FaveCrafts

1000s of free craft projects, home decor ideas and DIY tips

I Just Can’t Help Myself

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Fellow crafters, I have a confession to make. I’m in love with Pinterest. I’m talking the head-over-heels, out-of-this-world, makes-you-want-to-scream-it-from-a-mountain-top type of love. I’m not the only one, right? If you’ve somehow managed to miss out on Pinterest, stop reading and click here. Consider it an early Christmas present from AllFreeChristmasCrafts to you.

If I had to describe Pinterest in a sentence, here’s what I’d say: It’s a virtual bulletin board full of never-ending crafts, recipes, hilarious memes, and DIY inspiration. In short, it’s like a new and improved letter to Santa.

santa-pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this reason (beyond millions of more that I won’t bore you with), it’s become the ultimate Christmas planner.  You can make a board to store ideas for gifts to make for your friends and family, ways to decorate your home, and what food to serve for your next holiday party.

Now, I know that Christmas is 9 months away, but it never hurts to get a head start. What’s that saying? The early bird gets the worm? And let’s be honest, aren’t you just itching for another reason to peruse through Pinterest boards? Happy pinning!

I-Just-Cant-Help-Myself

 

Obviously, one of the most important Christmas decorations is your Christmas tree. From more traditional ideas to the completely unique, there are so many ways to dress up you tree. One of the first ways is going for a theme, like this simple white and gold tree:

Snowflakes-and-gold-tree

 

 

If you like this, try making these:

Chic Paper Ball Ornament
Gold and Lace Ball Ornament
Beautiful Crochet Christmas Ornament

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or you could do something like this, a little splash of blue with a few natural elements like pine cones:

blue-and-pinecone-tree

 

 

If you like this, then make these:
Shimmering DIY Ornaments
Simple Glitter Ornaments
Simple DIY Pine Cone Ornaments
Gold Dipped Pine Cone Ornament

 

 

 

 

 

Or you could do solid color, but different ornament shapes, like this tree:

stars-and-balls-tree

 

 

If you like this, make these:

Festive Star Ornament
Twine Wrapped Ball Ornament
Stars & Hearts Felt Ornaments
Hand Knit Ball Ornaments

 

 

 

 

 

You could also go without a theme, and simply mix and match ornaments of different color, shape, and style like this tree:

random-tree

 

 

If you like this, try making these:

Oh So Cute Owl Ornament
Darling Penguin Ornament
48 Homemade Ornaments
Funky Fabric DIY Ornaments

 

 

 

 

 

You could also get creative this year, turning your tree into a work of art like this one.
snowman-tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway you choose to decorate it, I’m sure it will be beautiful. And I know what you are probably thinking, it’s too early, but I just can’t help myself. Besides if we start pinning now, by the time Christmas comes around, we’ll have all the inspiration and projects we’ll need to make our Christmas dreams come true….or at least an excuse to look at beautiful pictures on Pinterest.

 

 What would your dream Christmas tree look like?

 

 

 

Christmas Crafts Show & Tell – And the Winner Is…

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Thanks to everyone who participated in our Christmas Craft Show & Tell! We challenged you to share your best Christmas projects with the FaveCrafts community. For the last two days, blog readers have had the chance to vote for their favorite project.

 

And the winner is…
Joan!

 

Joan submitted a crochet rose! Head over to Pinterest to view more of her work.

 

Thank you to everyone who linked up for this hop! You can see all the submissions and find great holiday craft tutorials by visiting the Christmas Craft Show & Tell post.

We’ll see you back here for the next blog hop!

Show & Tell: What Are You Crafting For Christmas?

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Welcome to our Christmas Blog Hop! What festive holiday crafts are you making? Show us your latest and greatest Christmas crafts and holiday creations from the month, or make something and write it up just for the occasion!

From now until December 11th, you’ll have the chance to post your latest Christmas crafts in this very post. On December 12th, voting will begin and readers will have a chance to pick their favorite craft. The person whose project receives the most votes by 11:59 p.m. on December 13th will also receive the crafty prize package shown below! The winner will also be announced on the FaveCrafts Blog as well as on our social media pages.

How to Participate:

  1. Create or find a blog post on your own site that showcases your Christmas project. In the post, you can talk about the crafting process, write up a tutorial, or merely show off the finished project.
  2. Add your link by clicking on “Add your link” at the bottom of this post and follow the instructions. Make sure you link to your specific blog post, not your homepage, and give it a caption.
  3. Remember to copy the FaveCrafts Blog Hop button from below and paste it into your blog post. Also, link it to this Blog Hop post, so that everyone who reads your blog can see that you’ve been featured on FaveCrafts!

Remember, the link list will close at 11:59 PM on December 11th. At that time, no new links can be entered and voting will begin.

