DIY winter decorations from natural materials: create a Christmas flair at home with these great DIY projects for young and old!

Nature offers an abundance of materials that are great for decorating the home in winter. Pine cones, evergreen twigs, leaves, berries, branches, birch bark and much more can often be found right in your own garden. When looking for Christmas decorations at home or outdoors, pay attention to contrasting colors, textures and shapes. You can make inspirational winter decorations from natural materials, and here are some great DIY ideas!

How to make a birch bark candle holder?

Materials:

• Birch Bark – get your own or just buy a roll.
• Burlap string
• Wooden beads or acorns
• Scissors
• Glue
• A glass
• Drill, if using acorns

Instructions:

• Making a homemade birch bark candle is pretty easy. First, measure the height and perimeter of your glass and find a good piece of birch bark that isn’t too thick. Soak in water overnight, then roll up loosely and put it in a round cylinder or a glass. Leave it for several hours or overnight.
• Take out the birch bark and use a paper towel to soak up the water. Cut the birch bark so that it fits in height and protrudes a few centimeters in width. Use a simple pair of scissors. You can now also peel off the thin layers of bark on the inside (back).
• Make this winter decoration with a scented candle or embellish plain candles.
• Cut several strings of jute long enough to wrap each one around the glass of your homemade birch bark candle holder. Tie each string tightly to keep the bark in place. Set aside and wait for the bark to dry. When the bark has dried, slide the bark off the candle jar, add some glue and slide the birch bark candle holder back over the jar.
• Carefully drill a hole in the acorn with a small drill, then use a larger drill to open the hole up a bit. Wrap some tape around the end of the jute string and thread it through the holes.
• Tie the jute string to the birch bark candle holder with an acorn at each end. There you have it. This is how you can make a simple and discreet winter decoration from natural materials.

DIY winter decorations from natural materials: Christmas plant baskets

What you need:

• Fresh greenery, e.g. mix of pines, firs and cedars
• Pre-cut bundles of branches
• Pine cones, berries, ribbons, ornaments, or other fillers
• Battery operated outdoor lights{optional}
• Flocking {optional}
• Garden shears
• Hanging basket or planter with soil

Instructions:

• Fill your planter with soil. Start with tall branches or birch trunks to add height to your planter. Try to keep the weight of the branches in proportion to your planter. Start with the sturdiest greens and space the taller branches evenly around the planter. Stick them firmly into the soil. If your hanging basket can be seen from all sides, you should add a taller piece in the middle and then place the extra branches around the entire hanging basket.
• Next, add a few larger pine branches and use them to fill in the larger gaps around the planter. There is no right or wrong placement and you can always come back and rearrange or add more.
• Repeat the same process with the cedar using larger branches.
• Now that you’ve created the basic shape of the greens, cut off smaller branches to fill in the basket and fill in any gaps.
• Once you are happy with the greens, you can add any fillings you like. This can be ribbons, pine cones, ornaments, berry stems or anything else you like.

Winter decorations from natural materials – DIY evergreen star wreath

This homemade evergreen star wreath will welcome the new year and look great doing it. Take a wooden or foam star shape and some evergreen branches and twigs and get to work. Try trimming the evergreen branches to create the star shape you want. Use twine, hot glue, and some spray glue to attach the evergreen branches and hold your evergreen star together.

Twig star ornament – easy craft idea for children

Twig Star Ornament materials:

• Twigs (about the size of a pencil)
• Raffia
• Hot glue gun

Making the ornaments:

• Gather your twigs and trim them so they are all about the same length.
• Using the glue gun, glue 5 sticks together to form the stars, overlapping the ends of the branches a bit.
• Then give your kids three long strands of raffia: one red, one green, and one natural. Tie the raffia to the star to hold it in place and the children can wrap it around the twigs. Wrapping the raffia around the twig stars is a great coordination exercise for the preschoolers. It is a challenge to hold the star steady in one hand and wrap the raffia around it with the other hand.