Earth Day Assemblage Art DIY

Earth Day is a special holiday that should really come around more than once a year! With all the goodness the Earth brings us, making a special craft to celebrate is the least we can do, but certainly the most fun!

To start this craft, you need to collect some bits of nature to assemble into your own sculpture, take a walk or explore the backyard to collect twigs, fallen leaves, seed pods and more. Enjoy the walk and point out your favorite parts of nature, whether it be the layers of tree bark or the smell of freshly cut grass, this just might be my favorite part of this creating this piece of artwork.

Materials Needed:

• Kid Made Modern Arts and Crafts Supply Library – There are countless elements you can use to adorn your collection of nature, the list below are items we used in our assemblage sculpture.
  • Wooden Beads
  • Plastic Beads
  • Pom Poms
  • Fuzzy Sticks
  • Embroidery Thread
  • Rhinestones
  • Scissors
• Glue Dots
• Collection of found natural elements
  • Twigs
  • Thin twigs for beads to fit on
  • Leaves
  • Seed Pods

Instructions:

Step 1

Start with your largest natural element, whether that be a twig, rock or large leaf. This will be the base of your assemblage art, everything else will be attached to this piece and your sculpture will grow from here.

For my sculpture, I started with two beaded elements, first threading beads onto a tiny pliable twig and using glue dots to secure them at the end. Then using embroidery thread to attach it to my base stick.

The second beaded element is made by stringing plastic beads onto embroidery thread and tied onto the stick. To start this string of beads, tie one bead onto the thread to be the stopper, when your string is long enough tie it onto the base stick.

Either or both of these beaded elements can be added to your sculpture.

Step 2

Next, add a few of leaves by attaching them with a glue dot. Clustering some of the leaves together adds a nice look!

Step 3

To add some dimension to my sculpture, I used seed pods and attached pom poms with glue dots to each pod, then glued them onto the stick in three different places. This step could also be done with small rocks, pinecones or more leaves.

Step 4

For the next step, bend two fuzzy sticks into a rainbow shape and glue each end onto the base stick for some added height on one side. Lace a few beads onto one fuzzy stick rainbow for a little extra color!

Now your assemblage art is complete, but you can add as many different elements, both craft supplies and natural to build up your sculpture in countless ways.

Making this kind of art for Earth Day is always unique and one-of-a-kind, just like nature itself, which is exactly what makes each one so special!

About the Author: 

Fiber artist and craft enthusiast, Tessa Anderstrom, is the owner of handmade shop Studio Jane which focuses on sustainably made home décor and handmade art. As an avid DIYer with a passion for learning new skills, Tessa enjoys sharing that knowledge with crafters of all ages.