Do-it-yourself crafting is all about turning a simple household item into an impressive piece of holiday décor. Making your own holiday decorations this year is easy than you might think.
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) offers some helpful decorating tips to celebrate the season and create homemade masterpieces using basic materials:
* Ribbon. For simple bows, you can use color ribbon to tie around doorknobs. You can hang ribbon with thumbtacks to display your greeting cards. Attach them with clothespins to make them stand out.
* Wrapping paper. This versatile decorating medium is not just useful for wrapping gifts. Wrap your front door in paper, and tie a ribbon around the middle to make it look like a huge present. Wrapping a coffee can with paper and leaving the top unopened makes a beautiful vase. Fill the vase with evergreen branches or holly and place it on the ground or on a table.
* Paper. Children can enjoy holiday crafting with paper crafts. Use plain white paper and scissors to cut snowflakes that you can display in your window or hang from the ceiling. You can add silver glitter to give it a whimsical look.
* Natural materials. Natural items such as pinecones and evergreens can add rustic beauty and aroma to your holiday theme. To make small bundles, take five to six cinnamon sticks and tie them with ribbon. They can be displayed in a bowl or on shelves. A unique way to hang your pinecones is to spray it with gold spray paint or add frost and hang it on a string.
Visit www.craft-ideas.com for more ideas. www.craftplace.org.
