Five Nature Crafts You Can Make with Foraged Materials

Foraging is not only about food. Some of the most rewarding hours outdoors are spent gathering materials for making things: a bundle of willow for a wreath, a handful of acorn caps, a spray of dried yarrow for a winter bouquet. Nature crafts connect us to the seasons in a tangible way, and they require almost no special equipment. Here are five projects to try, each suited to a different time of year.

Pinecone and Acorn Wreaths

In late autumn, when the pinecones are open and dry and the acorns have fallen, gather a mixed basket of both. You will also want a grapevine or willow wreath base, which you can buy or make yourself from flexible green cuttings. Using a hot glue gun or fine wire, attach the pinecones and acorns in clusters around the base, working in one direction so the wreath looks intentional rather than scattered. Tuck in a few dried seed heads or a sprig of cedar for color. Hang it on a door or above a mantel, and it will carry you from Thanksgiving straight through the new year.

This is a wonderful project to do with children, who tend to be excellent at finding the biggest and best pinecones.

Dried Flower Bundles and Winter Bouquets

Mid to late summer is the moment to gather flowers for drying. Yarrow, goldenrod, tansy, statice, and the seed heads of grasses all dry beautifully and hold their shape for months. Cut the stems on a dry morning, bundle them in groups of six to ten, and hang them upside down in a dark, airy room for two to three weeks. Once dry, arrange them in a simple vase or tie them with twine for a gift. A bundle of dried yarrow and wheat on a kitchen table is a small, honest reminder of the field it came from.

Birch Bark and Twig Stars

Fallen birch bark, never peeled from a living tree, can be cut into strips and folded into simple star ornaments. Gather twigs of even thickness, cut them to matching lengths, and lash them into star or snowflake shapes with twine. These look lovely hung in a window or clustered on a bare branch. The only rule is to gather bark from the ground, never from the trunk, because removing bark from a living birch can kill it.

Natural Dye Bundles

This one is part craft, part experiment. Onion skins, black walnut hulls, acorn caps, and marigold flowers all yield beautiful natural dyes. Simmer your material in water for an hour, strain, add a mordant such as alum, and dip small squares of wool or cotton. The colors are softer and more layered than synthetic dyes, and the process is endlessly interesting. Keep a notebook of what you used and what color resulted.

Seed and Nut Garlands

For a simple winter decoration, thread dried rose hips, acorn caps, and hollowed nutshells onto strong thread or fine wire, alternating with wooden beads or dried orange slices. Hang the garland across a window or drape it over a branch. It smells faintly of the woods and looks like nothing you can buy.

None of these crafts require skill, only a willingness to gather, dry, and try. The materials are already out there, waiting for the next walk.