A good Christmas DIY is something light, fun, and relatively inexpensive. When I want to decorate my apartment I do not aim to be spending $100 + on 400 vintage Christmas light bulbs and a wire hanger just to spend four hours making a mediocre wreath. The key to cute, festive decorations is simplicity, they don’t have to look like a modern art exhibit on ice. Here are some wonderful DIYs I’ve discovered that are cheap, adorable, and incredibly festive.
- Snow covered pine cones: I love the aesthetic of a good pine tree on Christmas, the smell, the colors, even the pine needles all over the carpet. It’s all part of the Christmas spirit. The perfect decoration that’s easy to do and brightens up your tree are snow covered pine cones. I would not recommend grabbing some from outside, those usually aren’t preserved and will rot away when next year comes around. Buy your pine cones for 79 cents a piece at your nearest craft store, some white paint, and a little bit of fake snow. Paint the edges of your pine cone and roll it around in the fake snow. Wait for it to dry, then tie a string to it and hang it from your tree. Or, if you live in an apartment like me that doesn’t allow Christmas trees, hang them all around the room. They are so pretty and give off the feeling of a nice snowy day without the cold water or wind burn.
- Snowman Tea Lights: Tea lights are no longer those weird electric candles your grandma leaves around her house. With just a set of markers, you can turn those uncanny things into adorable little snowmen faces. Leaving these cuties around the apartment have made my friends laugh so much, although they’re simple they get quite a bit of attention. Plus, since they’re electric they’ll be glowing and not melting the faces away.
- Glitter Candles: It wouldn’t be Christmas if there wasn’t any glitter. Christmas glitter candles are very easy to make, all it requires are glue, thick white candles, and red, green, and/or gold glitter. Cover the bottom half of your candle with glue, then roll into whatever color(s) you like. Wait for them to dry, then display them around your apartment. I found that clusters of three are the most gorgeous, and of course once they’re lit they just bring in the whole aura of Christmas.
A bad Christmas DIY is something that can add on to the stress of the holidays, which is a big no go in my book, and will not only lead to mediocre decorations but downright tacky ones. Anything that will demand your attention for hours while making your credit card cry is just not worth it, especially if it’s bringing nothing but cringiness to the table. Here are some examples of DIYs you should avoid this year.
- Tree branch centerpiece: A DIY craft I saw while scrolling through Pinterest that just made me think, “Ah yes, I love all this dead wood you’ve put onto your kitchen table, are your ornaments also made of garbage?” was the tree branch centerpiece. Now hold your fire, I know some of us have pine tree branch decor around the house and usually those are very fun. What I’m talking about is bare, dry as a bone, branches that were probably picked up while walking the dog. No matter how many ornaments or ribbons you tie on it, that’s just a piece of dead wood.
- The Light Disco Ball: Upon watching a 5 Minute Crafts’ video, this monstrosity popped up. I don’t know how this got labelled as a 5 minute craft, there’s no way in Krampus’ hell this can take 5 minutes to make. This craft requires you to punch hole in and stable together a ton of clear plastic cups into two dome shapes. Then take a cluster of Christmas lights and carefully put each little light through the hole. Then put both domes together to make a Christmas disco ball. Honestly, when I saw this it gave me a massive headache. The idea seems cool, but the execution and the outcome is so not worth it. Unless I wanted to really piss somebody off this Christmas, I would never attempt this.
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Christmas DIYs: The Dos and Don’ts: Featured image credit: simplemost.com