**Want to be notified via email about future blog events? Tell us you want to be added to our Blogger List and we will let you know when the next Blog Hop is up so you can join the fun!

 

In Case You Missed It: “7 Easy Homemade Christmas Ornaments for Kids” eBook

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Christmas is less than a month away, and it is time to put up (or at least start thinking about putting up) your Christmas tree. One of the best parts of decorating for Christmas is choosing ornaments for your Christmas tree. There are so many options for DIY ornaments, but the best kind are the ones you can make as a whole family. That is why we at AllFreeChristmasCrafts have put together a collection of great DIY ornaments kids can make in our eBook, 7 Easy Homemade Christmas Ornaments for Kids.

"7 Easy Homemade Christmas Ornaments for Kids" eBook

From ornaments using craft fabric to nature-inspired ornament crafts to DIY ornaments made with materials from your own home, you are sure to find the right ornament crafts for your kids in this eBook. If you need a fun and festive way to keep your kids entertained over winter break, this free eBook is a must-have for the holiday season!

 

Snowy Owl Ornaments Homemade Xmas Ornaments Using Craft Fabric

Create adorable DIY ornaments with your kids like these Snowy Owl Ornaments. Using large googly eyes, glue, felt, old book pages and other embellishments, make a cute owl to put on your tree this Christmas. Your kids will have a blast helping with these adorable animal ornaments and other fun projects made from craft fabric.

 

 

Wax Dipped Pine Cone Ornaments

Christmas Ornament Crafts That Are Nature Inspired

Look to the outdoors for inspiration for you next Christmas craft project with your kids. For a fun and budget-friendly ornament craft, try these Wax Dipped Pine Cone Ornaments. Inexpensive, yet adorable, these homemade ornaments are sure to be a favorite with the kids. Make these pine cone crafts and other nature-inspired projects with your kids this holiday season.

 

 

 

 

Bottle Cap Snowman OrnamentDIY Christmas Ornaments with Materials from Your Home

A recycled Christmas craft is the best way to save during the holiday season. Use old bottle caps to make this precious Bottle Cap Snowman Ornament. These ornaments can be personalized by name, so every kid will feel a sense of ownership over their DIY ornament creation. Make these homemade ornaments and more crafts featuring recycled items with projects featured in this eBook.

 

 
Download a copy of 7 Easy Homemade Christmas Ornaments for Kids – It’s free! 7 Easy Homemade Christmas Ornaments for Kids

If you like this eBook, you’ll love:

Homemade Christmas Ornament: 17 Insanely Cute Crafts
“11 Christmas Crafts for Kids to Create” eBook

 

 

 

 

What ornaments are you making for Christmas?

The Great Christmas Project Roundup

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Beat the heat this July by planning ahead for the coolest months of the year, and get started on your early Christmas spree by browsing the 7 Secrets of Holiday Crafting, Part 1 and Part 2! While you’re getting ready, you can fuel your creative fire by checking out the Christmas Crafting Guide for some preliminary DIY Christmas planning.

Ready to get started on an early Christmas? [Read more…]

Christmas Tree Skirts: A Secret History

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Easy Ruched Christmas Tree Skirt

DIY Christmas tree skirts are hugely popular during the holidays. They’re functional, decorative, and add a little extra something to the living room decorations. Christmas home dec projects are among my favorite homemade gifts to make for newlyweds, rather than just purchasing them a new blender from their registry. It’s a great unexpected gift idea that people love; building up a collection of Christmas decorations can be expensive, and it’s nice to have ornaments and decor that is tied to a memory.

I love to learn about the history behind traditions, so as I was updating AllFreeSewing with new Christmas projects this week, I found myself adding a bunch of new Christmas Tree Skirt patterns and got to thinking: where on earth did the tradition of tree skirts come from?

The Early Days

German Merry Christmas

I did a little research and as it turns out, tree skirts actually have a pretty storied history! Though their exact origins are still unknown, historians believe that Christmas tree skirts were likely invented in Germany (also the birthplace of general tree decorating).

In those days, trees were decorated with actual candles. In order to prevent a little Christmas bonfire from breaking out in the living room, families would put a mat under the base of the tree. The mat served to collect wax and fallen needles as well. These mats weren’t at all decorative; in fact, they were rarely more than just a piece of fabric placed beneath the tree, to be washed and recycled at the end of the holiday.

Tree Skirts Get A Makeover

Christmas Miracle Tree Skirt

The earliest recorded use of a Christmas tree stand as we use them today was in 1879, and the tree mat evolved into the tree skirt, which did double-duty collecting wax and leaves while obscuring the unsightly tree stand. It was during this time that Christmas tree skirts began to become more ornate and decorative. Families began to embroider or quilt their tree skirts to match their home decor.

