My DIY Home Decor for Christmas: Homemade Christmas Ideas and Inspiration
For my last post of 2022, I want to share some of the homemade Christmas decor I have created for the season. After assembling a floral Christmas door arch last year, this year I went back to a fireplace mantel (a good choice, seeing as we had a huge dollop of snow land in Essex for the first half of December!)
I also revisited making a large wreath from scratch, as I do love how a Christmas wreath looks on our blue door. I picked up a few bunches of juniper berries from Columbia Road Flower Market to make the bulk of the wreath, weaving the shapely foliage into moss.
I added pink berries to match the pink velvet ribbon, plus I attached some dried orange slices. For a full video on how I created this wreath click here to view the reel on my Instagram feed.
My fireplace mantel this year has been made from a lot of items I already owned (plus a bunch of foliage from Columbia Road). To start, I swapped out the circular mirror that usually sits above the mantel for a giant faux wreath to add a lot of drama! On the wreath, I added the same velvet bow that I used on the door, plus some leftover bleached Ruscus and sprayed fern that I used on last year’s Christmas arch.
The garland that sits on the mantel has been created using real foliage and roses, some faux eucalyptus stems from my autumn door, as well as some foraged Bracken from Epping Forest.
To balance out the huge wreath, I strung some dried orange slices together to make a garland and added lots more velvet bows to the fireplace surround so that the design didn’t look too top-heavy.
I like to use a lot of natural foliage at Christmas, so for a Christmas table, I add pistache, fern and eucalyptus down the centre (as per the tablescape below that I created for Yankee Candle). A sprig of scented eucalyptus is also perfect when placed on top of a napkin for an easy table-setting idea.
What I love about a handmade Christmas is that it is often sustainable. As well as using florals, I created my own tree decorations with leftover wallpaper scraps and made reusable fabric crackers using linen. Click here to read how to make the paper baubles and here for the fabric crackers.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank every one of you who has taken the time to read my blog this year. I’ll be back in January with a living room makeover!
Love, Melanie xx