30 EASY Christmas DIYs to make NOW! | Affordable Holiday DIYs & Decor Ideas from Dollar Tree + MORE!
It's Time It's the Most Wonderful Time of the DIY
year because we are kicking off Christmas DIYs today I've got 30 different ideas for you they
are all easy to recreate and now you can get a jump start so then that way come December you
can just enjoy all of your creations and enjoy the holiday [Music] season you're watching whiskey
and wh my name is Whitney and a huge thank you to Ritual for sponsoring today's video and helping
me bring you these 30 Christmas DIYs to kick off the season and let's get into it mercury glass
as well as metallic finishes are huge for the holidays but they can get expensive so we are
going to dup it with a thrifted hurricane vase you can also use something you already have start
by spraying the inside with a metallic gold spray paint and then here is where the magic happens
then I filled the spray bottle with about 3/4 water to a/4 white vinegar and then grabbed some
mirrored glass spray paint I tried a few different techniques but the one that I liked the best was
when I sprayed the mirrorglass spray paint paint onto the vase and then I Spritz it with the water
vinegar mixture from a distance that created some little water droplets on the surface for the first
two coats I used a paper towel to pop the water bubbles and then on the third and final coat I
just let it dry completely with the water on the surface and that gave it a great look I let it
completely dry overnight and I added these led candles from Amazon but you could also add a real
wand and Bam West Elm dupe for under five bucks the glow just feels like Christmas to me for this
this next project we are grabbing this unfinished wood nativity set from Hobby Lobby they have
them every year and if you get them on sale it is going to be super inexpensive like mine was
under $7 I'm going to lay everything out and use some sandpaper to make sure I get rid of any of
those little unfinished bits and then make sure I know about how wide it's going to set up then I'm
going to grab some 1X two wood and figure out how long I need to cut it Mark it and head outside to
cut the piece you could also use a Handa for this then I'm going to sand the entire piece just to
make sure that everything is nice and smooth and then you can choose to paint or stain the bottom
I decided to use early American stained by Minwax then to save some time and energy I'm using flat
black spray paint to spray paint the edges and tops and bottoms of my figurines to make it look
like a silhouette then I'm going to use some of the super glue gel from Dollar Tree that works
well on wood I'm going to stick my figurines on there and let it dry overnight that is how
quick and easy it is this thing is beautiful and this is also a great piece you can make to
sell I did a craft show two years ago and I sold six of them for $35 each at the craft show they
look super high-end you wouldn't guess it's just a craft kit from Hobby Lobby and it is such
a beautiful piece of Decor if you are a craft buddy welcome back but you you're not already
an email craft buddy so you watch my videos but you're not on my email list you're definitely
going to want to sign up today cuz I have got a ton of free files that will be over in my free
file library and the password comes out every week in my newsletter so if you're already an emo
craft buddy grab that from your newsletter if not sign up all the details are down below next
we're going to grab some Bells these came from Dollar Tree but you can find them anywhere this
time of year and you're going to start by spray painting them flat white then once they're fully
dry I brought them in I added some fun ribbon to the top as well as JW twine and then used a paint
marker to create a fun little face with dots and just little noses with some paint how cute are
these fun Little Snowmen I put them in this mug but really you could use them for embellishments
they would also make really cute present Toppers this super cute snowman is really easy to make
with a Dollar Tree Pizza Pan now if you can't find these at Dollar Tree you can use a pizza pan
or a wood round you're going to want to make sure that anything you're using as a base has a base
color of white so you can spray paint the pizza pan or you can paint with chalk paint depending
on what base you're using then it's time to add our face so I started by using some red paint
and buffing it in with my finger so then that way it looked like a Rosy cheek of a Snowman
once I had both of those done I went in with a paint marker to do the eyes as well as a couple
dots for the mouth and then we are going to add our nose for our cute little snowman I added
a couple dobs of glue on the back so I could hang it up and then I also made sure to give my
Frosty friend a little scarf with some ribbon bada bing bada boom good to go and this is also
a wonderful project that you can do with kids [Music] these large signs that Kirkland has
every season are awesome because they really make a statement however to make this with wood
it is really heavy and to buy them it's expensive so I decided to grab some 1 by tws at Home Depot
and these are like under $3 a piece and you need one 8ft section per sign then also for each
sign you're going to want a piece of a Dollar Tree foam board I'm making two signs so I grab
two start by taking your 1X two and measuring the long section of your sign which should be
approximately 30 in cut two of them and then measure a piece that will fit evenly in between
the two of them to frame out your sign once you've cut all four pieces your frame should look like
this and then you're going to need some artwork for the inside I decided to print 20 by 30 posters
and don't pay full price at Walgreens they're always running a deal so Google for a coupon code
but I got half off so each of these were 13 bucks for the prints something else to keep in mind
while you're ordering these prints is that you're going to want approximately a 2in bleed around
the outside with no artwork on it because you are going to put your frame on and you don't want
to cover any words so if you're designing a canva like I like to you can pull these little guides
over and make sure you have a 2-in border around the outside then that way you won't have your wood
go over your letters so I'm just laying down the Border here and this is why we want to have our
2in bleed so then that way everything is clear of the outside and then we're going to mount this
poster onto the foam board with some double stick tape I make sure that the corners are covered and
there's a decent amount in the center because then that way you won't have any gapping I like to
do the top first so I know it's going to stay put and then peel the poster back and stick the
other pieces down lower once that's done you can line up your wood pieces again and then staple
them to the sign on the back now I like to get one piece set and then continue around the outside
so that you know everything is in the right spot just because you have to flip it over to staple
with your staple gun you can get a cheap one like this at Walmart or any craft store you don't need
a fancy DeWalt one that's just what we have once it's all hooked done your sign is ready to go
and if you have any ends that you need to trim like any overhang just take an xacto knife and cut
down that foam board being careful not to cut your wood if you noticed throughout this project I had
this little pink circle in the corner that says free file library that means that the file that
you're seeing is free for you to download over on my blog if you're new to Whiskey and wit or new
to my fre file Library I will have all the details down below if you're not an email craft buddy
you'll just need to opt into my newsletter to get the password and then all the files in there