At this point, tree skirts also served as the location of additional tree decorations like a nativity scene or Christmas village. As Christmas tradition evolved and gifts were placed under the tree instead of being hung upon it, the tree skirt became an important place for gifts to be arranged. Usually gifts were hung on the tree in early December and then added around the skirt on Christmas Eve.

Ho Ho Ho Tree Skirt

Modern Christmas Tree Skirts

Today, skirts are mostly used as decorative ways to hide the tree stand. Most nativity scened and Christmas villages have moved elsewhere in the house, and gifts are piled up under the tree from day one. However, over a century of sewing tree skirts has given the internet a plethora of great homemade Christmas tree skirt ideas and tutorials. So with your new knowledge of its long past, sew a beautiful new skirt to add to your own family’s Christmas tradition with one of these ten festive free DIY Christmas tree skirt patterns!

  1. Ho Ho Ho Tree Skirt
  2. Easy Ruched Christmas Tree Skirt
  3. Christmas Miracle Tree Skirt
  4. Christmas Tree Skirt with a Scalloped Edge
  5. Simply Quilted Patchwork Tree Skirt
  6. Whitney’s Drop Cloth Tree Skirt
  7. Christmas Tree Skirt
  8. ‘Tis the Season Christmas Tree Skirt
  9. Two Tiered Luxe Christmas Tree Skirt
  10. Super Easy Mini Christmas Tree Skirt

Handmade Leather Bags & Accessories Book GiveawayPLUS! Want some extra presents under your tree this year? You can win a copy of Handmade Leather Bags & Accessories from AllFreeSewing and Design Originals and make tons of cute bags and more! Enter to win once a day, every day until November 25th right here!

Do you have any Christmas traditions with interesting histories?

Holly Jolly July: 8 Decorations to Start Quilting for Christmas

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I absolutely love the summertime fun of taking day trips to the beach, tending to healthy flowers in the garden,  and throwing outdoor BBQ parties. Yet, I also love Christmas cookies, bright red poinsettias, and making handmade quilted gifts for loved ones. Fortunately, I don’t have to pick between my favorite season and holiday — I can just combine them by making wonderfully festive Christmas in July quilt projects!

Although the holidays aren’t for another 6 months, all of the editors FaveQuilts are already getting ready for this year’s Christmas quilting projects. Check out our list of our most loved decorative Christmas quilts that you need to get started on today.

 

Christmas Quilt Kitchen Decor

Christmas-Tree-Hot-Pad--1--

Creating your own Christmas-themed quilts for the kitchen is not only an easy way to save money, but also an easy way to add a burst of cheerful festivity to your home! For example, this pattern idea for a Christmas Tree Hot Pad  will come in handy when it’s time to take a Christmas ham or Christmas casserole out of the oven. If you have a few green and red layer cake fabrics handy, you can quickly piece together the multi-hued Christmas Joy Centerpiece to add a cute quilted Christmas decoration to any kitchen counter or dining room table. Personally, I like making minimalistic patterns for my quilted home decor; which is why I really love this extremely simple quilt pattern for this gorgeous Christmas Randot Table Runner.

 

Christmas Tree Quilt Decorations

Christmas-Tree-Skirt-in-JulyWhile palm trees are currently thriving in this July heat,  nothing gives you that Christmastime cheer like imagining a gorgeous, decked-out Christmas tree. Your family’s evergreen will really stand out this year if you start making your quilted Christmas decorations, like the Christmas in July Tree Skirt, before Santa comes to town! If you’re tired of overly tinseled trees, you’ll enjoy the simple, but stunningly classic pattern for the Starry Christmas Ball Ornament. Don’t forget to make personalized Christmas quilt patterns for your kids or grandkids with the Scrappy Christmas Tree Stocking.

 

Wall Hanging Quilts for Christmas

Christmas-Tree-Farm-Wall-HangingDon’t let the holidays sneak up on you — prepare yourself for the most wonderful time of the year by making an advent calendar quilt or a wallhanging Christmas quilt. Some of FaveQuilts‘ all-time favorite patterns include the Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar and the Merry Christmas Wallhanging. We also are pleased to bring you this NEW Christmas quilt pattern called the Christmas Tree Farm Wall Hanging, which features a whole forest of adorable and soft quilted evergreen pictures.

 

 

Don’t want to wait till December to start making these awesome Christmas quilt patterns? Check out more of our Christmas quilts below:

Deck the Halls: 8 Free Christmas Quilt Patterns eBook

99 Christmas Quilt Patterns and Projects

14 Christmas Tree Quilt Projects

 

What types of Christmas quilts have you made in the past?

