Holiday Decorating
Make garlands out of felt scraps. Cut Xmas shapes out of felt in miniature, mini stockings, holly leaves, mittens, and string together with needle and floss or strong fishing line to hang all over the house.
Drop a tealight candle in your cleaned out glass mayonnaise jars, tie a holiday ribbon around the neck, and you have a beautiful candle with Xmas charm.
Start a Christmas collection. This can be a great tradition to initiate in your home. My girls and I starting collecting Santas 3 years ago, and it’s something they look forward to, choosing our yearly Santa together.
If you are looking to do a toyland theme for your Christmas decorating this year, try searching out teddy bears and dolls at your local thrift stores.
Place a few inexpensive glass balls in a bowl and embellish with a few sprigs of greenery or some leftover ribbon. If you don’t have an extra bowl (it is the holidays, after all!) try decoupaging a box with leftover Christmas wrap, or cover with a little fabric and glue.
Take down your pictures and wrap them like a gift, then hang them back on the wall for great holiday cheer! You don’t have to do this all around the house, how about just in the entry, or maybe the dining room?
Tie greens or ornaments to the chandelier with a little Christmas ribbon, just make sure they don’t hang low enough for any candles on the table to catch them on fire.
Make your own gift tags out of leftover paper. Ok, this is not a new idea, but try punching it up a bit. Add details by layering shapes over the base paper, use paper punches and scalloped scrapbooking scissors to add style, use a gold calligraphy pen to add names. Or use the scalloped scissors to make old holiday cards into tags.
Sponge stars or other seasonal shapes on your window with paint! No, I’m not nuts. Just add a teaspoon or so of liquid dish soap to acrylic craft paint, (I like white or gold metallic) and after the holidays you should be able to wash it off with window cleaner. Use a non- scratching dish scrubber if you come across a stubborn spot.
