12 Days of Decorating Continued:
Continue your 12 days of holiday decorating with these 3 DIY projects, fun for the whole family.
Day 4: Get Your Crochet On
Anyone comfortable with crochet should try incorporating the handy activity into their holiday decorations. Alice Merlino, who writes the craft blog Futuregirl, has plenty of Christmas-related crochet ideas. In addition to wrapping presents in crochet – which she suggests for oddly-shaped gifts and as a way to personalize the item – Merlino also suggests crocheting candy cane-colored bunting to hang over the fireplace, stockings for everyone in the family, tree skirts, ornaments in fun shapes (like octopuses!), door wreaths and even homemade Advent calendars. “The great thing about crocheted decorations are that you can wash them to keep them looking fresh year after year,” Merlino says.
Day 5: Homemade Advent Calendars
Merlino isn’t the only fan of Advent calendars. Tamara Maynes, an Australian craft designer and author of “82 Modern Style Ideas to Create at Home” (Murdoch, 2012) also is an advocate.
An Advent calendar is a special calendar used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in the days leading up to Christmas. To create your own, Maynes suggests removing the backs from 25 graphic Christmas cards and stamping the numbers one through 25 over the images on the front. “Write a message applicable to Christmas on the back of each and tack [them] on the wall in an organic, clustered style.”
Or add a chocolate or treat to each day so kids will look forward to counting down the days to Christmas – if they aren’t already.
Day 6: Cake Stands and Pastry Dishes
Sometimes, new holiday decorations can come from repurposed household items. Allen suggests using cake stands and pastry dishes to display Christmas objects. “Stack three cake plates in a tier and throw ornaments and Christmas trinkets and gifts on them,” she says. If you have a cake stand with a lid, she says to turn the lid upside down and fill it with ornaments.
DIY Christmas Decorating, Part 1
