5 Crafts to Welcome Spring

Lily Working on a Collage at Craft Camp

Sunlight has already begun to stretch longer, and the world smells fresh again. Soon, flowers will start springing up! But that beauty and light doesn’t need to stay outside your home–let’s look at some crafts you can do to bring spring in!

Have you felt it? That rush of energy in the wind? The warmth of the sun, lingering longer every day? Winter loves it here in Minnesota, and the transitional season from winter to summer sometimes doesn’t visit us at all! One day it’s snowing, and by the end of the week, it’s 90ºF. This year, however, we got an early thaw which means we actually get spring! I know I’m not the only person who loves to open her windows and let that fish air circulate through her stuffy, still-hibernating home. I also know I’m not the only person who wants to bring the bright energy of spring in even more! So I took it upon myself to compile some lovely spring crafts you can use to embrace the season.

Spring Crafts in Cultural Traditions

Around the world, many cultures hold that spring, not the middle of winter, is the true new year. Even more, tons of cultures around the world have traditions of making spring crafts as gifts, decoration, and so on!

Pysanky in Ukraine are often made in spring, around Lent and Easter, and given to family as a symbol for the Gift of Life. While it is a tradition born from pre-Christain Ukraine, the symbolism of a whole egg lines up very well with the religious holidays during the same time of year.

Holi is a festival in Northern India all about bringing light and life in to the new year. Participants make dyed powder and water and throw it on one another to share the bright blessings of spring.

Martenitsa bracelets in Bulgaria are given to friends and family as a blessing for strength, happiness, and health. This tradition is so old and so held-to that it’s officially part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage compendium!

Here in America, we’re most familiar with decorating eggs for Easter, but since everyone knows that one, I won’t be talking about that today! While spring crafts like bird feeders and door wreathes are always loved and always welcome, we’re focusing on crafts that bring spring into your home. So grab a sketchbook and start connecting your ideas!

1) Paper Garlands

Perhaps one of the most basic crafts ever, paper garlands always bring an air of whimsy and light to a space! In grade school it’s likely you made these with brightly colored construction paper, gaudy stickers, and so forth. The best news is, as an adult, you can make them with whatever you want. I personally like using wrapping paper left over from spring birthdays, baby showers, weddings, and the like! Try getting creative with cut-outs from magazines, scrapbooking paper, and so forth.

You don’t even have to use paper if you don’t want to! For a seamstress with too much material on her hands, use strips of fabric or old ribbons to create a garland that will last from year to year!

2) Botanical Candles

If you’ve read our Hibernation Hobbies Pt 1 blog post, you’re going to be familiar with this one!

• Take a jar-less candle of your choice (tapers and pillars work best), find some foliage (ferns, flowers, the like), and get some wax paper.
• Lay the plants on your candle and cover it with the wax paper.
• Using a heat gun or even a blow drier, heat up the wax paper and all beneath it.
• Once the candle becomes moldable and sticky, stop and let the candle cool.
• Peel off the wax and voila! A lovely botanical candle all ready for spring. Just be sure you burn it on a fire-safe plate!

3) Rope Placemats (or Coasters or Rugs)

With a length of thin rope and a hot glue gun you can do anything! Simply:

• Place a dot of hot glue at the end, roll the rope against itself, and keep rolling, being sure to place more hot glue as you go.
• Forming a disk with your rope, you can stop at three inches in diameter for a cute coaster, a little bigger for a placemat, and a few feet for a cute circular entryway rug!
• If you aren’t a hot glue girly and would prefer an alternative, you can sew a few loops at intervals to create a stronger, longer-lasting hold.

4) Lavender Pouches

Perfect to pop in your pillowcase, on the shelves in your closet, or even the coin dish in your car, Lavender Pouches are one of the best-smelling spring crafts in this post. These can be as intense or as basic as you want!

• Take a strip of fabric, fold it in half, and sew two out of the three sides shut.
• Fill it with lavender and any other herbs or flowers you want, and sew it up the rest of the way.
• Now you have a wonderful pouch of florals and calming scents!
• To make it fancy, experiment with other fabric as accents, beads, bells, trim, and so forth.
• If you want to make it useful for more than just lovely smells, fill the pouch halfway with rice and then add your dried botanicals to create a heating pad you can warm in the microwave. Just be sure you use heavier fabric or multiple layers, as we don’t want the rice to burn you!

5) Floral Centerpiece

The simplest one yet–pick some flowers (or buy some) and pop them in a vase! To spruce things up a bit, take a ribbon and decorate it with beads, more ribbons, or whatever you dream up, and tie it around the neck of the vase. If you want to go even more into the craftiness, get some paint and cover a mason jar, an old bottle, or just revive an old vase with some new colors!

As the earth comes back to life, we would be remiss if we didn’t bring some of that into our homes to celebrate! Hopefully this post inspired you to find some cute spring crafts to try out. Why don’t you grab some friends and have a crafting day? Or better yet, book a crafting retreat! Creativity always flows more in nature, and that way you can enjoy it to the fullest. Thank you for reading, and I can’t wait to see you next time here on At the Campfire!