DIY Christmas Decor Ideas

Simple Decorations for Your Home and Garden

Exercise your creative skills with these simple ideas for Christmas accents and decorations. Many items that you already have in your home and garden can be given the festive treatment by simply customizing them for the season.

Foliage Wreath Tutorial

Sections of different foliage make a statement out of the classic greenery wreath. Simply bundle about 3 stems at once and wire them separately onto a wire wreath ring, overlapping as you go. Make sure to wrap tightly with floral paddle wire. Spritz with water regularly.

Sectional Foliage Wreath Tutorial

1. Take a wire wreath frame and attach floral paddle wire to the outer edge.
2. Trim your chosen greenery to similar lengths of around 6”
3. Using 3 pieces at a time, place on the frame and wrap the paddle wire over the top and around the back.
4. Continue in this way, overlapping as you go so that you can’t see the wire.
5. When you reach a quarter of the way around, switch to your next type of foliage.
6. Don’t panic if it’s not perfect, you can go around and add in extra stems as you need to.
7. When you are happy with the finished product, secure wire to the frame at the back.

* Tip.* Cut stems at an angle and spritz the front and back of the wreath every few days to keep it looking fresh.

Pom-Pom Wreath Tutorial

Pom-poms are a whimsical way to approach festive decorating. Make around 4 sets of different sized pom-poms. Starting with the largest – place and hot-glue them onto a reinforced cardboard wreath ring, work systematically until you finish with the smallest ones filling in any gaps. 

Pom-Pom Tutorial
1. Cut out a 2 circles of card roughly as big as you’d like the pom-pom to be.
2. Cut out a hole in the centre so that you now have 2 cardboard doughnuts.
3. Place one on top of the other.
4. Cut lengths of wool about three feet long, starting with 12.
5. In groups of 3 lengths, start to wind the wool around the template. Keep going until you cannot fit the yarn through the centre hole any more. Cut more lengths of yarn if you need to. The more wool you wrap around, the fluffier the pom pom will be.
6. Start to cut the yarn. Place one end of your scissors through the yarn, in-between the cardboard templates. Snip until you have cut around the whole circle.
7. Slide another piece of wool in between the circles, wrap around twice and tie tightly to secure the pom-pom in the centre.
8. Remove cardboard circles and trim any stray ends.

Winter Planters

Winter planters get the festive look by adding in some tall unusual branches such as Manzanita.

Vine Wreath

When hanging a wreath on a window or mirror, using translucent accessories can give a gorgeous luminessence. This simple vine wreath gets the Christmas treatment with home-dried orange segments and pinecones, offset with an asymmetric ribbon.

Heart Wreath

Grape-vine hearts work as a year round home accent, add a few sprigs of ivy from the garden to create an enchanted forest feel.

Dogwood branches

Red dogwood branches give this planter some height and a pop of Christmas colour.

Nature Inspired Wreath

Attach suet rings to attract birds, along with organic accessories such as cones, orange slices, feathers and cinnamon sticks to create this classic nature inspired door wreath.

Succulent Wreath

This modern wreath is a cinch to make. Take a wire wreath ring, attach floral paddle wire and wind around bundles of moss, keep going until fully covered. Then hot glue or wire in a cluster of succulents and voila! This can be done with real or artificial materials, if you go for the real thing – don’t forget to mist each week and then replant the succulents soon after christmas.

For the Birds

Birds need festive treats too! These cute hanging cookies are made using an adapted oatmeal raisin cookie recipe: Instead of the raisins add winter birdseed mix. Make a hole in the centre before baking, and cook for 5-10 mins longer than usual to ensure they are firm enough to hang from festive ribbon or wool.

Mason Jar Ornaments

Classic mason jars can be prettied up by removing the centre lid seal and securing ribbon under the rim. Fill with moss and pine cones or even air-plants. These rustic ornaments will catch the light and add a touch of eco-chic to your festive decor.