are free got a ton of options I add more weekly so you're definitely going to want to join us if
you like free files and speaking of free files you can also use any of my svgs with a similar thought
process to make cheap faux wood signs using that same border technique these were in a Cricut video
I did a few years ago and both are free files if you want the two tutorial or the free files I
will link the details down in the description they are easy to make with a Cricut Machine if you
want to do the decal or if you have a stencil that would make it easy as well I am always picking up
picture frames from the thrift store especially for the holidays I like to go with metallic
options and it's great for not only printable art like I'm showing here but vintage sheet music
holiday prints or any other heirloom things you have for the holidays now I have got a pack of a
ton of free printables over on my blog for you for Christmas you can head down to the description to
get yours I've got a wide variety both religious and not colorful and neutral so you will find
something that you like over there so be sure to check it out it's all free for my whiskey craft
buddy email subscribers and it's really easy to join also included in the printables are some
from my absolute favorite Christmas movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and this will be the
fifth year that I have made DIYs inspired by the movie these are all ones I've made in the past
and I will link my full playlist down below if you are a fan of the movie like I am so head down
to the description and let me know your favorite Christmas movie because I want to make projects
that you guys want to see so I'm going to tally it up and pick some of the top ones to create
some more DIYs this Christmas is going to be extra special for our family with the arrival
of our second child due in December well I'm super thankful I am now in my third trimester and
something that really helped me through all the ups and downs was my ritual essential prenatal you
guys remember back first trimester in a good chunk of the second I was so nauseous and the prenatal
I was taking was making me even more sick I was gagging I couldn't take it it was awful and I
was worried as a mom because you obviously need all those nutrients for the baby not only did
it check all my boxes but it's also the first prenatal vitamin made traceable which means it
has traceable clinically studied ingredients to help support a healthy pregnancy with all
the noise out there about prenatals in general knowing that gave me peace of mind and making my
switch to Ritual this one was great cuz it's only two per day I can take it with or without food
because it is specially coed for pregnancy related nausea to help with your stomach which is great
for me I take them in the morning with my coffee so I don't forget I also added rituals new natal
choline to my routine because I learned that over 95% of pregnant women don't get enough choline
from their diets alone and while the essential prenatal has choline in it already this extra
boost is great for little man's brain health I love that ritual is momf founded they offer
a 30-day money back guarantee and it's also a monthly subscription for things like this I
am so glad cuz then I won't forget and then not have my prenatal thanks to my own pregnancy brain
check out all the things that ritual has to offer including the essential prenatal you can head over
to ritual.com whiskey wit2 or you can scan this QR code right here it'll take you right there and be
sure to use the code whiskey wit 25 for 25% off your first ritual order this next one starts with
a free Supply which is a cardboard box and these are so easy to find this year especially with all
the holiday ordering starting by getting a smaller piece of my box cut off that I can work with I'm
starting by sketching a variety of different sizes of houses so I can cut them out and I'm just using
regular scissors you just want to make sure that they're sharp I did a variety of different sizes
but you can do all the same if you'd rather do that and then I'm using my favorite paint marker
from Amazon I will link it down below the ones you see me use today are those and I love them and
then I just pulled up some images on Pinterest to draw a variety of different houses then I
decided to use this Hobby Lobby Garland and I liked the unfinished wood color but if you have
beads on hand if you want to do pom poms if you want to do tassels you can do whatever you're
feeling here you can add some color as well I used my down needle to string up two beads in
between each house and I did a variety of sizes along the way now if you drew your houses in the
right direction with your corrugated cardboard you should be able to slide it right through I wasn't
paying attention when I cut them so I had to kind of power it through but it ended up working with
my Dow needle which I will link down below it's a must have for garlands for me I love that using
cardboard makes these super sustainable as well as super inexpensive and if you don't need a Garland
here's how you can make these freestanding trees you're going to grab a shape or you can just
freehand it to make two trees of the same size and my large tray was from Target and then this
small wood cutout I think was from Hobby Lobby so however many trees you want you want to make
sure that you have two identical cardboard cutouts we're going to find the center of the cardboard
piece once I have my Center marked I'm also going to find the center middle of it so then that way
I know where my two pieces are going to intertwine I'm creating a couple marks so that I know just
about how wide my cardboard is to cut my slits and I'm cutting one with a SLP from the bottom
to the middle and then my second one is going to be the top to the middle and I just went ahead
and made a little Mark so I knew right where the centers would line up I went through with a white
paint marker and did them in a gingerbread Motif but you could easily paint these red or green
or whatever Christmas color that you want and then go through with markers this would also be a
really fun thing to do with your kids when they're off on Christmas break and they just really
need a boredom Buster so a ton of options and super duper free cuz you know you got boxes laying
around because it's that time of year I don't know about you but online shopping saves me time and
time again just makes it a lot easier than having to run to the store so we get a decent amount of
deliveries between my business and personal here at the house so I decided to fill up this white
Amazon cart which is awesome cuz it also folds up which is awesome I will link it down below and
I filled it up with a variety of snacks I got off of Amazon and Dollar Tree as well as Aldi to keep
it budget friendly I also created this printable which I will link down below for you that just
says thank you we appreciate you please help yourself I put this right next to our doorbell
where they drop the packages so they can come up they can grab a snack something to drink and on
those long shifts know that they are appreciated I love all the scenes in gimpl in .l so I had
to recreate this free printable banner welcome Santa so you can get this file this PDF over on
my blog just print it out I suggest on some white card stack cut them out and then I punched holes
in either corner now you might notice that they're Hearts because I couldn't find my regular punch
nonetheless that plus some hand cut snowflakes is just what this setup needed and if you are unsure
how to make your own snowflakes no worries there are a ton of templates online just Google you know
handcut snow paper snowflake template something like that but I just kind of had a blast it was
very cathartic and I cut my own now as you can see I have a whole setup and I did this part of
a Christmas movie video last year so the video is full of everything from e.l.
