Do It Yourself Yard Art Patterns

Decorate your yard with homemade art.

Many homeowners take pride in decorating their yards with attractive landscaping, wind chimes and other decorations. Some popular decorations, especially around the holidays, include wooden yard art. These pieces are usually made from ½-inch to 1-inch sheets of wood and painted to look like animals, holiday characters, lawn gnomes and more. If you don't have the budget or can't find yard art that you like, designing a pattern to make your own is simple. It requires a little artistic talent and visualization skills, but the supplies are household items.

Things You'll Need

• Newspaper
• Tape
• Chalk or pencil
• Permanent marker
• Scissors
• Glue
• Cardboard

Instructions

1. Tape together several pieces of old newspaper, edge to edge, and lay them out flat on a sturdy surface. Think about your yard art, and consider whether you want to make just one character or several. Pick something simple, like a rabbit or toad, that does not have slender protrusions or a lot of detail along its edges.

2. Draw one character for your yard art using chalk or a pencil. Draw in as many details as you like to get correct proportions, but pay close attention to the outline; it should be relatively smooth with few small crevices or complicated curls.

3. Use a permanent marker to darken the outline of your art piece. Cut along this darkened line, and glue the cutout to a piece of cardboard. The cardboard makes the pattern sturdy so you can use it over and over again.

References

• Patterns 'R Us: Woodworking Patterns
• Choose Freedom: Yard Art Patterns
• Sherwood Online: Woodcrafting Plans and Patterns