It started with a basket.
Back in the fall of 2020, the early days of this blog, I walked out into my yard on a gorgeous New Hampshire autumn afternoon with no plan and no budget, just a basket over my arm and a vague idea. I picked up whatever looked interesting: whatever the garden had left, whatever the trees were dropping, whatever caught my eye at the edge of the woods. I came inside and made my very first foraged fall wreath. It cost me absolutely nothing.
That was the moment everything clicked.
I’ve made a different Fall wreath from my garden’s bounty every single year since, and that one small afternoon started something much bigger. It changed the way I see my garden, the way I decorate my home, and honestly, the way I think about making things at all. You don’t need a craft store haul. You don’t need a big budget. You just need to pay attention to what’s already growing around you.
That idea of bringing the garden in, season by season, is what this whole post is about. I’ve pulled together some of my favorite floral and botanical projects organized by season, so no matter when you’re reading this, there’s something here waiting for you to make. Consider this a peek into how we do things at the Cottage.
Quick Summary
What’s in this post? A seasonal collection of floral and botanical DIY projects using real flowers, foraged materials, and garden-grown botanicals. Projects are organized by season, so you can find inspiration no matter what time of year it is.
Seasons covered: Spring · Summer · Fall · Winter
You’ll find: Wreath tutorials, pressed flower projects, dried flower arrangements, foraged crafts, and living plant displays.
Welcome! I’m Jennifer, and I’ve always believed nature is the most beautiful art supply. For years, I’ve been preserving New England’s blooms and foliage through pressing, drying, and crafting. Let me show you how to capture a little bit of the season and bring it indoors—simply and beautifully.
Spring: First Blooms, Fresh Starts
There is nothing quite like the first real hint of spring after a New England winter. And I mean real hint we’re not talking 60 degrees and sunshine. I’m talking that first 45° day in March where you walk outside and think, wait, I can actually feel the sun. After months of grey skies and frozen ground, 45° feels like a gift.
That’s when the hope starts creeping in. The days are getting longer, the snow is (slowly, grudgingly) retreating, and I start watching the garden for any sign of life: the first crocus pushing up through the cold ground, the forsythia branches starting to show the faintest blush of yellow, the crabapple tree beginning to bud. I am out there looking every single day.
And then the grocery stores and nurseries start putting out their flowering bulbs: pots of hyacinths and tulips and daffodils lined up outside the door, and that’s it, I’m done for. I cannot walk past a pot of blooming hyacinths without bringing it home. The color, the fragrance, the sheer audacity of something that beautiful existing in early March, it gets me every time. Half my Spring decorating starts with an impulse purchase from outside a Trader Joe’s, and I have absolutely no regrets about that!
Spring projects at the cottage are all about capturing that energy: welcoming, cheerful, a little wild around the edges. Here are some of my favorites.
Make A Pansy Wreath
This is my newest favorite spring project, and it might be the most joyful thing on my front door yet. Real, blooming pansies wrapped in moss and wired to a straw form. It’s fresh, it’s alive, and it lasts for months in New England’s cool spring weather. And when the pansies eventually outgrow the wreath? They go straight into the cut flower garden. Nothing goes to waste.
Pressed Flower Magnets
The moment those first flowers come in, I’m pressing them. These little air-dry clay magnets are a perfect early-season project. They look like tiny handmade ceramics, cost almost nothing, and make the sweetest gifts. Also, a great excuse to press every single thing coming up in the garden right now.
The 10 Minute Door Basket
Ten minutes. That’s it. Grab a pot of daffodils from the grocery store and make this cheerful hanging basket that signals to the whole neighborhood that spring has officially arrived.
Woodland Birdhouse
A plain craft store birdhouse, a little paint, and bark foraged straight from my own woods. That’s all it took to make something that looks like it came from a boutique nature shop. This one will add a storybook feel to any Spring display, and I smile at it every single time I walk past.
Summer: Peak Garden Season
If spring is the promise, summer is the payoff.
By July, the garden has completely taken over my world in the best possible way. The cut flower beds are exploding, I’m out there with my snips every morning before the heat sets in, and the kitchen table always has a vase on it. There’s a certain kind of summer morning here in New Hampshire that I live for: cool and golden before the heat builds, the bees already working the zinnias, the sweet peas scenting the whole front yard. I try to stop and just stand in it for a minute before I start cutting.
But Summer in the garden isn’t just about enjoying the beauty in the moment it’s about capturing it. This is the season I press flowers obsessively, harvest for drying, and start building the stash that carries my projects all the way through to the following spring. Everything I make in Fall and Winter starts here. Summer-me is basically funding the rest of the year.
If you find yourself with more blooms than you know what to do with, and if you grow zinnias and strawflowers, this is your sign to start making things with them. Here’s where I’d start.
Learn To Press Flowers Like A Pro
This is the gateway skill. If you learn one thing from this post, let it be this: press your flowers. All of them. Every method is covered here: from the classic book method to the microwave press, so you have zero excuses for letting those summer blooms go to waste.
Whimsical Fairy Tree Garden: A DIY Project for a Magical Yard
This is Summer in its purest form: foraged birch bark, a homegrown gourd, handmade clay mushrooms, and a tree hollow that had potential the whole time. I built this for almost nothing, and it became one of my favorite things I’ve ever made. Also, kids absolutely lose their minds over it.
