Of all the holiday trinkets and trappings I own, the handmade projects & scraps of homemade treasures collected over the years are the ones I most look forward to pulling back out.
Unboxing old notes, tiny finds, or the past years’ creations always brings back a flood of memories. Like a “making of” highlight reel.
This year for December, I thought we needed a special place to collect the little hodgepodge of festive favorite things that inevitably grows throughout the holidays.
So, out of simple supplies, we made a nature-inspired DIY holiday collection display where we can build our patchwork quilt of small holiday mementos.
The base of our little hanging collector is made of six twigs (along with a sprinkling of assorted nature finds to add a bit of handmade December whimsy).
It doesn’t get much easier or enjoyable than finding everything you need for the holiday season in your own backyard.
My family and I decided that scouring the neighborhood for the perfect pine sticks somehow made us feel more excited for the holidays…and ultimately, much more connected to the season.
And it doesn’t hurt that’s it’s easy on the pocketbook, too!
To make your own pinecone and twig kids holiday art display you’ll need:
BASIC SUPPLIES:
- Twigs & pinecones
- Paint
- A hot glue gun or craft glue
- Yarn, ribbon, or wire to hang
- Clothespins
OPTIONAL SUPPLIES:
- Pom poms, paper snowflakes, or other decorations
- Leaves or other natural materials
- A paper cup and plastic gloves (for dipping pinecones and leaves)
DIY Kid-Made Holiday Card Display Instructions:
Collect natural materials and paint.
We wanted to incorporate lots of lovely natural materials into our cardholder and collected a variety of leaves, twigs, and pinecones. Different sizes and textures are fun to experiment with!
If you’d like to paint your pinecones and twigs as we did, you can use a foam brush, or pour some paint into a paper cup or glass jar, then dip your pinecones in.
To fully cover our pinecones, we put on plastic gloves and used our hands to push paint around and completely cover them.
Stack your twigs to create a grid and glue.
Create a simple grid by stacking your sticks on top of each other as shown below. You can create a 3 x 3 grid as we did, or use longer sticks to create larger grids.
Apply small dots of hot glue to attach, then let dry for 5 minutes. Don’t want to mess with a glue gun? Wrap the joints with yarn instead!
Tie on ribbon or yarn to hang.
Tie a piece of ribbon or yarn, or wrap a piece of wire at the top to use as a hanger.
Decorate with festive holiday touches.
This step is all about using your imagination to add some handmade winter magic. You can tie on colorful bows, add cut paper snowflakes, decorate with greenery, or string up painted pinecones as we did!
2 or 3 small green pinecones with a few pink or red pom poms make the perfect faux holly.
Hang and use clothespins to hold holiday cards, goodies, or trinkets!
These are a perfect way to store the little bits of holiday fun and nostalgia that collect during the season. Tie, clip, or even glue them on for a piece of meaningful collective holiday art.
I’m so thrilled we have a naturally lovely new collection spot! And of course, the best part is that come January, we can take off the holly and add something new – like last year’s peace and love watercolor wreaths, it can be used all year long.
If this kind of nature-inspired holiday crafting is right up your alley, you’ll definitely want to stop by the other DIYs we made with twigs and pinecones this week! A colorful and unique kid-safe menorah lit up our Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday brought a Christmas countdown in the form of magical small world pine tree lot play!
As things begin to get hectic, remember to take a little time for the simple delights.
Whether it’s taking a short walk to collect sticks, finding a moment of peace in an uncomplicated holiday craft, or surveying a small collection of special holiday treasures…
…Inhale calm and exhale joy with a little handmade winter zen this year.
Looking for a few low-stress activities to keep younger kids entertained? Download our gingerbread & snowman playdough mats for easy and creative sensory play. Or cut out a set of 5-minute felt counting houses to combine with these winter-themed counting, sorting, and fine motor skill activities.
GETTING READY TO TRY this?
I love seeing all the ways people make these ideas their own! If you're sharing the results of one of our projects, mention or tag me with @barleyandbirch, or share it in the comments of one of our Pinterest project pins.