Christmas Vacation I
also did A Christmas Story we did some Grinch we did some Rudolph so many fun things for Christmas
so if you love Christmas Christmas movies or have kiddos who love Christmas movies you're definitely
going to want to check out that video and I will link it for you up above and down [Music] below
speaking of elfl one of my favorite scenes from that movie is the snowball fight scene so
I decided to take this huge Red Bowl from the kitchen section and turn it into an indoor
snowball fight kit especially when it gets so cold here in Illinois I need to have some activities
for Finn to do so this son of a nutcracker time for a snowball fight is actually a Recreation I
made my own version I made something similar a few years ago but it wasn't my own file it was before
I gave away so many free files so I decided to make one for my collection it's got the different
layers for the different colors and I just cut it out in green yellow and red this is perfect
for scraps and I didn't worry about layering with transfer tape cuz they were super easy to
stack on top of each other I'm applying just regular transfer tape here because I don't have
to worry about anything peeling up from the bowl I am getting it at a good angle and and then just
applying it starting with pressure in the center and pushing to either side then my last step was
to fill it up with some of these fun snowballs from Dollar Tree and we can go Hog Wild with
some snowball fights indoors to stay warm this winter up next we are going to do a mashup of
this faux Cyprus wreath along with these brass bell wreath hangers that I saw at Pottery Barn
here's the idea you have the wreath hanger and it adds bells to any wreath that you have
well we're going to make the whole thing mashed up for much cheaper I find that the
best place to find wreaths this time of year is Walmart the one I grabbed was $6.98 and then
you're going to need some Bells if you're lucky enough to find these at Hobby Lobby on sale
50% off you can get the string already done for n bucks which I think is a great deal
Walmart has their own options and they also have some ones that aren't gold if you want to
make them over using the technique I'm sharing today I ended up going with these from the craft
section at Hobby Lobby just because they were so much cheaper to DIY than to drive around all
our creation to figure out where the cheapest one was I'm all for saving money but sometimes running
allaround creation and wasting your time is just not worth it so we kind of have to be smart when
we're duping things here because yes you could save but you could spend 50 bucks in gas and then
it's really not a dupe is it and what I think they did is they went for the cheaper option for the
finish so we're going to use some rubb and buff to really make these look a little bit more shiny
a little bit more like B up metal and a little bit more like that inspiration so I originally
started with one color of the gold Rubin buff and decided that it was a little too rose gold
for me so I ended up doing the different color which is gold leaf on the top of it and I like
the top one better but I wanted to share both in case you want more of a Rosy gold look any bells
that you see that you're like H I love the shape but the Finish looks kind of cheaply done because
it's in a budget bin or budget area of the store no worries you can get rub and buff for like
six bucks and I've had the same container for literal years you don't need a ton of it and you
can really make them over now let's get back to this wreath the craft buddies know that I'm going
to add lights to pretty much anything I can for Christmas because it just brings me so much joy so
Walmart has the best selection outside of Amazon as far as pricing and these actually are called
beatsync so they're supposed to sync to music I have to mess with them more but initially it was
kind of nice because I could play whatever song and it would twinkle goal to that what I'm doing
is unraveling my lights these are just little LEDs on a strand I'm going to go around looping
it around and then I'm going to take my little battery pack and push it up in the corner and
then I just used a little bit of juk twine to make sure that it wouldn't move I just wanted to
make sure that I had my button on the outside so I could turn the wreath on and off when I didn't
need it or needed it then we're going to take those mover bells and we're going to string them
in three different heights so it looks like the inspiration and I'm doing that by tying on some
tree juk twine and just working my way up with knots then when it comes to wath or garlands
I really like to get it set up in the space instead of making it and then having to mess with
it so I've got my lit wreath up here I've got some Black Velvet Ribbon that I also got from jaob
Lobby I am going to add my bells get them where I want and then I'm going to add my little black
piece of ribbon to really pull the look together it worked a little better to add the ribbon after
after the fact just because I needed the bells to sit a certain way and I found the easiest way to
do this is to add some juk twine to the ribbon then that way I could tie it and get it to stay
right where I wanted I love this wreath so much it looks beautiful during the day but then
also when it's lit up it is just Next Level I love having Christmas lights throughout my house
this is the time of year I don't like to use the big lights I like to use the Ambiance lights and
the best part about this wreath I made the whole thing all in for about $32 and if I were to buy
the pieces from powdery Barn it would have been well over over 200 so got to love a dupe that
looks good and also helps you save one of my top number one most requested favorite DIYs ever
are these faux marshmallows and I make them with white Model Magic that you can sometimes find at
Dollar Tree but you can also find it really easily on Amazon or at Walmart really anywhere has it all
you need to do is take this modeling clay made for kiddos and put it in your hands roll it around
and create a marshmallow shape that's it that's how you create faux marshmallows it's so quick and
easy I make them every year and they're so cute and Decor you can leave them as they are or once
they dry overnight you can take a paint marker add some fun little snowman features and you've
got adorable Little Snowmen marshmallows I took mine and added them to this jar from Dollar Tree
to display and it's also great because they stay really safe in there when you want to store them
throughout the year there's a ton of different options for displaying them quick easy and oh
