One thing I've enjoyed with my leisure time this past week is Christmas crafting! After talking it over, Will and I decided not to get a tree since we won't actually be around for Christmas, but that didn't stop me going to Lowes to fish the tree trimmings out of their boxes like I did last year, to make the (now traditional) live garland (link) and several other little things for the house:
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| a fragrant live pine/ silk poinsettia table bouquet |
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| a live pine/ cone display in each bathroom |
My most favourite project was the live, rustic wreath that I made for Will's aunty, whom we are staying with over Christmas:
Nothing beats the smell of live pine or a gift crafted with love! I drew inspiration from Pottery Barn, where the live wreaths cost upwards of $100 and I want to tell you that making your own wreath is super fun, easy and cheap to make! So if you're strapped for ideas this Christmas - or buying for someone who has everything - this might be the perfect solution for you. Here's what you'll need:
live pine trimmings (free from Lowes!)
a wire wreath ($5.99 from Micheal's)
a bag of pine cones ($3 from Target)
twine
shears
scissors
small green wires
(I already had some but you can buy these from Micheal's for about $3 if you don't have any)
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| I also tried to be ceative with some 'juniper' looking berries and pine from our garden/ but the berries all fell off as I was attaching them to the wreath :( Major bummer - but the varying foliage looks great on the wreath! |
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| I strongly recommend a wire wreath like this one from Michael's - it's super easy to attach the pine and hold it firmly in place - others I've tried are too time consuming and finicky! |
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| To start, just lay the pine needles in places without securing them, to see how they will look |
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| When you're happy, wrap the wires around the bundle |
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| They're so hard to see! The perfect secret :) |
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| Roughly finished |
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| Hang it up to see how it looks |
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| Then secure any pieces that have gone haywire with the small green wires |
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| You can make it as tight/ neat/ round as you like - I wanted mine to look rustic so didn't tighten it too much |
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| Now it's looking neater :) |
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| If you want to decorate with pinecones, place the wreath back on the floor and roughly lay the pinecones in place |
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| To secure them onto your wreath, tie twine tightly around the bottom layers... |
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| Thread the twine inconspicuously through the foliage... |
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| Making sure it's completely hidden from the front... |
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| And tie in place around the back |
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| Voila! Your rustic wreath is all done! |
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| Well almost... I personally LOVED it like this, but when I showed it to Will - he said it needed colour to make it more festive... |
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| Luckily I had these berry wires ($1.99 from Michael's) left over from Xmas present wrapping |
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| So I pulled them apart... |
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| And wrapped them randomly around pine needles on my wreath |
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| Certainly more festive! |
Total time spent: 1 hour
Total cash spent: $9
HAVE FUN!!!
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