3 Handmade Christmas Decorations Ideas
There is nothing that makes you feel as though Christmas is really here like wandering the aisles of Christmas decorations at your favorite department store. Unfortunately, you can easily spend your entire Christmas budget and more on all of the beautiful, sparkling and intricately designed Christmas decorations for sale.
So instead of adding more stuff to your home – because at the end of the day even the most beautiful decorations you buy are mass produced – look at these three simple decorations you can make this year. Not only will you end up with gorgeously unique decorations, you’ll also make some great Christmas memories for your family.
Advent Calendar
The countdown to Christmas is just as much fun as the actual day, which is why advent calendars are so popular. You can buy all sorts of themed calendars with generic gifts behind each of the days leading up the 25th of December, but why not make a personalized advent calendar for each of your kids or grandkids. An advent calendar is also a great decoration to start making your home festive and a unique talking point when guests come around.
You can make an advent calendar in any design and style you choose. Think about the things that your kids like and their individual personalities and create an advent calendar which reflects that. For example, if your daughter is a girly girl why not use a wire framed Christmas tree decorated white and silver to hang each date, or if you have a son, think about how you can create a train carriage or compartment for each date, or perhaps a piece of luggage in each compartment.
Keep thinking about the items you have and the styles you like, as you look at each of the three main elements of an advent calendar:
A base. The style of base you choose is up to you, and you may choose something you can spray paint, something you can cover in wrapping paper, or it may be important that the advent calendar can be attached to the fridge.
The dates. You’ll then need some way to mark the dates. This can be done in a grid on the paper, or you can make individual dates by creating a bauble, a box, a drawer or any other way you want to mark out the dates 1 to 24 in the lead up to the big day. If you are making an advent calendar with treats for each day, you will want to consider how you can include these treats in the calendar, or if you want to keep them separate from the advent display. Or you could place a photo or a piece of interesting craft paper behind each date as a surprise when it’s opened, or make envelopes which correspond to each date, and hold clues for your children to hunt down their surprise.
A marker. Then decide how you are going to mark the days. You could either move each date tag to hang it on an advent tree for example, or you can move an advent marker across the dates. You can use Velcro, ribbons or hooks to keep your marker in place.
Stay Tuned for part 2, the next decoration, tomorrow…
Alban is passionate about arts and crafst and is already starting his Christmas decorations. When he is not decorating, Alban writes reviews for personal loans
