With safety concerns at the forefront of the season, staying home to craft can alleviate fears
BY ALDONA BIRD
Newsroom@DominionPost.com
Now that we have Thanksgiving (dinner) under our belts, it’s officially acceptable to decorate for Christmas — though no shame if you’ve already started.
If you love shopping for holiday ornaments, you might find you like making them just as much. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, you can use this DIY to make seasonal ornaments.
A great part about making your own ornaments is using materials you have on hand — upcycling is something we often forget about during the excitement of holidays.
This do-it-yourself project will brighten your tree and home in general over the month but it is also very low cost and fun to do with family (you need more bonding activities after 10 months of a pandemic, right?).
For DIY paper strip ornaments, you will need:
- paper; used wrapping paper or old book pages work well
- Scissors or paper cutter
- Glue (regular craft glue works well)
- Glitter (totally optional)
Cut narrow strips — half inch works well, but experiment with different widths on different ornaments — of paper. If you are opting to use book pages, cutting multiple pages at once can speed this step up.
Cut a variety of lengths of strips, with multiple pieces of each length. Glue the ends of pieces together to form teardrop shapes.
Arrange the shapes to form ornaments — make bauble type ornaments, snowflakes or your own personal inventions. You can pinch the shapes at the end for a pointed look, or gently press the rounded end in for a wider drop shape.
Glue concentric rings inside one another or next to, in ascending sizes. When varying sizes an inch difference in the original strip length works well.
If you want to add a little sparkle to your ornaments you can add glitter to the wide or narrow edge. Simply paint glue onto the edge you want to shine, and sprinkle glitter on or roll the wet glue edge of the ornament in glitter.
Add a ribbon or twine to the top, and hang on the tree, use one of the paper ornament loops as a hanger or just nestle your ornament on the tree.
Popcorn and cranberries make a great traditional garland, but this year consider upgrading your eco-friendly garland or ornaments with different materials.
For DIY fruit and spice garlands:
- Apples
- Oranges, other citrus
- Star anise
- Twine and large
- needle
- Knife, baking tray, parchment paper and oven
Cut your fruit in roughly quarter-inch slices. Apples look nice cut across, rather than straight through the core.
Place slices on a parchment paper-lined baking tray and dehydrate in the lowest setting of your oven for four or more hours, until the slices are mostly dry. Some moisture left in the pulp of the citrus is fine — it will finish drying outside of the oven.
Thread twine through your needle, and begin stringing your fruit into a garland. Add star anise pods on their own or on top of citrus (loop twine around them to secure).
If you want to add an old-school flare, string some cranberries on with your other fruit. If you have extra fruit slices or want more than a garland, make individual baubles with fruit, star anise and any other natural materials you like (consider a rosemary sprig!).
Dehydrating the fruit will make your house smell lovely, and you’ll end up with all natural holiday or seasonal décor.
Since this holiday season will be less full of events with friends and family, use making ornaments to make some good memories.
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