Help with home made decorations-please!

gardis

We've got the tree sorted by gathering bits over the years. but the rest of my living/dinning room is bare. What can I do?

My taste is more towards natural things -so woods, foliage etc with bright colours as highlights. The house is a small victorian terrace (with very few plug sockets so fairy lights etc are out of the question).

I have 2 young children and a husband who like creating things. What can we do?

hollyandmatt

i saw a gorgeous garland in laura ashley with christmas trees made from fabric.. was gorgeous.. maybe something like that

gardis

oh yes, i like that idea. Thank you

mary-op

I've been making a sort of 'primitive' garland for our old pine dresser...........used some kitchen curtains no longer needed.
Also painted a small flowerpot in cream with a copper rim (can do it the other way round) and put a fir cone in it it with a bit of greenery round the base of the cone. I draped some stars on a thread around mine just to give them a bit of 'oomph' and to tone them in with the cone 'soft trees' I've done.
I've you put 'soft trees' in the search box the thread will come up.................sorry no good at doing threads.
On the same thread there were some pictures of twiggy 'trees'.................I'm doing on in a flower pot and decorating it with slices of orange and cinnamon -well thats the idea anyway.
Hope that helps.............:j

savingmummy

We have been collecting the pine cones and have left them to dry out. This week we will be glueing them around the edges and rolling them in silver/gold glitter.
They look great in a large glass vase or on a platter in the centre of a table.

My mum used to use washing powder instead of glitter for the snowy effect xx

Sallys_Savings

Wilkinsons have battery operated fairy lights for £2.49 in red or white or blue which I've used before on my mantle and shelves. They come supplied with the batteries too.

Clay pots - We have a collection of garden pots and just place candles in the bottom. We just cluster a few fir cones around the edge to keep the candle in place. Be careful when you do light them though (we normally just scoop the cones out and pop into a bowl)

I use christmas tree offcuts to lay on my dresser, shelves etc. Just layer a couple on (so quick and simple). Finish off with fir cones/sliced dry oranges/cinnamon sticks and the odd bauble. Go to a garden centre/nursery and ask for the off cuts of christmas trees. They very often cut the bottom branches off or stray branches to neaten them up. My local garden centre does this and I normally put a couple of pounds in their charity box for taking them away.

Collect Ivy and drape around photo/pictures and mirrors. You can finish off with a bow made from ribbon.

Make heart shapes from christmas/check/plain red fabric to hang on door handles etc.

Make hangings using twigs tied with ribbon, natural garden twine, cinnamon sticks, hearts.

I make a wreath using sprigs from conifers just keep wrapping around a straw based wreath (either buy or use a twig one from the pound shop etc and take off the false bits and just use the wreath) . Use either garden twine or florist wire and then hide the bits with cinnamon bundles (cinnamon tied with ribbon), fircones, apples, sliced dried oranges.

I always make a sprig of greenery for my back door, which is really easy. Gather xmas tree cuttings or conifer cuttings together then place a holly sprig at the front. Just tie all together with a large bow and hanging form your door.

I always take down a few of my normal photos/pictures down and replace with stitcherys and greenery hangings. I have made these and any frames have been bought from car boots. They are really rustic looking (perhaps a thing for another year to make as a little late now) . It really makes a difference.

Everyone always comments on how lovely my house is decorated but they're all really simple and cheap to make. Dont tell anyone