Framed Pressed Flower Art: A DIY for Every Style
Once you’ve got a stack of pressed flowers, this is where the magic happens. Framed pressed flower art is timeless, endlessly customizable, and one of those projects that people always assume you bought somewhere fancy. You did not. You made it from your own garden. The book page plaques with pressed flowers went viral a couple of times~it’s a great DIY to try!
Pressed Flower Notecards: A Handmade Touch for Every Occasion
The hostess gift that makes everyone ask, “You made this??” and you get to say yes! These are also genuinely one of the most useful things to have on hand. I make a batch in summer, and they carry me through the whole gifting season.
Fall: The Garden Gives Everything
Fall is my season. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it: there is no better time to be a botanical crafter than autumn in New England. The dried hydrangeas, the grasses, the seedpods, the leaves! It’s all just there, waiting for you. Fall is when I’m most in my element, and honestly, the projects in this section might be my favorites of the whole year.
My Annual Ritual: Crafting a Modern, Foraged Fall Wreath
Every single Fall, I make this wreath. It’s become a ritual I look forward to all year, heading out to the garden with a basket and coming back with everything I need for a new one-of-a-kind Autumn wreath for my front door. This is quintessential Cottage on Bunker Hill.
If there’s one thing I hope new readers will try, it’s making their own wreath. I believe that once you start crafting your own with your signature style, you’ll never toss another store-bought wreath into your HomeGoods cart again!
20 Minute Cinnamon Broom Makeover
The cinnamon broom is a fall staple. But the grocery store version can be a little, let’s say, basic. Twenty minutes and some garden clippings later, you have something that looks like it came from a boutique harvest market. This is one of those projects that delivers way more than it costs in time or money.
Fill A Pumpkin With Flowers
This whimsical Fall centerpiece combines two of the season’s best elements: fresh blooms and a beautiful pumpkin, into one stunning display. Using blooms straight from my garden (think dahlias, zinnias, celosia, and even flowering oregano), I’ll show you that you don’t need to be a floral designer to create a showstopping centerpiece. Grocery store bouquets work beautifully, too!
Decorating From Your Garden For Fall
The philosophy shift that changed how I see the Fall garden: those drying hydrangeas and wispy grasses aren’t messy; they’re your decorating material. This post is part inspiration, part tutorial, and entirely worth a read before you reach for the pruning shears.
Winter: Slow Down, Make Things
Winter is when I finally sit with all the things I’ve been growing, pressing, and drying all year. The garden is quiet, but the crafting is not. This is the season for the longer, more considered projects. The ones that take a little more time and reward you with something that lasts. And when the windowsills start feeling bare, there are always plants.
Crafting A Winter Wreath
There’s nothing quite like cozy nights by the fire and decorating your home to embrace the beauty of Winter. This season, why not step outside and gather natural materials right from your own backyard? In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to forage for greenery, branches, and other winter treasures to create a one-of-a-kind rustic wreath that brings a touch of winter magic to your front door.
Welcome Winter Wildlife
The garden isn’t done in Winter, it’s just quieter. This DIY bird cafe is how I keep tending it through the cold months: a little foraged beauty, a little function, and the reward of watching chickadees and nuthatches treat your yard like their personal dining room.
Pressed Flower Wood Slice Ornaments: A Nature-Inspired DIY
Holiday gift-making season meets all those pressed flowers you saved in Summer. These ornaments are rustic, beautiful, and the kind of thing people keep long after the holidays are over. Also, a wonderful thing to make with kids.
How I Built My Dream Closed Terrarium (A Start-to-Finish Guide)
When the garden is under snow, and you just need something alive on the table. A closed terrarium is a tiny self-sustaining world under glass: equal parts science project and living art. This is one of my most-loved tutorials, and winter is the perfect time to build one. It’s the perfect idea for those long January days!
A Year of Projects, Waiting For You!
The thing I love most about working with flowers and botanicals is that there’s never a dead season. Just a different one. Summer teaches you to gather and preserve. Fall teaches you to let things go beautifully. Winter teaches you patience and intention. And Spring? Spring just feels like starting over again, with everything you’ve learned.
I hope this gives you a project for wherever you are in the year right now. Pick one, make it, and then come back for the next one. There’s always something waiting.
Have a favorite botanical project you want to try? Drop it in the comments — I’d love to hear which season you’re most excited about.
xo, Jennifer
Love projects like this? Don’t miss out! Join my newsletter family for more cozy, budget-friendly DIY ideas delivered right to your inbox. You’ll get exclusive tips, early access to tutorials, and all the inspiration you need to make your home feel handmade and heartfelt.
featured
pressed flower art
My top choices & supplies that I have used in my pressed flower tutorials
Fresh Flower Wreath Collection
Looking for more pretty ideas?See all of our wreath tutorials using fresh flowers & natural materials
This post makes my soul sing❤️… I love gardening and the different crafts you can make year long. Thank you for all the beautiful creatives.
Lorri🌸
Thank you Lorri!!!
My organic loving heart soaked up every single project. Love this round up. I dig (no pun intended) your botanical decor philosophy. Great post. XO- MaryJo @masterpiecesofmylife
Oh, thanks MaryJo!!