Beautiful flower crafts can be made from nature's bounty in your backyard. The following are a few simple delights for you to make for yourself or share with others.

The first is a tussie-mussie. A tussie-mussie is a bouquet of flowers and herbs. Many people make them for others using very specific flowers and herbs, all with meaning behind the choices, such as roses for love.

Supplies needed: floral tape; paper doily with an x cut in center (you can buy tussie-mussie holders in craft shops); ribbon; scissors; rubberband; and dried herbs and flowers.

Directions: Combine flowers and herbs to make several small bunches of flowers, and secure them together with some floral tape. Holding them in your hand, put favorite flowers or herbs in center and surround them with others.

Secure your finished arrangement with a rubber band and put it into the doily (or holder). Wrap the stems with floral tape and then with a ribbon.

Dried Flower Hearts

Supplies: 1/2" thick sheet of styrofoam; glue; 1&1/2 cups dried flowers or petals of your choice; assorted dried herbs and dried rosebuds; ribbon; fragrant oil.

Directions: Cut a pair of hearts out of the styrofoam. Cover hearts with glue and while glue is still wet cover the hearts with crushed flowers or petals. With other herbs and rosebuds, make a tiny arrangement and glue it to the front of each heart. Glue one ribbon end to the cleft of each heart. When dry tie a bow at center of ribbon. Add a few small drops of fragrant oil to hearts before hanging.

Spicy Christmas Ornaments

Ingredients: 1 cup applesauce, chilled; 1/2 cup ground cloves; 1/2 cup cinnamon; 1/2 cup nutmeg.

Directions: Mix spices and cold applesauce. Roll dough into 2" balls and stick a skewer through them and let them begin to dry. When partially dry, remove skewer and put a folded, narrow ribbon into the hole for hanging. Tie a bow with other ends of the ribbon. Hang ornaments to dry and try to keep the bow ends bent up until they are dry. Store year after year in a covered container.