Making your own Christmas decorations can be a time-honored tradition, and it can save you money, too. Once you get your creative juices flowing, you’ll be personalizing all of your decor and having a blast doing it. Here are a few simple DIY project ideas to get you started:
Pine Cone Wreath
This classic decoration never goes out of style. This is one of those projects that looks more complicated than it actually is. Once you get the basic system done, the construction will be quite easy.
You’ll need craft pinecones and a pre-made grapevine wreath. You can buy both at a craft store, or if you live in an area with a lot of pine trees, you can find your own in nature. You’ll need about 35 to 50 pinecones, depending on their size.
After you’ve gathered your supplies, simply begin hot-gluing the ends of the pinecone to the wreath. Start out on one side and work your way around to the other. For best results, try to be as symmetrical as possible with your placement of the different sizes of pinecones.
Christmas Throw Pillows
Even if you don’t know how to sew, making slipcovers for your throw pillows is easy. Throw pillows can give your living room or sitting room a whole new look with just a simple change. Select your fabric based on the colors you are using for decorations in the room. Red, green, gold and silver are all traditional Christmas colors that can be used on Christmas throw pillows.
A visit to the fabric store will open your eyes to how many different options you have for this project. You can make suede pillows, satin pillows or cotton pillows. The fabric in the store will give you tons of ideas for how to want to go about finishing this project.
You can do this project in several ways: You can measure your existing throw pillows and just make slipcovers for the pillows. You can make your own pillows using pillow forms to use year after year. Or you can use a no-sew technique to simply wrap the pillows or pillow forms in new fabric.
Bring the Outdoors In
Go on a nature hike with your family and gather supplies from the natural world, including pinecones and tree cuttings. Place them in a bowl. Leave them looking plain and rustic or spray paint a few in festive and glittery holiday colors. Tie a ribbon around the bowl and you have a low cost piece of holiday decor that reflects the are in which you live.
Christmas Centerpiece
Make a simple yet elegant Christmas centerpiece by using a dish and a few floating candles. You’ll need a shallow bowl, some floating candles and a Christmas placemat. Lay the placemat in the center of the table and then place the bowl on top. Fill the bowl with clean water and then add your candles. If you don’t have a Christmas placemat, you can use a charger or decorative plate to place the bowl. Once the bowl is in place, surround it with greenery and some Christmas ornaments.
Let the Kids Help
While you are getting creative with your holiday decorations, there are lots of things the kids can do to help, depending on their ages and skills. Kids can make snowflakes with a pair of scissors and some white or silver papers (or turn them loose with last year’s holiday cards). Younger kids always have fun with glitter. And older kids love to string popcorn with a needle and thread as well as to find creative ways to display the year’s holiday cards as they arrive. Ask your children to help you come up with more creative ideas for homemade Christmas decorations. They might have some wonderful ideas of their own.
