Looking for Easy Garden Crafts This Fall?

You scattered a bunch of herbs seeds in the spring, cut sprigs all summer long for fresh flavors, and now have more herb cuttings than you know what to do with. After you've dried enough herbs for the winter, there's a fun and easy DIY craft project you can do at home with your extras.

I'm talking about making your own dried herb wreath.

These wreaths are beautiful and inexpensive and will make your home smell exquisite. Plus, why should you spend money on a plastic wreath that will end up in the landfill in a few months when you can make your own from the garden?

Follow these simple steps to make a dried herb wreath that you can hang indoors to remind you of summer all fall and winter long.

Gather Your Supplies

For this easy DIY project, you'll need the following supplies:

• A wire wreath form
• Garden pruners
• Floral wire
• Lots and lots of dried herbs

My Favorite Herbs to Use for Easy Craft Projects

• lemon balm
• anise hyssop
• lavender
• rosemary
• sage
• thyme
• yarrow

If you'd like to add dried flowers, the best cut flowers would be strawflowers, which have paper-like petals that were basically made for arts and crafts. (You've got to grow these stunning little flowers next spring if you're unfamiliar with them. They're super easy to grow, and you can find seeds in all kinds of fun colors.)

You could also do dried flower spikes from basil. Thai basil and African blue basil produce tons of gorgeous purple flowers.

Here are some bundles of dried lemon balm. These are super-productive plants, so you can end up with lemon balm leaves for your own cozy winter teas and still have bouquets for small decor projects.

If you haven't dried herbs before, simply bundle herbs together, secure the bottom of their stems with a rubber band or piece of twine, and hang them upside down for a couple of weeks in a cool, dark, and dry spot.

Prepare Dried Herbs

Gather each set of herbs in small bunches, strip the leaves from the bottom of each bunch, and wrap the bunch tightly with floral wire. Leave some extra floral wire at the end to attach the herbs to the wreath form.

Make at least five to ten bunches of each herb, depending on the size of your wreath.

For my wreath, I made about ten bunches of lemon balm, seven bunches of thyme, and five small bunches of anise hyssop (pictured below).

Construct the Wreath

Start with herbs with larger leaves like lemon balm. Attach the first bunch of herbs going counter-clockwise on the wreath form (or clockwise if you like to rebel a bit).

Tuck the next bunch of herbs under the first so that they're all heading in the same direction. Once you've covered the base, you can come int with smaller leaves like dried thyme and insert them between each group.

Continue around the wreath form until you've made it as full as you'd like before moving on to the next set of herbs. I finished my wreath off with some annise hyssop and Thai basil flowers.

Bunch and attach again and again until your herb wreath meets your standards for looking beautiful.

If you don't have enough dried herbs to make your wreath nice and full, you can mix in fresh greenery from trees and shrubs that won't wilt or mildew. In the picture below, I'm mixing dried herbs like lavender with some fresh greenery I clipped from my yard. Get creative with your wreaths using the materials you have on hand!

Another option is to use a grapevine wreath as your base instead of wire wreath form. You can leave parts of your grapevine base bare.

Enjoy Your Wreath!

Hang your wreath indoors so you can enjoy the fragrance of summer all winter long, and feel free to grab a few herbs off the wreath whenever you need some extra flavor in your meals.

If you'd like to hang your wreath outdoors, such as on the front door, just make sure your wreath won't get any direct sunlight, rain, or snow. (And be okay with your pretty little wreath not lasting quite as long. The good news is you can save the wreath form and start anew next year.)

These wreaths also make great homemade gifts for friends!

Enjoy!