so cute here's another idea to take those Marsh to the next level with a little bit of fake
chocolate drizzle what you're going to do is before you sit your marshmallow to the side to dry
stick a dowel rod into the bottom and then let it fully dry once it's dry then go through with this
tulip paint in brown so it looks like chocolate I like to make a decent Circle covering the top and
then you can tap the stick onto your desk the more you tap it the more kind of cascade drizzle you're
going to get but then let those dry overnight they're going to dry hard they won't be wet like
paint and they are so stinking cute so last year anthropology had a really fun gingerbread doormat
and I wanted to make one like it but I didn't get around to it well this year grandon Road has one
that is over 70 bucks and I decided to dup it with a Walmart doorm but you could get these anywhere
you just want a plain version of these doormats I started by measuring the long side and realized it
was 30 in wide so I measured 15 in in the center for the point of my house and then I also marked
10 in and 20 in so I knew which third each house would fit into then following the picture almost
to a te I used some craft sticks cuz I couldn't find my ruler but you can use a ruler and created
the peak of the center one and then the different tops of the houses as well as the chimneys so I'm
just looking at the picture and trying to recreate the best I can once I had everything roughed out
the way I wanted I took my tin snips and cut it it was just a lot easier to cut it that way shake
off all of your extra pieces from cutting your door mat apart and then I took some tape just to
really help make my outside lines straight clean crisp so I'm just using a regular paint brush
and acrylic paint to start to apply it around the outside I did the bottom and both sides as well
as the peak of the middle house just so I could get them to be very symmetrical then it was time
to rough out everything else so I used more white paint and got everything where it needed to be
I just followed the picture again it's kind of a paint by numbers and then I realized that it
really made it pop with a second coat of the white paint so here it is after the first coat and then
if you look the one on the right has the second coat so it's just more vibrant so I decided to do
the whole thing just over one more time once it was dry I wanted to seal it so I took it outside
and it looks like the seasons are confused here with my leaves but I just used some clear spray
paint and gave it a really good coat all around so then that way that paint was going to be locked in
in case it got wet I don't recommend like putting a ton of snow on it it's definitely decorative
but I want to make sure the whole thing didn't fall apart on top of the fact that this looks
great I was able to make it for under $10 which is so much cheaper than that other one I think
they look very similar I recently got a really fun FaceTime call from my pal Santa reminding me
that I made an awesome bag for him to put Finn's gifts in last year and I'm going to need to get
to work like a busy elf to make another one for him to use for baby boy coming in December so let
me show you how I made fins and then I'm going to have to make another one this year for baby the
bags I'm using are just laundry bags I got in a pack of two for $13 from Amazon and they take
finyl really well I know so many of you craft buddies watch my videos with Littles so in case
Santa calls you too I've provided these over in my free file Library as free files and if you need
help customizing it I've got a tutorial breaking it down that I will link down below you're going
to cut them in your variety of colors that you want I did black and red but you can customize
these however you want cut them out and weed them and get ready to press we're going to press them
at 320° for about 20 to 25 seconds and these bags are a really good size so Santa can fill them with
a variety of items and the best news is you can even put smaller things in and they just look cute
irregardless of if they're full to the max or not which is great here's one of my favorite tra for
applying vinyl I'm going to fold my decal in half and give it a crease right on the carrier sheet
you're not going to crease the HTV but crease the carrier sheet then you know where to line it up in
the center and then I'm using my Cricut press but you can also use an iron to apply this something
else you're going to want to keep in mind is know if your HTV ironon is a hot peel or a cool peel
if it's a hot peel you can press it like I'm doing here peel it right off and you're good to go if
it is a cool peel you need to let it fully cool before you peel it cuz if you peel it when it's
hot it's going to look like it didn't stick and you're going to get really frustrated you can find
that out by either Googling the type that you're using or you can also look on the packaging if you
still have that and bada bing bada boom Santa is going to have some fun bags to fill when he visits
our house so if you happen to get that special call from Santa for your kids or grandkids you can
come back to this video and create these or you could just put your own gifts in them as well you
could customize what it says it could say say you know ho ho ho from Grammy or from Gigi you could
also cut out a coloring page of their favorite character so then after they take their gift out
of the bag the bag is also a gift they could color on it with fabric markers cost difference $69 for
the Pottery Barn versus $12 for mine I think Santa put me right on the nice list for that now if
you love super inexpensive Cricut DIYs you're definitely going to want to check out my Cricut
DIY playlist for Christmas I have so many projects made from Dollar Tree items that you're definitely
going to want to check out and I was recently talking to Courtney over at creative on the
cheap and she says that she shares her projects and calls them from the Vault projects from years
past and I love that so if you want to check out from the Vault projects I will be sharing more of
them throughout this video you can find the links to those in the description or you can just check
out my Christmas playlist which I will link up in the iards for you one of my new favorite places
to shop for DIY supplies for Christmas projects is the thrift store let me show you how you can
turn these green candles into something that you can leave up all winter long I found these green
candles and I put them in a bowl with hot water I let them soak submerge for about 2 minutes to
soften them up and then I took a knife carefully and started to mold the candle into a tree shape I
