Do it yourself this holiday season with the following tips and tricks on how to make the holiday season full of cheer!
CARDS:
It’s always said the homemade gifts are the best gifts to receive and that’s because they come from the heart. I love making homemade cards for birthdays, the holidays or just to say hi. It’s really easy and everyone who receives a hand-painted card is always in awe of how cute it is. They also will most likely save the card because it is now a piece of art, and will be more likely put it on display and show their friends the hand-painted card they received with a gift this year. Typically, I use watercolours to create my cards. Most art supply stores sell watercolour cards and then the creativity is all up to you, but as you can see above making ornaments is a simple and cute pattern, all you need to is the following:
1. Tape down your card on a flat surface using painters tape.
- You can buy painters tape at any home hardware store (or any similar store).
2. Water down your watercolours and create little circles, then wait for the circles to dry.
3. Take a silver pen (I use the sharpie silver marker) to create the tops of the ornaments. You can also create little decorations on the ornaments like polka dots, stripes, etc.
4. Wait for cards to be fully dry and then peel off tape carefully and write a cute message inside!
WRAPPING PAPER:
Create your own holiday gift wrapping paper! This is a really fun activity to do with a bunch of people because you buy a roll of craft paper and everyone has their own section where they can create any pattern they want.
What you need?
-
Something to create a print: I used limes, apples, the eraser on the pack of a pencil and cookie cutters.
-
Craft paper → it is nice to use craft paper because the print stands out nicely on the paper and the physical paper is thick so it doesn’t wrinkle from the paint.
-
Containers you don’t want to use again for you to put the paint into, or you can also use tin foil.
-
Acrylic paint → best to buy the primary colours (blue, red and yellow) so you can create any colour, white is useful if you want to create lighter colours.
-
Palette knife or paint brush to mix colours.
ORNAMENTS:
There are so many things you can do to create unique and one of a kind ornaments. I have created two unique options for you to create fun ornaments this holiday season. First you can paint them with acrylics in fun and flashy colours. You can give them as gifts, tie them as decorations onto your gifts or hang them on your Christmas tree. Another one of a kind ornament is creating DIY hot chocolate kits. It’s really cute if you pair that hot chocolate ornament with a mug to make the gift more unique and homemade.
What you need: Painted Ornaments
-
Acrylic paint
-
Clear Ornaments
-
String/ribbon
What you need: Hot Chocolate Ornaments
-
Hot chocolate mix
-
Sprinkles
-
Mini marshmallows
-
Broken candy canes
-
Clear ornaments
TAGS:
Creating handmade paper tags to put on presents is a unique way to put a handmade touch to a holiday gift. They are an extremely entertaining activity because you feel as if you have been transported back to a time when your biggest priority was created the coolest picture out of construction paper, instead of trying to finish an entire paper worth 50% of your grade in two days.
What you need: All can be purchased at a dollar store
-
Scissors
-
Coloured craft paper
-
Glue stick
-
Metallic markers
-
String/ribbon
I hope these DIY activities can allow your gifts become more homemade and unique this holiday season! Happy Holidays!
All photos taken by Emma Mahoney accept ornament photos and first paper tag photo
Picture Credits: