Christmas is a festive time of year when we deck our halls and make homes look beautiful. These are a few ideas on how to deck your halls with handmade decorations that are beautiful and do not cost much to make.
Christmas Bow Wreath
Use a 14 inch straw wreath and a bunch of premade Christmas bows that you stick on Christmas presents. It might take about 90 to 100 bows to make the wreath. Peel the backing on the sticky part of the bow and dab some hot glue on for extra strength. Glue the bows on the wreath starting near the inside of the hole and working out. You can glue bows on top of bows or get some small ball Christmas ornaments to glue in areas that are uncovered. If the bows keep popping off, use “U” shaped wires found in the florist section of the craft store to keep them in, just push them though the bow and into the straw wreath. Cover every inch of the wreath and hang it indoors or in a protected area.
Little Christmas Trees
Use several sized foam cones and some yarn to make cute little Christmas trees. Start at the bottom and hot glue some yarn to the bottom of the cone. Bring the yarn up to the bottom side and start wrapping it around and around the cone. You may have to dab a little hot glue on with a toothpick every once in a while to get the yarn to stay put. Totally cover the cone with the yarn and at the tip top, secure it with hot glue. Glue buttons to the tree as ornaments and a pom-pom on top as the star. Make your trees a variety of colors; not just green.
Christmas Presents on The Wall
Cover your pictures and frames with pretty Christmas wrapping paper by taking them off the wall and wrapping them. Glue on ribbon and replace on the wall.
Use Ornaments In Places Other Than The Tree
Place brightly colored or antique Christmas balls in glass bowls, large brandy snifters or baskets. Place them on table or on the mantle. Use a large hurricane lamp and place a pillar candle inside with a bunch of tiny glass ornaments poured around the side and use a long match to light the candle. String Christmas ornaments with pretty ribbon through the hanging hole and use push pins to attach to the bottom of your kitchen cabinets so they hang down over the counter top.
Deck Your Windows
Use antique or new gingerbread people cookie cutters or other cutters with Christmas Motifs to deck the window. Simply make a big loop through the top of the cookie cutter with ribbon and hang it from the window lock. You can add some holly or greenery to the top of the cookie cutter with some hot glue. Take medium size pine cones and leave them plain or spray paint them. You can even roll them in glitter. Wind some yarn through the bottom few levels of petals and bring it up to tie a loop and hang from the window locks upside down. Use your ribbon tied ornaments on the windows too. Make paper snowflakes and use thread and a needle to string thread through and tie in a loop to hang on the window. You might have to use your iron to get the creases out first so they don’t fold up.
Make Your Own Garland
Place garland on your trees, draping from your mantle or wound around your stair case railing. Make garland from pine cones as you did the window decorations but string them up on some twine. Take brown paper grocery bags and trace gingerbread people on them from cookie cutters. Cut two with a fold at the top from the bag and decorate with markers on both sides. Take twine and glue it inside the fold of each person spacing them evenly apart and use as garland. Take Christmas cupcake liners and fold in half with the outside showing to make a moon shape. Glue the liners on the inside fold to a piece of string or twine to make an interesting garland.
See how easy it is to make your own DIY Christmas decorations. None of these take too much time, tools or money to make and they will make your home look festive for the holidays.