Celebrate a festive fall with a cornucopia of colors with DIY arts and crafts of beautiful blooms, pretty pine cones, and lovely leaves. From decoratables for your house to wearables for you and your loved ones, share and wear handmade gifts.
Whether you’re indoors or out, gathering materials from the great outdoors or from a craft store, enjoy an artful autumn. Savor nature’s scenery in this splendid season of fiery fall colors. This is an ideal time to take a breather, get fresh air, and go on a nature walk to collect materials.
Create a festive fall matching garland/hair piece, necklace, bracelet, earrings, and ring with a combination of whole chai spices (cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, star anise, black peppercorns, and cloves) for tea lovers – or choose acorns, pinecones, and coffee beans for coffee lovers.
Fall is perfect for tie dyeing clothes and scarves using nature’s ingredients and colors. The benefits of natural colorings instead of synthetic chemicals are many. You can even grow your own dyeing garden (it’s edible, too!) or shop at your local farmers market for the natural components below. If you do grow your own garden, use naturally biodegradable, nutrient-filled produce as compost to keep you and your plants, flowers, and trees nutritiously sustained.
Skip the Rit and experiment with these natural dyeing ingredients: Yellow = turmeric, dandelions; Orange = oranges, carrots, curry; Purple = beets, red cabbage; Pink = rhubarb/hibiscus; Red = strawberries, tomato paste, and berries; Brown = carob powder, tea, and coffee; Black = activated charcoal; Green = spirulina, matcha, herbs (like parsley), and moringa powders; and Blue = blue spirulina.
To tie-dye fabric, mix together one cup salt with 16 cups water and 4 cups vinegar, bringing the solution to a boil. Then, reduce heat and simmer fabric in mixture for 1 hour. Run fabric under cold water and wring out. Bunch some of the fabric, twist, and wrap a rubber band around each twist as many times as you like to any of the sections. Then, soak the material in the natural dye until it reaches the desired shade in any of the colors. You can pour homemade color concoctions into sprayable bottles or pour dye over fabric. When ready, carefully cut off rubber bands and line dry fabric after dying.
Fall calls for lots of candles. Using an old CD as a base, glue a candle in the center, then arrange acorns, mini pinecones, dried orange slices, and whole chai spices (cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, star anise, black peppercorns, and cloves) along the base and to the outside of the candle.
Also using CDs, create cool coasters with real pressed flowers, herbs, and leaves. Some pretty pressables include pansies, Johnny Jump Ups, violets, shrub roses, strawflower, chrysanthemums, marigolds, calendulas, zinnias, lavender, and chamomile. Gather flowers, herbs, and/or leaves and press within the pages of a big, heavy book, tucking the flowers between two tissues or paper towels. Place something heavy on the book and wait patiently for up to two to four weeks as the flowers dry. Paint the CD base with acrylic paint or cover it with a tissue paper collage. When the base is dry, arrange the pressed flowers on the coaster, glue down, and top with two coats of clear varnish.
Fall is a time to curl up with a cozy book and readers rejoice with festive fall bookmarks. Cut out a base shape such as a rectangle or fall leaf on cardstock or construction paper. Lay out pressed flowers, herbs, and/or leaves, then glue down using as little glue as possible. Tip: water down white glue and use a soft brush to adhere. For variety, add poetic words, either handwritten or printed from tissue papers, newspapers, magazines, or books.
Get cozy this autumn and stay warm as you sip a cuppa chai tea or cider and celebrate a festive fall with DIY, utilizing your creativity and craftiness!
