DIY Deck The Halls

By theadmin

Rumor has it that Santa’s elves are working from home this year. Join them and deck the halls with these DIY crafts.

Dried Citrus Garland

String a garland across your tree, mantel, or anywhere for a pop of color and aroma.

Materials: Dried citrus slices (you can buy or make these), twine or wire.
Instructions: Thread dried citrus slices on twine or wire to create a garland.

Pom-Pom Pine Cone Ornaments

Decorate pine cones with tiny, colorful pom-poms; they’ll almost look like ornaments or fairy lights on a tree!

Materials: Pine cones, pom-poms, hot glue gun, string or ribbon.
Instructions: Hot glue tiny, colorful pom-poms to the undersides of pine cone branches that form a little pocket. Hot glue about a foot of string or ribbon in a loop to the top of the pine cone so you can hang them on your tree.

Candy Cane Sugar Scrub

Stock your guest bathroom with holiday cheer, or give the gift of homemade goodness. This recipe will yield 2 cups of sugar scrub.

Materials: 6 candy canes, 1 cup sugar, 3⁄4 cup coconut oil, 15-20 drops of peppermint essential oil or 1⁄4 teaspoon of peppermint extract, food processor, small glass jars.
Instructions: Pulverize candy canes in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and ulse until the mixture emulsifies and feels like wet sand. Transfer to small, lidded glass jars.

Twig Ornaments

Send kids out on an expedition to gather small twigs to make charming ornaments.

Materials: Twigs, twine, and imagination!
Instructions: Tie twigs together with twine in the shapes of stars or snowflakes.

Tree Drink Stirrers

Make drinks extra festive with a wintry answer to a tropical paper umbrella.

Materials: Wooden skewers, hot glue gun, mini bottle brush trees.
Instructions: Cut wooden skewers down to size (3 inches) and attach a mini bottle brush tree to the top with a dab of hot glue. (You can find these tiny trees in plenty of colorful, sparkly varieties on Amazon.)

Mason Jar Snow Globes

Even if it’s not a white Christmas outside, kids can create their own little snowy worlds with a little imagination and a few materials.

Materials: Mason jar, oil-based enamel paint (optional), sandpaper, epoxy, distilled water, glitter, glycerin (available at drugstores), any little figurines that fit your theme.
Instructions: If your jar lids don’t look seasonal, paint them with oil-based enamel paint. Sand the inside of the lid so the surface is rough and you can adhere figurines to it. Attach figurines to lid with clear-drying epoxy and let dry. Fill jar almost to the top with distilled water. Add a dash of glitter and glycerin, which will help slow the glitter falling. (Careful not to add too much, or the glitter will stick.) Tightly screw on cap to jar. Flip over and let it snow!

Gingerbread Play Dough

Keep kids entertained throughout your holiday celebrations with this classic craft.

Ingredients: 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup flour, 1⁄2 cup salt, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ginger.
Instructions: Mix first three ingredients (the liquids) in a saucepan. Whisk the remaining (dry) ingredients in a bowl, then slowly add to the saucepan and mix well. Cook on low-medium heat. Remove from heat and let cool once dough is fully cooked and starts to form a ball. Knead 10 minutes, until smooth. Play!

Cork Fairies

Save corks from old bottles to make these adorable fairy decorations.

Materials: Corks, small wooden balls (as many as your number of corks), matte Mod Podge, a fine-tip permanent marker, ribbon (gold or silver), hot glue gun, twine.
For your fairy’s face: Brush a small wooden ball with a layer of matte Mod Podge and let dry; this will help the fairy’s face stick. Brush on a little flush to your fairy’s cheeks using blush and draw eyes and a smile with a fine-tip permanent marker.
To create your fairy: Hot glue heads to the tops of corks, which will be the bodies.
For your fairy’s wings: Make a bow with an 8-inch piece of ribbon (anything festive works; sparkly gold or silver give these extra magic) and glue the bow to the back of the cork for fairy wings. Trim as needed.
To hang your fairy: Glue a 6-inch loop of twine to the back of the cork to hang as an ornament.

Pine Cone Elves

Create little woodland elves with natural forest pine cones and a few extra materials.

Materials: Pine cones, small wooden balls (as many as your number of pine cones), permanent marker, felt (any colors you find festive or that match your other decor), tiny jingle bells (as many as your number of elves), hot glue gun, twine and/or string.
To make your elves: Hot glue a small wooden ball to the top of a small pine cone for each elf’s head and body. Draw on two dots for eyes with permanent marker.
To make your elf clothes: Cut out little felt shapes: two hearts for feet, a rounded triangle for a hat, and a long skinny rectangle for a scarf. You can mix and match felt colors. Red, green, and white are festive, but any colors will work.
To dress your elves: Fold the triangle in half and lightly glue the seam to form a hat. Attach a tiny jingle bell to the top and glue the bottom to your elf’s head. Wrap the felt scarf around your elf’s head and attach it with a dab of hot glue. Stack and glue together your two hearts, then glue to the bottom of the pine cone for feet.
To decorate: To string your elves into a garland, glue a piece of string to the backs of their hats, then tie the strings of all your elves to a piece of twine. To hang as a tree ornament, loop strings to attach directly to a tree.

Before you start putting up your beautiful homemade decorations, be sure to do so carefully with these best practices to ensure you and your home stay safe while decorating for the holidays.

Now that you have your gifts picked out, make sure the wrapping is just as thoughtful with these DIY holiday gift-wrapping ideas.