I love these outside-of-the-box, do-it-yourself wreath ideas:
Featured above:
1. DIY Paper Bag Wreath
2. DIY Paper Star Wreath
3. Mini Wreath Holiday Cards
4. Pine Cone Wreath
5. Simple Rosemary Wreath
View these and many more winter holiday inspired pins on my winter Pinterest board.
(images obtained via Pinterest)
I spotted these adorable felt tree ornaments and immediately set about sewing our own.
First we drew and cut out a tree template on thick paper:
We then pinned the tree template to two layers of felt and cut around the template:
We embroidered a design along one side of one of the felt trees:
We pinned the two trees together and whip stitched them together, sewing along the outline of the tree, stuffing it up as we made our way around:
After sewing up the tree ornament, we made a loop at the top before tying off the embroidery thread:
Beautiful!
Our simple, stylish felt tree ornaments feel more special to our family because we made them ourselves.
Don’t have time to sew this ornament? Buy them online at West Elm.
Pinterest continues to be an endless source of inspiration. Here are some recent Hanukkah crafts that I’m excited to try with our daughter (while listening to our favorite Hanukkah album, Songs In The Key Of Hanukkah
Featured above:
1. Hanukkah countdown calendar made of felt with appliqué and embroidered details (for sale at Land of Nod).
2. Hanukkah stained glass windows craft with free templates to download.
3. Hanukkah collage cards made out of magazine scraps.
4. Wooden play menorah made out of wooden spools and colored pencils.
5. Felt Hanukkah garland of dreidels and stars of David (for sale on Etsy).
Didn’t see anything that strikes your fancy? Check out this fantastic slideshow of 25 DIY Menorah and Hannukah Crafts.
Can you believe Hanukkah is less than three weeks away?!
View many more winter holiday inspired pins on my winter Pinterest board.
Check out some of our other popular Hanukkah posts:
– Hanukkah Crafts and Activities
– Hanukkah and Christmas Projects from Martha Stewart’s Handmade Holiday Crafts Book
(images obtained via Pinterest)
As the days grow shorter, and in anticipation of the approaching holidays, we decided to make our own rolled beeswax candles.
We bought beeswax sheets in a honeycomb design from our local honey and beekeeping supplies store. (Don’t have a beekeeping store near you? You can buy a candle rolling kit here.
(To test for lead or zinc in a wick, press the wick into a piece of paper and drag it while pressing with your finger. If it leaves a mark on the paper, it probably contains things you wouldn’t want to breath.)
After cutting the wax sheets to size, we measuring wicks for each candle allowing for an extra 3/4″ to extend beyond the candle. We then used a hair dryer (set on low) to warm the sheet for 30-60 seconds, until it became more flexible, less prone to breaking, and easier to roll.
We laid the wick along the edge of the sheet (making sure to leave the extra length hanging over one side) and then rolled the wick tightly into the wax. We then rolled the rest of the sheet lightly, ensuring that our candle didn’t take on an oval shape that occurs when you press or roll too hard. We slowly rolled up the candle, making sure the edges stay straight so that the candle has a level base on the bottom edge.
Once fully rolled, we pressed and smoothed the top in towards the wick, and pressed the bottom against the table to flatten the base. We trimmed the wick 1/2″ from the top and placed it into a candle holder, ready for use!
Whether you decide to dress them up (using colorful wax or glitter) or keep them plain (as we did), handmade candles are meant to be used — not just displayed!
We’ve so enjoyed lighting ours.
Homemade candles feel so much more special than store bought ones. For us, it’s as though we are bringing a bit of homemade light into our house as we head into this dark, winter season!
Remember our leaf rubbings project from last week? We used the leaves to make a Thanksgiving Gratitude Garland!
On the back of each leaf rubbing we wrote things we feel grateful for this holiday season: sunny days, feeling healthy, good friends, puddle jumping, cozy cuddles, ice cream, being an “early bird” each morning with Daddy (it turned out I’m not the only one who’s thankful for that!), wildlife sightings from our porch, tasty food straight from our garden…
We then strung and hung the paper leaves in our front window.
A simple autumn craft for the whole family and a graceful way to share a “gratitude” this holiday season.
We have so much to feel thankful for!
