Even on the heels of cyber Monday (maybe especially on the heels of cyber Monday), we firmly believe that nothing beats hand-made, no matter how humble. Today we’ve rounded up some DIY decor and gift ideas that we’d love to try. We’re so excited for the holidays!
This is a refreshing take on a holiday wreath — we love the copper and the simple greenery, and it looks like you could get most of your supplies with a quick trip to the floral section at the grocery store.
The cuteness of these tree place-cards is almost enough to make us want to host a holiday dinner with assigned seating.
We’re charmed by these clothespin people ornaments, and love the idea of making them in the likeness of family and friends to give as gifts.
It’s a day late for starting advent, but this one is so cute it would be worth doing an abbreviated month.
If you’ve vowed that this is the year you send out hand-made holiday cards, these embroidered trees might be just the thing.
Do any of these DIYs strike your fancy, or have you seen any good holiday tutorials that we might have missed? Share a link — we’re ready to be inspired!
Aww, those clothespin people take me back. I made a bunch (from a kit, though) many, many years ago when I was laid up with a back injury. Why I had the kit hanging around I do not know, but it passed the time. No idea what became of them. I really like the cards, too.
I hope you still have them somewhere, Nina!
I just love that little village, and I suppose you could use it year after year, making all the time consuming work worth it. When I was young, we used to make paper chains for our tree from some kind of kit that had ribbon-like strips with sticky ends, so all you had to do was form the ring and stick the ends together. I’ve tried to replicate that off and on over the years, but it’s never been the same. If you have any chain-making suggestions for me, I’d love to hear them.
I agree Carol, it’s hard to beat a cheerful paper chain. Could double sided tape work?
Carol, when I was a kid, we made paper chains, using construction paper we cut into strips, and then stapled the ends. We would make them with 25 links, and then each day we would rip one off to see how many days were left until Christmas.
If you use darker colored paper (dark reds, greens) or maybe even silver, a staple to keep each circle in place, may not be that noticeable? But as Mera mentioned, double stick tape could work as well. 🙂
What fun! I’ll have to try some of these next year. Pinterest is a great site for finding fun holiday inspiration. Thanks, you two!!
I look at all the wonderful ornaments and decorations my mom made way back when and I can’t believe she came up with all those great ideas without Pinterest! Thank you Valerie!
You reminded me that I have some sweet clothespin people ornaments packed away with other treasured ones (the macaroni trees my kids made) the clothespin people were from a parent of one of my preschool students so many years ago!
What a sweet memory, Judy! I love that you still have the clothespin people ornaments–maybe they’ll get some air time this year? xoxo
I’m not always that crafty with my hands, but this year, after a bad car wreck, injuries, serious illness, and a lost job, I’m in a financial pickle to say the least, and have been especially inspired by decades like the 1930s-1940s (which also happen to be my favorite decades to collect from), in which people were remarkable thrifty and dedicated to the practice of making do with what they had, amidst the difficulties of the The Great Depression and World War II. During these decades, it was popular to make your own Christmas village, or putz houses, from cardboard (and often a lot of glitter), similar to the advent example you posted, but more decorated. Of course, today these houses are most commonly seen mass-produced and made from ceramic or porcelain, in fact, it wasn’t until recently that I even knew this tradition begin with just some cardboard and creativity, but I’ve decided to try and make my own…with the catch that I can’t spend any money on them and have to use solely things already around my house (or borrowed…thanks mom, for the hot glue gun). I almost began with houses typical of the ones you see in Christmas villages, but opted to make them rowhouses, like the houses that are in my neighborhood, and all over Baltimore city.
I also love the simplicity of this: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/178384835218177712/ Not many pines or evergreens in the city, though… I’m going to attempt a wreath with some dried plants I already have on hand, and maybe a hanger similar to what’s shown above, as I don’t know that I have any other wire on hand strong enough to hold a shape.
Have you ever made ornaments with cloves, oranges, and a little bit of ribbon? Those were some we made growing up, my mother always had us making ornaments and Christmas crafts.
We made many paper chains in elementary school — strips of construction paper, one ring glued with paste from a pot on each of our desks and then another and another and another added until we had a colorful chain of pasted rings. Messy but attractive too…We’d take them home and they made it onto the tree. No advent removal but cats liked batting a hanging link…
My mother was artistic. When we were growing up (1950s) in Bend, Oregon, in the High Desert, she would drive out with Dad and collect tumbleweeds. She’d spray them silver and then decorate them with tiny blue glass balls. They would be hung upside down. We didn’t have a lot of extra money and I remember her shipping these East to families living in Wisconsin and Massachusetts. They were appreciated!