Christmas is right around the corner along with gift-giving and holiday decorating. With the pandemic, in-person shopping should be avoided as much as possible, so many people are shopping online for their Christmas gifts and decorations. An alternative to online shopping is making the gift or decorations yourself! There are many holiday DIY’s that anyone would be pleased to receive.
Christmas also brings family time and the opportunity to create memories together. A simple way to create memories and spend time with loved ones is to have shared experiences together. One way to spend time with family and make memories is by doing a project together. DIY’s are a great project that you and your family can complete together.
Here Are 10 Essential Holiday DIY’s:
- Chunky Knit Blanket: This DIY is very customizable since you can choose to use any color. The cost of making a blanket can be anywhere from $50-$70 depending on how large you choose to make the blanket.
- Reindeer Beer: Glue brown pipe cleaners on the lid and twist them to resemble antlers. Then glue googly eyes and a red puffball for the nose on the front of the bottle.
- Coffee Mug Mixers: Grab a thick plastic spoon and melt some chocolate (white, dark, or milk!). Let the chocolate harden slightly, but not all the way! Then, sprinkle some crushed nuts or candy cane over the chocolate. Wrap in a small bag or plastic wrap. When you’re ready to use, heat up some coffee, hot chocolate, or milk and stir with the spoon to melt the chocolate. Enjoy!
- Painted Mason Jar: Use a pint or quart mason jar and use paint to create holiday designs on the outside. When you’re finished, you can use the jar as a decoration or fill the jar with the dry cookie mix ingredients.
- Holiday Sugar Scrub: Sugar scrubs require minimal ingredients: white/brown sugar, vitamin e capsules (optional), and oil (coconut or olive). For a holiday sugar scrub, you could add vanilla extract for a warm vanilla scent or add peppermint essential oil along with a small amount of finely crushed candy canes for a candy cane scent.
- Homemade Ornaments: To make these, you’ll need to make an ornament dough, which consists of all-purpose flour, water, and a small amount of salt. This dough can then be formed into the desired shape. Bake in the oven at 300 degrees for about an hour. After the dough has hardened and cooled, then you can paint the ornaments!
- Painted Pinecones: Go on a hike outside and look for some pinecones! Bring them back and bake on a foil-lined cookie sheet at 200 degrees (or the lowest temperature your oven will go). There is no time on this, however, flip the pinecones over a few times to avoid burning. The pinecones will be done baking when all the moisture has gone out of them. Then use acrylic paint and glitter to decorate!
- Holly Leaf Table Runner: Cut holly leaves out of different shades of green card stock, put three leaves together to form a triangle, then glue the leaves together. Add small red bells in the middle of the three leaves to resemble the holly berries.
- Hot-Coco Kit: Fill a pint-sized mason jar with one packet of dry hot chocolate mix. Then top the mixture with marshmallows, chocolate chips, or crushed candy cane pieces.
- Holiday Dog Treats: (For the dog lover in your life!) Use dog-safe ingredients such as peanut butter, sweet potato, oatmeal, or pumpkin (to find a specific recipe I would recommend using Pinterest!). After mixing the dough up according to the recipe, use Christmas cookie cutters to make the treats holiday themed!
The holidays provide a fun excuse to see your extended family. The best part about DIY’s is that they can be done with other people. Hopefully, these holiday DIY’s helped inspire new ways to spend time with your family.