A Natural Centerpiece for the Table
Many garden stores that sell Christmas trees have a bin of loose branches that you can buy quite cheaply. It is fun to make centerpieces from the loose pieces of pine trees or holly trees. Start by finding an old bowl or vase to use as the base of the centerpiece. You may want to paint it gold or red to give it a holiday look.
Then fill it with fragrant pine branches, strings of cranberries, slices of dried oranges, nuts in the shell, pine cones, cloves, and whole oranges with cloves imbedded in them.
This centerpiece gift will add a lot of holiday cheer to someone's dining table or a table anywhere else in the house too. This DIY project is easy to make, does not cost much and is a stunning gift.
Candle Holder Made from Tree Branches
Tree stumps and branches are often strewn about the ground in heavily wooded yards. Use some of this debris to create unique holiday gifts. Tree branches could be placed together in a square or round shape to hold a candle. Just cut the branches to the size needed to form the shape of the item you want to create. You may wish to place a glass or metal plate under the candle so any melted wax falls on it rather than the branches to make cleanup easier when replacing candles.
Also, a candle holder for multiple thin, tall candles could be made by finding one long thick branch to use as a base for this project. Then use wood glue or nails to connect smaller chunks of branches into a holder for each candle. Nail or glue the holder to the larger branch and repeat until you have a candle holder for three or more tall candles.
Chunky Wood Necklace
If you are handy with a power drill you may want to make a chunky wood necklace. This project is a bit time consuming, but the finished project will be a unique gift.
Collect tree branches and give them some time to dry out a bit. Then use a saw to cut chunks of wood from small or medium sized tree branches. Drill holes through the center of the chunks of wood.
Then find a gold or silver chain that will fit through the holes of the wood. You could also use ribbon, twine, or a string made from leather. Place the chunks of wood on the chain or ribbon. Use decorative beads or balls to place between the wood chunks on the chain. Create a necklace that will remind someone of a special tree or a special place.
Pine Cone or Holly Wreath
A foam wreath can be used to create many beautiful DIY Christmas gifts. The foam mold can often be found at dollar stores or a flea market. Then collect items from nature such as pine cones and branches of holly leaves to create a wreath that would be a beautiful holiday gift.
Just cut the holly stems into a length that will easily be plunged into the foam mold. Then add some pine cones for décor. You can glue them to the mold or use long hat pins to stick them into the mold. You may want to paint the pine cones gold or silver or use glue to attach some glitter to them. This will give the wreath a festive holiday look.
This is a very inexpensive gift idea that will bring some beauty to the holiday season for whoever gets the wreath as a present. Create the wreath early enough so that any odors from the glue or paint used can dissipate before you give it out as a gift.
Dried Flower Wreath
Many flowers from the garden or yard dry well and are durable enough to use to create a holiday wreath. This DIY project will be fun to make and create a very pretty and colorful gift. Start this project several months before the holidays to have enough time to get everything ready by December.
Collect flowers to dry such as sunflowers, hydrangea, roses, baby breath, pansies, or other sturdy and colorful flowers. Either hang the flowers to dry or place them under a heavy book to flatten out and dry.
Get a foam wreath mold and some glue or a hot glue gun to create the project. Cut most of the stem off the dried flower. Just leave enough stem to jab into the foam wreath. Use some glue to attach the back of the flower to the wreath if needed. Use a variety of flowers to have a wreath with a lot of color.
You may want to use spray paint or traditional paint to color some of the flowers. A flower like baby breath could be painted gold, silver, red, or green to add some holiday color to the wreath.
When the wreath is complete some people like to spray it with a shellac coating to preserve the color and protect the flowers. Then just add a ribbon around the top of the wreath to make it ready to hang. Make the wreath early enough so that any paint or shellac has time to fully dry and for the odors to fade.
Words Made from Branches
Create a unique, natural wall hanging with tree braches. Just get a lot of loose tree branches and let them dry a bit. Then figure out which word you want to create out of the branches.
Cute holiday wall hangings can be created for the words "joy," "peace," "Noel," "Merry," "ho" or "ho, ho, ho,"
Use wood glue or small nails to form the chunks of tree branches into the letters of the word. Attach all the letters together, again using wood glue or nails. Then tie a colorful ribbon around the top of the word to hang it.
You may also wish to spray paint the word in gold or silver or red or green to add some drama to the wall hanging. Or you could make each letter of the word a different color. Make this project early enough to give the glue and paint enough time to fully dry.
Sources:
Personal experience
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