I think these are so sweet. They are like the grown-up version of the ones you make in school as children.
As a child (and still now) my favourite Christmas decoration was my mom's little village and she always let me (or I just took over) set it all up any way I liked. I would engineer that little city like a professional planner making decisions about which building should go where. Does it make sense that the barber go on the edge of town? Will anyone visit? It's very far to walk there etc…and so on until I had the thing laid out on the mantel complete with the sparkling fake snow that depleted each year. Now that I have my own house, and no village, I have had to come up with creative (inexpensive) ways to create one. And so over the last couple of years I have collected little things from gift shops and antique stores to create a tiny little make-shift version of my childhood fantasies.
I made something like this (pictured above) last year, only mine didn't light up because I didn't have the white twinkle lights. This year my goal is to have a little lit city!
Simple yet beautiful! Will go perfect on a side table. Just need to find some floating candles.
I have some large pine cones I bought somewhere one year and I have never known what to do with them……so now I have a vision. I am going to hang them on my fire place…which sadly has no mantle. So it needs some love. Some Pine Cone love!
Every year I say I want to do gingerbread houses and every year I don't do it. Not since 2005! So seeing how i have a bit of time off, I think this is the year. I want to do a European one this year….so no colourful child-like candy or anything…just simple, white icing, powdered sugar, and an adorable little cinnamon log stack.
Making these is actually quite simple, just takes a bit of time to freeze! Fun for the porch or deck, especially for a Christmas Party!
Happy Christmas Decorating Everyone!
How fun it is to plan what we might do when classes are over! do you know what kind of light is used in the terrariums? I might make the gingerbread hearts with my Mom - she likes it when we do old-fashioned crafts together and I haven't seen that one before. I would like to try the frozen deck candles, too, but I am not sure how you get the hollow place for the candle to happen!
ReplyDeleteMy how time flies, Christmas is just around the corner. I would like to make the gingerbread hearts and the frozen candle holder that's after we finish this semester of course. Do you have any decoration tips for the outdoors? I've always wanted to decorate the outdoors, around my house, and maybe dad's dog house (it needs to be in a festive mood).
ReplyDeleteWillow, I fixed the link to the frozen candle holder so that it goes right to the instructions.
ReplyDeleteHow to make winter ice lanterns.
I used a 2 liter plastic soda bottle and a 24 oz plastic bottle for the inside – cut tops off.
1. Fill the 2 liter bottle with about 1 1/2 inches of water and freeze.
2. Remove from freezer and place 24 oz bottle inside resting on the ice. Center the 24 oz bottle in the 2 liter bottle and use masking tape to secure in place. Make sure space between bottles is even all the way around.
3. Cut greens from the yard (I used Boxwood) and cranberries to fill the sides. Cranberries float, so place some in the bottom first and then add green on top. Add a few additional cranberries on the sides. When you fill the container with water the cranberries will rise to the top. Fill with water leaving at least 1 in of space from the top for the water to rise as it freezes.
When frozen, remove from freezer. Lift tape and add hot water into the center of the bottle. As the ice melts a little, pull out center bottle. This gets a little tricky as the plastic bottles have larger bottoms than the sides. You have to work it! Run hot water over the outside of the bottle to loosen the large bottle. I had great difficulty pulling the ice lantern out of the 2 liter bottle due to the larger bottom. I recommend cutting it down the sides to remove it. Be careful – the plastic can be sharp! I also recommend having a set of bottles for each ice lantern you wish to make.
I highly recommend using a battery operated candle inside – the flame melts the ice! Make a couple of days ahead and store in the freezer.
Good luck!!
Dolores, decorating outside is difficult….at least for me….so far I only have ever done a wreath and lights….but there are some beautiful homemade wreaths and door garlands on Pintrest. Just search outdoor christmas!
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are so inspiring!! SO excited for Christmas time and seeing all the amazing decorations that people will put up. I am sad that I will not get to decorate my house this year. No tree, no stockings agh!! Won't be the same. Spending Christmas in California, without snow, will be weird but no complaints here ;)
ReplyDeleteAll our assignments are over and we can begin the Christmas decorating! Hooray!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the instructions! I hope it didn't take too much of your time.
ReplyDelete