How to Make an Autumn Nature Bowl – lets take a look.
“Autumn… the year’s last, loveliest smile.” — William Cullen Bryant
Autumn is a wonderful time to slow down, get outdoors and notice the beautiful changes happening all around us. One simple way to celebrate the season is to collect a few natural treasures and turn them into a colourful autumn nature bowl for your home.
You don’t need expensive craft supplies or complicated instructions. A bowl, tray or even a plate can become a beautiful seasonal display using things you find outdoors.
Autumn Nature Bowl
What You’ll Need for your Autumn Nature Bowl
- A bowl, tray or plate for your display
- A container or basket for collecting treasures
- Autumn leaves
- Conkers and conker shells
- Pinecones
- Rosehips
- Crab apples
- Sunflower heads
- Interesting twigs, stones or seed heads
- Anything else naturally fallen that catches your eye
Try to choose a mixture of colours, shapes, textures and sizes. This will make your finished nature bowl much more interesting.
Gathering Your Autumn Treasures
There are plenty of places to look for natural treasures during an autumn walk. Explore woods, gardens, parks, pavements and hedgerows, or look underneath trees where leaves, conkers and seed pods have fallen.
Remember to follow a few simple rules when collecting. Only take things that have already fallen, never pick living plants or flowers, and make sure you have permission before collecting on private land. Leave plenty behind for wildlife too.
How to Make an Autumn Nature Bowl
First, check your treasures and gently clean anything that needs it. Remove obvious dirt and insects, taking care not to damage delicate leaves or flowers. Allow anything damp to dry thoroughly before bringing it indoors.
If you are using leaves, you can press or preserve them beforehand to help them last longer.
Next, place a layer of conkers in the bottom of your container. Their glossy brown colour looks wonderfully autumnal, and they are surprisingly useful for holding smaller items upright.
Now choose one larger item to form the centre of your display. This could be a flower head, large pinecone, beautiful stone or particularly striking leaf.
Finally, arrange the rest of your autumn treasures around the centrepiece. Start with larger, sturdier objects and add delicate leaves, rosehips and other fragile items last so they don’t get crushed.
Where to Display Your Nature Bowl
Your finished autumn nature bowl can be displayed on a mantelpiece, kitchen table, shelf or beside your front door. It is a simple way to bring a little of the outdoors inside and welcome the new season into your home.
It can also make a thoughtful seasonal gift. Why not create one for an older neighbour, grandparent or someone who doesn’t get outdoors very often? You could even make several nature bowls for a local care home.
An autumn nature bowl is a lovely reminder that you don’t need much to create something beautiful — sometimes all you need is a walk outside and a little imagination.
This craft is taken from my book A year of nature craft and play co-written with Catherine Hughes.
You might also like my post on Autumn Junk Journal Ideas
More beautiful leaf bowl ideas here
