Wolfe - Do-it-yourself garden projects and crafts: 60 planters, bird houses, lotion bars, garlands, and more!

Copyright 2019 by Debbie Wolfe

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Mona Lin

Cover images by Debbie Wolfe

Print ISBN: 978-1-51073-715-0

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-51073-716-7

Printed in China

Acknowledgments

W riting this book challenged me to be more creative than I had ever been before.Without the support of my family and friends, I couldnt have pushed through my creative ruts. I thank my parents for bestowing on me the talent to create, and my two sisters for believing Im awesome enough to be on TV. I also want to thank the Garden Foxes for being a terrific support group. Without my Foxes, I would have never taken the leap to write a book or been able to navigate the whole blogging world. I thank my two wonderful sons who think everything I create is amazingthey are the most amazing things Ive helped create. And last, but certainly not least, I thank my husband, Mark. His support and patience allows me to be creative and successful.

Contents

Preface

I wasnt always a gardener. In fact, it wasnt until I got married that I became interested in growing things. However, I have always been a maker. As a child I created outfits from scrap fabric I took from my moms sewing room and fabricated home accessories out of cardboard for my dolls. Even as a teenager, I sought ways to modify ordinary things to make them my own. I didnt seek inspiration from outside until I was older.

Growing and creating were in my blood. I used to spend my summers romping around my grandfathers garden in the rural countryside of South Korea. My grandfather had an amazing garden. I used to play under his immaculate grape arbors when I spent the summer at his home, which was located in a small village surrounded by rice paddies. My mother kept a small garden during the times my fathers military career brought us back to the US. It was mostly because she wanted to grow Korean vegetables she wasnt able to find in a store.

My husband has always been interested in growing things. He also grew up with a family garden, and he continued this tradition when we got married. Wherever we lived, we had a garden. At first it was a collection of vegetables and herbs in pots; then as we became homeowners, our garden grew to take up a good portion of our large backyard. I honestly didnt get into the gardening until after our first son was born. Sure, I cooked and ate the vegetables, but gardening was always my husbands passion. Once I finally got involved, though, I was hooked.

I discovered that a garden wasnt just a place to harvest vegetables. It is a canvas to create, a source for supplies, and home to a myriad of critters. As I started to learn how to cultivate plants, I began to investigate what all I could do with them. I discovered a whole new level of crafting and creating that I never knew existed simply by having a garden.

It wasnt until I decided to work from home that my passion for DIY and gardening came together. I decided to give the whole garden blogging thing a try. Working as a team, my husband and I started to record our gardening adventures online in 2013. He offered growing advice and I created detailed tutorials on crafts, recipes, and other DIYs that were garden related. My little home and garden blog, The Prudent Garden , launched me into a whole new career as a DIY writer. Five years later, I write DIY tutorials for DIY Network, HGTV, Walmart, as well as my own website. I never dreamed that teaching others how to create and make things would be my career. Nor did I think I would be asked to write a book about how to use the garden and outdoors as an endless source of crafting inspiration. My life and career have taken an interesting turn of events. I hope to keep on creating and making and teaching others how to do so as well.

Introduction

B efore I start any project, I look around to see what I can use. This includes items from my garden, yard, house, etc. Theres always a way to repurpose an item or creatively use an object in another way. Being a DIY writer, my craft stash is probably bigger than the average persons. Maybe yours is too. I encourage you to take inventory of your surroundings. Branches, leaves, old garden tools, scrap fabric, ropeall of these items are waiting to be transformed into something amazing for your home.

If you find that you are stuck in a creative rut, my suggestion is to think like MacGyver. Yes, I am speaking of the eighties icon who could take paper clips, glue, scrap fabric, and a helium tank and make a hot air balloon. Perhaps you dont need a hot air balloon, but we should all learn from MacGyvers ability to take what he has, gather inspiration from it, and create something new.

There are sixty projects in this book and all use the MacGyver system in one form or another. Every project relies on home grown and foraged materials that will inspire creativity and capture the bounty of the seasons. Ill teach you practical and decorative projects for use in the garden and home. Some of the projects include canning lid plant markers, a produce gathering apron, a bug hotel, fabric grow bags, herbal bouquets, herbal lotion bars, and many more. Reuse, recycle, and re-create is my mantra.