I saw this $40 santa beard from Oeuf last week and thought to myself (as I often find myself thinking), “This is totally DIYable”. This project takes only about 10 minutes to make, and under $2 in supplies. Your child will love to play dress up as Santa for hours afterwards, making a list of naughty and nice behaviors seen around the house, collecting toys and wrapping gifts. After you cut out the initial shape, it’s totally a project kids can help with. Henry and I often do a tag team (“I’ll put the glue dot, you add the cotton ball” kind of arrangement).

It’s made with fabric, so it’s totally re-useable, I’m planning on packing ours into our Christmas box after the holidays for re-use next season.

Here’s what you’ll need for supplies…

Supplies: White cotton fabric (medium-heavy weight), Cotton balls, Scissors, hot glue, elastic, pen, sewing machine or stapler

Step 1: Cut out a Santa beard shape on the fabric ( I drew it first on paper since I’m a pretty bad artist)

Step 2: Cut it out, leaving room for the mouth in between the mustache and beard

Step 3: Cut a piece of elastic about 12 inches long (measure your little one’s head first) and sew or staple it onto the ends of the mustache like so:

I didn’t care so much about the staples showing since they’ll be covered anyway.

Step 4: Hot glue or fabric glue cotton balls onto the Santa beard.

That’s it! Let it dry so it’s not hot and let your little one ho ho ho his or her way around the house

I love the look of hand stamped linen and thought it would be fun to create a throw or coverlet using that hand stamping technique. It would also make adorable pillows! This would be a really lovely handmade gift for a mother, sister, or close girlfriend. I love how it looks draped on the edge of a bed or over the top of a couch (where ours currently is). You can use any kind of fabric but I thought linen looked really nice. Wash it a few times to soften it up before printing on it.

Final images by Liz Daly

Keep reading to see how to make it…

Materials:

Linen, fabric paint, brush, scrap cardboard or craft foam

Instructions:

Step 1: Cut your linen the desired size for your bed or a throw for the couch. Tape off squares so you have a reference and lay it on some scrap paper or back of an old rug (because the paint bleeds through a bit)

Step 2: Cut a large circle out of cardboard or craft foam. Lather it up with white fabric paint using a brush

Step 3: Press hard onto the middle of your first square. I glued on a peg to hold it better so it felt like a stamp but it wasn’t really necessary.

Step 4: The color will be uneven but I like the look of it being hand stamped. You can always do touch ups afterwards if you’d like.

Step 5: Reapply paint after each stamp and continue stamping in all your squares. Let dry completely and hem edges if desired.

I saw Rachel of Smile and Wave dip pine cones in white paint via instagram and thought they would make an amazing rainbow garland for the holidays.
Reminiscent of those big bright strings of colorful Christmas lights, I love the final result! I think I prefer these more subtle + rustic alternatives to the bright lights I remember from my childhood.

Final images above by photographer Liz Daly

Here’s how I made them…

1. I started with a few pine cones I went foraging for in Golden Gate Park. I could have bought some at the craft store but  a. I wanted mini pine cones and  b. The craft store is 25 minutes away and Golden Gate Park is across the street

2. I was going to dip them, but because I lot of different colors I ended up just painting the color on instead, but trying to make it look dipped (i.e. heavy application).

3. Continue with the other colors and let dry

4. When dry, us a bit of hot glue to attach natural twine to the top of the pine cone. Make sure to leave a couple feet of twine at the beginning and end of the garland.

5. Space the colors about 2 inches apart and let dry completely before stringing along your fireplace or doorway.

Logo by my sister Becca Ricks

Here’s how I made it…

- Necklace cones

- Collapsible eye needles 2.5-Inch

Logo was hand drawn by my sister Becca!

By craft contributor Rachael

My favorite part of the holiday season is making my friends and family a lovely handmade gift.

Handmade gifts have long been a tradition in our house and making cards has been a popular idea throughout the years (have you ever looked back at the cards your made your family when you were little – they can be pretty funny!).

This year I thought I would combine my addiction to Instagram and the Christmas season into one lovely idea for a gift box full of your treasured Instagram memories – in cards of course.

The hardest part of this quick and easy DIY is choosing which photos to use!

Let’s get started with materials…

To make the cards:

1. Instagram photos from your feed in Jpeg format (just right click on them on your desktop computer and save as a Jpeg)
2. Cutting mat
3. Card stock
4. Copy paper
5. Canvas paper
6. Embroidery needle + thread (or a sewing machine)
7. Ruler
8. Rotary cutter

You’ll also need a gift box, tissue paper and ribbon to place your cards in.

Step 1: Decide how large you want your cards and then print you Jpegs onto canvas paper.

Cut around the outside leaving a nice white border.

You’ll notice I left a longer part of white at the top to make it look like a a Polaroid photo.

Step 2: Cut out your backing using card stock and an insert which can be used for writing on using the copy paper.

You don’t have to have the copy paper part, but it does give it a lovely finished look.

Step 3: Using your needle and thread, or your sewing machine, sew along the top of the cards.

I left a thread on either side to give it a sweet hand sewn look.

Once you have sewn along all of the cards you’ll have a collection to bundle up in your gift box.

I like to write in one card which I place on top of the others in the gift box so that the recipient gets a nice surprise when they open their box.

If you choose a card with an image that has a particular memory attached to it for the family member or friend receiving them, it makes your gift extra special I promise.

All that’s left to do is place your cards in tissue paper inside the box and wrap it up with some cute twine and ribbon.

Your family and friends will love a box of memories they can share with others as cards the whole year through.