Simple Homemade Christmas

Good morning!

Well, the weekends until Christmas are winding down!  I don't have all of my Christmas shopping done yet, but I basically refuse to do it on the weekends, as I don't like fighting the crowds.  I much prefer to be baking and crafting, rather than shopping :)

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know I'm not much of a crafter...oh, I'd like to be, but it's just not really one of my strengths {there are some seriously amazing crafters in blogland!}...

...but every Christmas, I catch the bug and want to do nothing but craft projects for about 3 weeks...



Today, I am featuring two of the projects I worked on over the weekend...think simple and natural, as that seems to be the theme this year.

I took some of the clear ornaments that you get at any craft store as the start to this first project {I chose the square ones for something different, but the round ones would work great for this too}...

First, I took off the top to add some salt, for snow {I used a funnel}, and then added some pepper berries and small green flowers.  The pepper berries will dry naturally and retain their color nicely, if you are starting with fresh ones.  I found the flowers in the fresh floral section of the grocery store, they were marked simply "Christmas bunch."

{back view}

I finished off the ornament with a bit of torn vintage French paper {with a Christmas theme}, burlap, and some sheer green ribbon.  I used double sided tape to secure the torn paper.

Project number two was some napkin rings using star anise pods...

First, I cut a small length of ribbon...I used the vintage French ribbon I bought from Jeanne's shop last year, but any sturdy ribbon will work well.  Then it was just a matter of hot gluing the star anise pod to the middle and then hot gluing a small rhinestone onto that.  I deconstructed an old vintage pin, that I had that was falling apart, to get my rhinestones, but you could always buy new ones at the craft store.

Adding a little velcro to the ends of the ribbon will allow the napkin rings to be used again and again.



My mom, sisters, and I decided to have a homemade gift exchange this Christmas, so you will be seeing more simple, homemade gift ideas from me soon :))

I would love to hear what your best ideas are for homemade gifts!

Happy crafting!!

Tracey