did one pass around and then for the next layer I added it in between the top two so that it created
a cascading look these fit great in these Dollar Tree candlesticks I already had and I love them
these turned out way better than I even expected hey crap buddy I know this video is a jam-packed
longer one so if you are still with me do me a favor head down to the description and let me
know what you are most looking forward to about Christmas obviously mine is the baby but I'm also
excited to be able to make New Traditions as a family of four and I'm also really excited because
Finn and Alex just love Christmas as much as I do so it's our favorite season so head down there let
me know your favorite thing you're looking forward to about Christmas I would love to learn more
about you guys I was super excited to find these do25 pillow case covers because the back is
blank so you could easily customize the back and have a be a double-sided pillow or just lean
it up nobody's going to see the back I measured and realized that I wanted a decal that was 12 in
wide and with heat transfer vinyl there's a shiny side and a dull side you want to make sure you
put the shiny side down on your mat then you're going to load it into your machine and the other
thing you want to make sure that you click is the mirror setting so this is what it looks like in
Cricut but make sure you do it on yours that's just going to flip your design to work with the
heat transfer vinyl up next we're going to weed everything out I like to take the inner pieces out
first and that will help your hand from sticking to the carrier sheet while you're weeding also
for these cutout characters I did the outside first and then worked my way in just so I didn't
remove a piece of the face just because it was a little bit more intricate and then it was time to
press it so I gave it a quick prepress on the back and you want to make sure you put down parchment
paper or wax wax paper I'll show you why in just a second and then we are going to add the decals
with that shiny side up this is why you mirror because you flip it over I'm going to press at
320° for about 15 to 18 seconds but you're going to want to make sure to check the packaging of
your heat transfer vinyl also this is why we want to cover it because the back is sublimation and it
may transfer onto your press pad so don't make the same mistake I did now mine is cool peel so I let
my heat transfer vinyl cool and then I peeled off the carrier sheet leaving this awesome pillow my
last step was to stuff it with some stuffing and decorate I love this thing it is so fun and this
is another one you wouldn't guess it was $125 add some vinyl and it's Christmas magic so what if you
can't find a square pillow cover or any for that matter you can use place mats from Dollar Tree
or anywhere else you just want to make sure it is a double-sided placem so I've made so many of
these and you're going to press them the same way we did with that sticky SL wet Bandit pillow I did
a baby shark one for a couple years ago I've also done Grinch M I have this Christmas movies and hot
cocoa one that I have on our couch every year and once you press it to make it into a pillow all you
need to do is pull apart the two pieces so you've got a front and a back to your placemat and you're
going to snip just the back of the placemat give yourself just enough room so that you can add your
stuffing and you can use an old pillow you could use polyfill really whatever you have or whatever
you can get the most inexpensively and then I just take a dow needle and just some twine this is
just Dollar Tree twine it's nothing fancy you could use J twine and just seal up the back
and then you are good to go the nice thing is too if you ever need to wash them and take the
stuffing out you can just cut the twine pull it out and then you're good to go wash it restu it
and then you can wash those pillows I use these really decoratively so they're not getting dirty
but just an FYI I get questions about that and I also used the same technique last year to dupe
this Pottery Barn doorm into a pillow this is another whiskey and wree cut file it's a couple
different layers but it's the same thing add it all on there snip the back stuff it and reeal it
and I absolutely love this pillow I got so many compliments when people came over last year and of
course you know as a DIY I had to be like well I made it and it's a dupe of a Pottery Barn one tell
me in the comments do you do that when somebody gives you compliments or like you buy something
on clearance and you're like thanks it was only $5 and like you pat yourself on the back do I
do that and am I the only one let me know in the comments something else I fell in love with on
the Pottery Barn site that was well out of budget where these modern nutcrackers and Kirklands had
some but they were still over $25 for one of them made it really hard to justify the price so I
decided to get some unfinished ones and make them over myself these are at Michaels a lot of stores
have them but I ended up going with the Hobby Lobby option because their stuff is already half
off and these were $9.99 making them $5 each when I got them home I removed the tags and then I used
a little sanding block to remove any of the rough edges a lot of these project pieces aren't sanded
the best and then I decided to use this English Chestnut stain to stain them I used a foam brush
and I had to flood a lot of the areas with some excess stain and then use a paper towel to rub it
off that's how I was able to get the Nutcracker fully covered and once he was done I just let
them dry overnight and I didn't worry about sealant because it's stained and these turned out
really good now something to keep in mind with these project pieces is that they typically use
wood glue to put them together so sometimes you'll get some unevenness which I got with these but I'm
not unhappy with it I like The Rustic look but I did just want to throw that out there I love how
these turned out and for a fraction of the price the look can be yours for those monochrome ones if
you're looking for more of a color or if you are a vibrant person and want a pink one or an orange
one you can spray paint them as well they turn out really well if you are loving all of these
dupes I'm sharing in this video you're definitely going to want to check out my DIY instead of
buy playlist I've got a ton of holiday options as well as some everyday things that you can check
out and recreate for a fraction of the cost that you can get items bought at some of the high-end
stores so check that out in the iards or down in the description I know so many of you love how the
