity that helps to preserve natural patterns and designs on any surface. This added texture enhances the beauty and aesthetics of any plain surface if done correctly.

Tips for embossing leaves and flowers on surfaces:

• Collect fresh flowers and leaves of different sizes and textures from your surroundings. Avoid rotten leaves as they might crumble during the process.
• Place the selected leave in an embossing folder or stencil and apply pressure. An art hammer or any other equivalent tool can do the trick. Be gentle on flowers while applying pressure.
• Remove the leaves (or flowers) and observe the results.
• Once completed, these leaves and flowers can elevate different crafts projects like decors, jewelry, crowns, etc.

34. Convert fresh leaves into stamps using butter paper and hammer to print on tea towel by My Family Thyme.

Nature printing with eco dyes:

35. Discover the bliss of eco-printing with natural dyes and leaves by following the techniques by The Bare Foot Dyer.

36. Eco printing with natural materials: Collect flowers and leaves of your choice and use natural dyes for eco printing like Ellen Rikken.

37. Collect some large-sized leaves from your yard and adorn them with beautiful patterns and shapes as Apartment Therapy These leaves can be used to make dry arrangements, garlands, and even potpourri.

38. One can also paint dry leaves as animals and characters to depict a story or scene.

 

39. Try mix medium painting with leaves and gel printing technique by Gelli Arts.

39. Use natural dyes to color your fabrics and other craft projects like these easter eggs from Craftionary.

DIY bird feeder and birdhouses using natural materials:

40. Recycle your orange peels by crafting a Citrus Bird feeder from craftionary.

41. Make a hummingbird feeder from craftionary.

41. Make natural wind chimes with elements from outdoors like seashells and sea glass from craftionary.

41. Repurpose any wooden log to create a splendid Log bird feeder that blends well with the surroundings from craftionary.

42. Create an appealing stop for birds and butterflies by creating a hanging bird bath in your yard using natural materials like vine wreath and terra cotta plate.

DIY feather crafts ideas:

45. Try this incredible Peacock feather wreath or dreamcatcher to embed royalty, beauty, and divine femininity. Use other bird feathers for decor.

 

 

46. Use natural elements as vase fillers like these dried wheat.

DIY suncatcher:

47. Northwood Folks has a perfect botanical sun catcher idea curated around natural materials found easily in your backyard.

48. Brighten up your wall by crafting this amazing DIY sun catcher garland with transparent tape and flowers.

49. Conduct a scavenger hunt for majestic flowers and leaves to craft this extraordinary wind chime sun catcher.

50. Give your windows a makeover by crafting these pressed sunflower sun catchers using self laminating sheets.

Bamboo Crafts Ideas:

Bamboo is a commonly used natural material being used for various outdoor projects due to its strength and lightweight properties. People craft buildings, roofs, utensils, floors, and roofs of their houses using bamboo sticks worldwide. The aesthetics and remarkable properties of bamboo make is suitable for outdoor use in contemporary houses as well. Check out some amazing DIYs using bamboo for crafting unique and useful projects.

51. DIY bamboo wood chimes by Mean’s Workshop

52. Protect your garden from animals and different elements of nature by building a bamboo garden fence by Gardeners.

53. DIY swing from reclaimed wood by scattered thoughts of a crafty mom.

 

54. Transform your backyard into a magical marvel by incorporating bamboo lanterns by Intellect 45.

55. DIY bamboo privacy screen by Christina Maria to complete an outdoor nature-inspired project on a budget.

56. Bamboo succulent planter: Creative Home and Garden shows a simple transition of bamboo into a succulent planter.

57. Flower pots from bamboo.

 

Rock painting ideas:

One can sprinkle positivity around their outdoor spaces by rock painting. This is a unique activity that doesn’t require many supplies and can help transform the overall appearance of any small or large outdoor space. Below listed are a few of rock painting ideas to display your creativity.

58. Miniature village painted on rocks by Craftionary.

59. Paint your garden rocks as ladybugs to help impart beautiful patterns and colors on the garden’s surface as done by Crafts by Amanda.

60. Add fun details to your garden by adding tiny cactus to your garden painted rocks as cacti by dura designs.

61. Arrange your rocks in creative patterns such as a frog using E6000 glue for a remarkable display as recommended by Your Livable Garden.

62. Rock flowers and dragonfly a finest example of using bright paints to add more character to your garden beds by craftionary.

What type of paint is ideal for rock painting?

Acrylic paints are ideal for rock painting and drawing intricate paints on the rocks. These paints dry quickly and thus are suitable for adding multiple coats of paint. Once dried, one can use paint pens to draw and enhance delicate details on the rocks. Latex-based paints and chalk paints are suitable options for rock painting due to their remarkable coverage and durability. You will also benefit from the sealer test for painted outdoor projects.

Written by: Nageen Sohail