Inspired by Summer’s beautiful flowers and my friends’ lovely yards, I decided to gather up some backyard DIY ideas that are both affordable and innovative. If you try any of these yourself – we’d love to see photos! You can comment with a link to yours below!

Idea #1

Make a peacock with a garden pot holder and your favorite wine bottles. Or you can cheat and buy one for $75 here.

See 8 more ideas (like nighttime water bottle bowling..yes!) after the jump!

Idea #2

If you have steps going down to a pool, create a nice water fountain by purchasing a submersive pump and appropriate hose. Definitely for the advanced DIY’er, here is a helpful how-to that talks about the logistics of digging for a pump and water flow. Read here.

Idea #3

It’s super cute and only requires some paint, flowers, old tin barrels that can be found at a junkyard and small umbrellas found at the dollar store.

Idea #4

Create a fancy garden structure where there is no grass with retired tires, wooden pegs, a tin base (with holes in it for watering) and soil.

Idea #5

Creating a structure with wood (hello hunky carpenter friend!) and old milk cartons, you can create a starter herb garden. See what kind of herbs work for your environment, then commit to planting them in the ground.

Idea #6

This is really to show off the bottles on the wall so ignore the over-complicated DIY above. A plastic bottle has two holes on either side so that wire can be fed through. A large nut under the bottle keeps it in place on the wire. Then cut out a place for your plant and soil!

Idea #7

One of my favorite finds! Glow in the dark water bottle bowling. Get glow sticks (which everyone loves anyways, and should keep many in-stock at the house) and water bottles. Add a kickball.. DONE!

Idea #8

This looks like a magical fairyland and it all it took was some hanging lanterns, which can be found at a local goodwill or home decor super center, and ladders. Add tea lights when you want some extra ambiance. If you have mosquitos like we do in Texas, put citronella mini-candles in your ladders!

Idea #9

Another really fun idea for kiddos (or adults, who’s kidding). Find square rocks at your local Home Depot or Lowes and find some circle rocks to throw some paint on. Minutes of entertainment!