How to farm DIY recipes in Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is full of new items to craft through DIY recipes – here’s how to farm them.

You can find these recipes in balloons, on beaches, or a villager can teach you an original recipe. Getting these DIY recipes is the best way to fill up your house with new decor, so let’s explore how to farm DIY recipes. 

DIY Recipes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

There are three main ways to farm DIY recipes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Each method has some unique mechanics that are not immediately apparent in-game. We’ll start with the most lucrative of methods – balloon popping. 

DIY Recipes From Balloons

DIY recipes Animal Crossing

DIY recipes are one of the things solid-colored balloons can contain. These balloons appear on five-minute intervals, but do not appear every five minutes. That means you’re most likely to see them at 7:10, 9:35, etc. The mechanic seems to be a 50/50 chance of a balloon appearing every five minutes. 

Balloons fly in a pattern that changes each day at certain times. They will start either from the left or right side of the island, until 6 or 7 pm when the winds change. Then, the balloons will come from the opposite side of the island for the rest of the night. That flip happens again in the morning around 6 am to 7 am. 

DIY recipes are not the only things balloons can contain, either. You may get bells, furniture items, crafting materials, and clothing before you get a DIY recipe. Your best bet in farming them is to pay attention to the skies. Listen using a good headset for hearing the ‘swish’ balloons make in the air. 

DIY Recipes from Villagers

DIY recipes Animal Crossing
Photo Credit: Animal Crossing World

Occasionally you may notice you haven’t seen a specific villager wandering around the island. Visit their home, and you may find them at their crafting bench, feverishly working. Talk to the villager, and they will offer you the DIY recipe they’re currently creating. 

Only some villagers have DIY tables in their houses. You can only get one recipe per villager per day. That means if you get a recipe from Biff and visit him later while he’s crafting, you won’t get the new recipe. Be sure to visit all of your villagers at home, because it’s random when they start using the DIY table. 

Finally, make sure you have space in your inventory to receive the DIY recipe. If your inventory is full, the villager won’t offer to give you the recipe they’re making. Some villagers may provide you with a second chance to obtain the DIY recipe, but it’s best not to risk it. 

Villager-obtained DIY recipes are not seasonal-locked, either. It seems to be completely random which DIY recipe a villager will offer when crafting. 

DIY Recipes from Bottles

DIY recipes in Animal Crossing

Once per day, a message in a bottle from a villager will wash up onto your beach. The bottle will contain a random message and an attached DIY recipe. The recipe is chosen at random and likely won’t be seasonal items. 

A separate seasonal message in a bottle may appear on your island during events. These seasonal bottles will always contain a DIY recipe – but you may get lots of repeats. 

Additional DIY Recipe Notes

  • Some recipes can only be acquired from Nook’s Cranny in their packs of DIY recipes. 
  • You can get DIY recipes from crafting villagers at friend’s islands you visit. 
  • Isabelle sometimes gives a DIY recipe at the morning announcement, but it is rare. 
  • Campground visitors may also share a DIY recipe with you while visiting. 
  • Villagers without DIY tables in their homes will still spawn one to craft, so check them anyway.

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