Grinch do Christmas so here is how to make a whoh can in Grinch's hand I'm actually using a roll
from some transfer tape but you can use a soup can literally literally anything synical that you have
Pringles whatever take some red card stock and cut it to the size and then hook it to your item
you can use hot glue or you can use double-sided tape whichever works then I cut out this hoo has
decal that will be a free printable over on my blog but I cut it out on some sticker paper it's
easy enough to cut by hand and I stuck it right on there then that way you don't have to print
it to the right size you just have to print it in approximately the right size then to hold our
can of fash I got one of these Wood artist hands and some Grinch gloves I put the glove on the wood
hand so then that way I could kind of pose it and I thought this would be so cute holding the can
of haash on my tear tray then to stuff the hoo has I am using some of these little squigglies from
Hobby Lobby I use them in so many things and you guys always ask so these ribbons are from there
and then I had some of this white Just Fur to be the Santa wrist and then some Red Velvet Ribbon
to be kind of the start of his Santa outfit jacket once that's all stuck there we've got our hoo has
fresh from hooville and it is ready to go I love those little squigglies they make me think of the
Grinch so much and I just made the hand kind of cup so it would hold the can of woash now I'm
sure I'll get a ton of questions on Where this gem carry Grinch sign came from so that's what
we're going to DIY next I actually found this artwork and a ton of other options at alternativ
movieposters.com they have so many different Christmas movies that I got the files and printed
them out and all I needed to to do was cut them down they're 4 1/2 by 6 and 1/2 so you can use
any clearance sign or photo frame that you want and you can mount it with hot glue or double-sided
tape I love this cuz it's a nod to the gym carry one I love that it looks like a magazine cover
and I am just a huge fan of that alternative movie posters website so this burn so good McAllister
After Shave is actually Dollar Tree After Shave I just peeled off the sticker thank goodness it came
in one piece Trimm down this again on that stick scker paper but you could do regular paper and
apply it with some double stick tape and put it right where that other sticker was and I love the
little detail on there try our new formula better suited for first timers I also made this angels
with filthy souls to look just like the movie I grabbed a VHS for 99s from the thrift store and
then we're going to add it just again with the sticker paper sticker in the center one on the end
to look just like the movie prop I love how all these turned out and it definitely screams Home
[Music] Alone every year we typically have two rounds of the Mystery Box challenge with Christmas
stuff and last year Kelly at Kelly Barlo Creations sent me some zip ties that I had to work into a
Christmas DIY I was so stumped until I thought about this idea and trust me you're going to want
to stick with me cuz it turned out really great and you may want to grab some zip ties yourself I
started with 15 of these black zip ties and hooked it on to a pipe cleaner that I had so it would
be bendable then I went through with my scissors and cut a variety of lengths kind of one long one
short and I alternated how I cut on an angle and the goal here is to get this to look like either
sunbeams or light beams once I did that I was able to trim off the ends and kind of create this sun
effect then I took a foam brush in some rubb and buff to cover it up and really make it look more
like light instead of black then to accompany my zip tie item I decided I was going to paint a sign
similar to how I painted this cross a few years ago so I started with some paint and a sign and
got to work so I started by creating three faces Joseph Mary and baby Jesus we're going to add some
Browns randomly it doesn't have to be perfect to the bottom to start to create the bottom floor of
the stable where the manger is going to sit then I like to do it in a layering process so I'm
going to do the hair for Joseph and Mary in a lighter brown and then I'm going to rough out
where the manger needs to go I like to do the manger in Black because it pops off of the brown
but if you'd rather have a brown manger you could totally do that too then with a little bit thicker
of a brush I'm just creating a rough shape for Joseph's kind of cloak he also is going to have a
hood on and then I'm doing the same thing for Mary now don't worry if you go over some of the stuff
you already painted we're kind of doing a layering thing here and if you're actually an artist you're
probably pulling your hair out cuz I'm doing it all wrong but this works for me I pick and choose
kind of what comes next based on what is drying the fastest so I did the outlines in Black just
to make everything pop and then I also added some additional coloring to both of the outfits
for Mary and Joseph just to give it some depth then I went through with white to do baby Jesus's
kind of wrap and I outlined that in black as well I got a little too crazy so I covered it with a
little bit more white [Music] then it was time to grab some gold paint and create a large star up in
the corner just cuz there was some negative space up there and then I went through with gold and
white dots to make it look like a starry night now you're probably thinking to yourself Whitney where
did the zip ties fit in right here we're going to glue that Contraption to the back starting in the
center and then you're going to create it kind of like a Sun or a radial shape onto the back of that
wood piece this is just a wood canvas I got from Walmart but you can get these at Dollar Tree
as well any of the pieces that won't sit where they need to sit on their own glue them down and
then when you flip it over you're going to have this beautiful 3D look glowing out from the holy
family I am so happy with how this turned out I saw it like this in my head but sometimes
it doesn't work out that way who knew zip ties could look so beautiful another option for
marshmallows is using felt and I created these cute little marshmallows with a unlikely Supply
that is toilet paper rolls I've been collecting these cuz I had a thought that maybe I would need
them for Christmas DIYs and I was right so I cut it in half and then I'm cutting a strip of felt
to wrap around the outside of my piece you also want to make sure you have enough on either end
because we're going to cut some tabs here in a second to fully hook it to the toilet paper roll I