Planning Your Christmas Tree Theme with Pinterest

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Can you believe that there’s less than a month left until Christmas? Now that all of the Thanksgiving decorations are put away, it’s time to focus on one of the biggest challenges for Christmas crafters every year; coming up with a theme for your Christmas tree. The editors at AllFreeChristmasCrafts know just how tough it can be to find fresh and exciting ideas that can go along with Christmas craft projects, which is why we took a look back at our Pinterest page to find for you some of the most original and beautiful tree designs along with a few craft ideas from our site to help you get started.

 Owl Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any home of animal lovers will adore having a tree filled with cute little owls. This is the perfect opportunity to feature not only animal crafts, but also more rustic and nature inspired projects to give the tree an outdoor look.

Ornaments to get started:

Beach Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you miss Summer? Your beach paradise doesn’t have to be so far away as long as you have a few leftovers from your last trip. The ocean-themed crafts have soft colors to relax you, and turning your favorite seashells and stars into ornaments will give them a new, long-lasting purpose in your home.

Ornaments to get started:

White (or Colored) Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ornaments aren’t the only way you can experiment with your Christmas tree. There are tons of ways to color them (be it artificial or paint), and these solid colors are great for vibrant decorations. You can create a real fantasy within your home that will really take your guests’ breath away.

Ornaments to get started:

 Driftwood Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you looking for a very eco-friendly and mess-free option, why not build your own Christmas tree out of driftwood? This is becoming more and more popular because of how versatile it is; you never have to water it, you can take it down easily, and you can size it to fit anywhere.

Ornaments to get started:

Snowman Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you can’t get enough of snowman crafts, you’ll absolutely love this creative design. It’s quirky and cute, but not so over the top that you can’t see it’s beauty. How fun would this be with some snow-themed ornaments?

Ornaments to get started:

Western/Cowboy Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of our readers have been looking for a way to bring the West to their Christmas tree, and this theme is a fun, very prop-friendly way. There are so many materials you can use to recreate classic Western and cowboy themes. You’ll feel the heat with such a hot theme!

Ornaments to get started:

What’s your Christmas tree theme for this year?

Link Love: Oh, Christmas Tree!

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Real Christmas trees are nice, of course. What’s not to love about lights, ornaments, and a sparkling star to top it all off? But what I really love about Christmas decorations is the homemade, miniature trees that I’ve been seeing around the internet lately. You guys certainly are a crafty bunch! Check out these inventive Christmas trees made out of, well, everything!

  1. Everyone needs a little sparkle in their lives, and these Glitter Trees from eighteen25 have just enough bling!
  2. I’m a sucker for button crafts. Apparently The Idea Attic is too.
  3. Paperview has a pretty paper Christmas tree tutorial that looks like it’s really easy to make too.
  4. Bring on the ruffles! Bliss Bloom Blog shows you how to turn cheap felt into a decadent, ruffled Christmas tree.
  5. For the sweet tooth: Make a candy tree with Life is a Party.
  6. Make these cute trees with the kids out of cupcake wrappers. Craftbits shows you how.
  7. Mama Mel Loves shows you how to use fabric scraps to make these scrappy, festive trees.
  8. What can you make with an old sweater? These Christmas trees, to start! Visit Sweater Surgery for the details.
  9. Don’t these trees look like they were store bought? Make your own with All Things Heart & Home.

Link Love: Ornament Roundup

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The quintessential holiday craft project is the ever popular Christmas ornament. These little baubles are in high demand because nearly everyone trims a tree nowadays, and every tree needs dozens of ornaments before it can call itself trimmed. Ornaments make easy stocking stuffers, gift toppers, and hostess gifts, and they’re usually quick, mini-projects to do in an evening. Here’s a crafty round-up of the best homemade ornaments from around the web. And don’t miss our 6 Sew Easy to Make Christmas Ornaments eBook!

  1. You won’t believe how simple this adorable Mini Mouse ornament was to make! Check out the tutorial on Honeyscrap.
  2. Craft Passion featured a mini crochet Christmas tree ornament complete with snow garland and beads.
  3. Learn how to turn your child’s art into keepsakes with Obsessive Crafting Disorder’s Mini Monet ornaments tutorial.
  4. Check out these old-timey silhouette ornaments from The Magic Bean, and put your own spin on them.
  5. This crochet ornament from Meet Me at Mike’s is quick and classy. You can even make a whole tree full!
  6. Here’s a fun ornament for the kids to make: The Kids Birthday Fun Review shows you how to turn pine cones and pipe cleaners into peacocks.
  7. Live long and prosper (and trek the halls) with Star Trek ornaments from Punk Projects.
  8. This pom pom wreath ornament combines three of my favorite things: miniatures, using up scraps, and Christmas. Kojo Designs has a tutorial!
  9. I love the look of this ornament from Everyday Chaos. Bonus–it’s made from recycled book pages.

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