Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Christmas Crafts: DIY Wreath, Holiday Baskets, Homemade Granola, Yearly Ornaments

Ok, I should be doing 10000 things other than blogging right now, but I always do these things, take all the pictures and then never blog about it...so here is a short and sweet and picture filled blog post with what I have been up to the past couple of weeks!



1. DIY WREATH

I bought a twig wreath from Michaels


Bought some pinecones and ribbon from target, pine boughs and berries from a flower store
 Moseby tried to eat EVERYTHING

 I placed everything to figure out the way I wanted to look

 I started glueing the boughs, and using some ornament ties. I created a layered look to hide the glue.

I added the berries by tucking them into the twig wreath with ornament metal thingies

I added pinecones on top to cover the metal clips

I made a bow out of the wreath by wrapping it around a piece of cardboard 3 times, and tying it together with another piece of ribbon
 Tadaaa: Finished product!

Time spent: 1 hr, Money spent ~25 bucks. 

2. HOLIDAY BASKETS

After realizing that holiday baskets cost a million dollars I made my own. 

I bought the pinecone sticks, the birch stick and the red berries. I then stole used downed branches and sticks from a local park and busted out the spray paint. Guys, I was so excited to spray paint, you don't even know. I now have a spray paint tarp and everything. 

I then bought some dollar store planters, and some sand and stuck everything in the sand. Pretty darn simple. 


I also added the same stolen  found branches to decorate the stairwell. I added red balls to the bannister, and ice lights. I also went to the dollar store and bought GIANT Christmas ornaments and hung them all over the tree.

So Christmas-y!

Time spent ~2 hrs, money spent ~$75 (for two baskets, and outdoor decorations)

3. HOMEMADE GRANOLA

I made granola for a few gifts based on the recipe from Elizabeth Ryder's website with a few changes: 



2 cups raw oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped dried apples
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp coconut or olive oil
1 tbsp unsweeted coconut
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Mix together, and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 8-10 minutes. 

I bought some green mason jars and labels and ribbon and dolled up my jars. Moseby helped.

Time spent ~1hr, Money spent, same as normal baking, add a few jars

4. YEARLY ORNAMENTS

Since we moved to Toronto I have started making yearly ornaments using sharpies, paint, and sticky letters to document big things that happened in the year. 

2011- Move to Toronto
2012- Trip to Paris (bought this one, added the 2012)
2013- Got Tesla, went to Vegas, did Triathlons/duathalons
2014- Got engaged and bought our first house!  

This year I couldn't find a plan coloured ornament, so I did the painted ornament technique with a clear one. Basically dumped in some paint and water, and swirled it around to cover the inside. It turned out nice and blue! I let it dry over night, and then added the date and drawing. 




Time spent <15 mins per ornament, Money spent <5 dollars per ornament..but the memories are priceless...d'awwww.

I blogged about this before in more detail back in 2011.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!



Other holiday posts:

No comments:

Post a Comment