just added glue with my Precision glue gun all the way around the outside and then I cut some tabs
around the outside so that I could add some glue and fold them in that's it's going to give you a
nice finished Edge then it CLS off our marshmallow we're going to add some hot glue to the bottom
and press it directly down on some scrap felt let it cool and then trim it it makes it a lot
easier than having to trace and cut it correctly to then get it to stick so just add the glue put
it down and then trim it we're going to repeat the same step but on the top so that we have a
full closed marshmallow and then you can be done if you want just some regular marshmallows These
are nice to throw into vignettes they look nice and fluffy they're kind of a little bit oversized
which I like it goes with The Whimsy Vibe of the setup and I think they are super adorable quick
and easy to do this could also be a really fun DIY with kiddos I think I might make some more
of these so Finn and I can have a marshmallow snowball fight when it gets too cold to go outside
here in Illinois now another take on those is to create Little Snowmen marshmallows so I took a
paint marker and added a face as well as a little strip of orange felt for a nose I hot glued that
on and then I went back in with that tulip paint to add some faux chocolate on the top I'm going to
add it around kind of get the drips where I want them started and then tap it on the table so then
that way it gives me some really fun drips these would make a great addition to any tear tray or
throw them in a little like Ramin dish for some fun addition to your hot cocoa bar now as I was
making those I realized they kind of looked like mugs but without the handle so I decided to do the
same thing but with some colored felt and then add handles so here I'm doing the same thing I did
before with the marshmallows just pushing the tabs in I took one of these styrofoam balls from Dollar
Tree and glued it on the inside now I had some leftover really fluffy yarn from these Pottery
Barn dup pillows but I used some scrap of that yarn to wrap it around the top and give it some
faux whipped cream I think this works a lot easier for ornaments than the spackling it obviously
doesn't look like real whipped cream like the spackling does but I like the fluffy Whimsy of
this so I thought I would try it this year versus the spackling that I did last year then to make
your handle just grab some scrap felt roll up a strip like this glue it so it stays trim it and
then I'm finding the seam on my cup and gluing the handle down I had to hold it for probably 20
seconds for each piece but once it did it stayed perfectly and these were so cute my last step was
to add an embellishment so I painted these little snowflakes from Dollar Tree White and added them
to the center of my little mug and these were good to go I made a bunch of these so that I could put
them on the tree in my dining room for my hot coco SL gingerbread room and I am so excited you can
add a hanger to the back but I just set them on the branch and it worked out perfectly I made this
latte just by dusting the top of the white felt with some nutmeg Brown I also added some brown
felt and some melted chocolate to these and then used some more of that Model Magic to make some
teeny little marshmallows and then once they dried overnight hot glued them to the top and they just
are so cute so they're great for shelf sitters great for tear trays you could do whatever colors
you're feeling and I also decided to do some green with snowflakes as well as some off-white so then
that way I could keep these out for winter Decor rather than just Christmas if you love gingerbread
Vibes like I do and want some little items to fill out vignettes you're going to grab yourself one
of these silicone molds you can usually find them in the baking section but I found these at Dollar
Tree and I decided to use these peppermint ones but you can use whatever shape you want fill it
with hot glue let it cool and then trim off any extra pieces with carefully with an X-Acto Knife
then go through and paint it just like you would a wood round I did a white base coat silver
for the wrapper and then white and red for the peppermint so quick and easy to do the hot
glue you can buy the cheap stuff it doesn't have to be anything fancy these candies will last you
years and years and they are so cute on tear trays for my gingerbread setup I wanted one of these fun
candy cane LED candles but this price was crazy so you can make this with an LED pillar candle from
Dollar Tree super easy peasy but I decided to do a thicker one from Hobby Lobby just because I
wanted a bigger size than what Dollar Tree could offer but you could get LED candles anywhere even
the thrift store I started with a thick painters tape and did one piece on a diagonal and then used
another piece as a spacer and I'm just continuing that all around my candle until everything is
covered then we're going to cover it in Mod Podge to prepare it for our glitter and I know you guys
are thinking Whitney you hate glitter don't worry I like this fine glitter just for Christmas
and we're going to seal it so it doesn't come off everywhere I'm dumping this on top of some
paper but you could use a tin or a pan just to catch everything and I'm also making sure that the
glitter goes up on the edge of my candle so that it looks like a full little strip in between dumps
I'm pouring it back into the container and that's why it's helpful to have the paper on the bottom
and I'm going to continue to add Mod Podge around the outside once everything's covered we're going
to cover the glitter with Mod Podge let it dry about halfway and then we're going to add a little
bit more glitter I did two coats to make sure everything was coated and then once you do that
additional layer of glitter we're going to go back through and cover everything with more Mod Podge
here's what it's going to look like when it's covered with Mod Podge but don't worry it will dry
like this and and then it's time to pull off that tape so carefully pull it off especially because
if the Mod Podge dried on top of the tape as well as on the candle you don't want to Band-Aid rip
it you want to go slowly and once you get going make sure to pull it at a sharp angle like I'm
doing here and you will be fine now to get off any random pieces of glitter I just used a wet paper
towel I did that on the inside of the candle as well and then I also sprayed a polycrylic sealant
on the outside just to make sure that Glitter was not going anywhere but I absolutely love this in
the red and white Vibe it looks great on those little pedestals and this is going to live in
my dining room with my gingerbread setup this Christmas another quick and easy and nice and
cheap but really cute are these appetizer plates now I did a similar project back in the fall for
my fall Dollar Tree blanks and I thought instead of putting those away and buying more plates why
don't I take the vinyl off and redo them every season and vinyl is not that crazy expensive for
that small of a piece so I just cut out Mary in red and I just washed the plates off after I remov
the vinyl and then replaced it then that way I don't have to find a place to store it and these
can just stay out on my table with the different seasons on top this is another free file that
I'll have for you over on my blog and I love how the letters curve to fit perfectly in the center
of that plate during a recent trip to Dollar Tree I saw these three different size squares in the
crafter Square section and I grabbed some for sign blanks but then as I was staining an idea came to
me for a nativity set I ended up doing two of the mediumsized boxes and then one large box for the
large box I cut that file to 5 and a/4 in wide and then the two small ones were 4 and 1/2 in wide
again this is the white matte vinyl Oracle 651 which just means it's permanent and I'm applying
it with that paper transfer tape I did the holy family in the center and this is a beautiful
way to display a nativity and the reason for the season this one comes to us from the Kirkland's
website and as I was scrolling I thought this was so cute and I thought I could totally make
that so I went to Walmart in their Craft section and grabbed one of these six cutting boards
and got to work I started by measuring it to decide if I wanted it to sit on its side or
straight up and I decided to go a little bit different than the inspiration I measured to
find out that I needed to cut my decal to 7 in wide and this is a free file that will be over on
my blog if you want to download it I tried to find a font that was kind of similar to the inspiration
but that one was really handlettered and so sometimes I get a lot of people to ask about fonts
and you have to look at it and think did somebody hand letter that digitally or does it look like
a font and you could tell that was handlettered cuz all the letters were different sizes and it
didn't look uniform but this I think has Whimsy without needing to handl the font I'm weeding it
like a stencil so I'm taking out out all the inner pieces and I'm using my paper transfer tape to add
it right to my wood I'm getting it centered lined up and then I'm going to apply it and peel off my
transfer tape you want to be careful as you are pulling I'm using permanent vinyl for this stencil
because I think it grips the best but just be careful as you're peeling it back so your little
pieces and your little letters don't go away then for the start of the show torch paste this is
how we are going to get the burning into the wood now if you don't have a Cricut you can also use
torch paste with silicone transfers you can wash it right out so that's something to keep in mind
if you don't have a Cricut you can still do this I like to use an old Cricut scraper but you can
apply it with the squeegee that it comes with and you just want to carefully apply it over the top I
scrape it across remove any excess and you want to do it gently but you're going to know everything's
covered when your letters have this orange tint I let it dry for about 20 minutes and then you're
going to peel your stencil off so make sure it's dry so then that way as you're removing these
little pieces you're not smearing your torch paste cuz if you smear it then that is going to burn as
well and it's going to not create clean lines like you want then I took my cutting board outside I
put on my sublimation heat protectant gloves just for safety and I grabbed my Wagner heat gun for
this you need a high heat gun you don't want just an embellishing gun so I will link what I use down
below it is super inexpensive from Amazon and it's worked great then the key here is to keep moving
your gun I have this set to high and you want to keep moving it it until stuff starts turning black
if you leave it on any place too long you're going to get some extensive burning and it's not going
to look that great and as you can see here it's already turning the wood outside of my letters
a little bit black then to give it a little bit more uniform look I'm going through and adding a
little bit of distress charring to areas without the letters just so it kind of all matches then
I'm taking a really high grit sandpaper like a 220 getting off any extra grit so it's completely
flat and then to seal it I am using some of this Butcher Block conditioner I have never used this
before but Courtney recommended it when she was talking about wood projects in our pinners class
and so I knew I had to go grab some and test it out and I really like it it's supposed to be wood
safe but I'm not sure with the science how that works because you put a chemical on the wood to
burn so I'm not going to tell you it's food safe but I will tell you that it is really nice to
finish it like that cuz it puts some life back into your wood it's also nice cuz it's a great
alternative if you don't have a laser machine but you want to have that actually look on wood
here's a quick reminder of the inspiration about 70 bucks and I made mine for around eight
woo what a full jam-packed video I hope you are leaving with so much inspiration to get you
excited for Christmas and like I said before I understand that it's early but some of these items
you want to get ahead of it or you can also start doing these at your leisure so then that way
come December you're not running around like a banshee trying to get your home decorated you can
just sit back relax drink some hot cocoa or your beverage of choice and enjoy a h huge thank you to
Ritual for sponsoring today's video and helping me bring you all these ideas be sure to head over
to ritual.com whiskey w25 or you can scan this QR code right here on the screen to check out all
the things ritual has to offer all that info will be down in the description be sure to use the code
whiskey WT 25 to get 25% off your first order we love good coupon code here at Whiskey W thanks
so much for watching be sure to hit subscribe if you're new so you can join the craft buddies and
craft along with us and also be sure to join that email list if you're interested in any of the free
files I shared today all those details are in the description as well thanks so much for watching
and I'll catch you in the next one bye [Music]
