It's a wonderful winter time of tangerines, Christmas trees, fireworks and good mood; it's rare to go without decorating your home. On the eve of the New Year, stores are bursting with all kinds of garlands, balls, tinsel and other themed trinkets of varying quality. Of course, most products are very beautiful and are a welcome element of holiday decoration, but not every decoration can be as memorable as something made with your own hands.
In this article, we have collected the most pleasant and original options for cutting crafts. And to make the DIY Christmas crafts made from plywood with a jigsaw a success, we added easy drawings that can make very beautiful decorations, even for a person without special skills.
Plywood interior decor
When decorating an interior, you can always see how important the role of accessories is. And although it is the floor, walls and, of course, furniture that give the apartment its shape, without various decorations everything will seem incomplete. Empty, inhospitable and ultimately just boring.
On the other hand, it is absolutely not about overwhelming. The power of detail is that even a small amount can make a positive difference in a given space. Later in this article we will continue to develop this topic - mainly using the example of original plywood decors. We invite you to read!
Unique plywood decorations
Plywood decorations are perfect as bright home accessories. Even if they naturally fit into any room, nothing prevents you from experimenting a little. After all, we can paint them with paints, cover them with various accessories, and use the increasingly popular decoupage technique.
Decor in individual parts of the house
These original decorations will look great on windows and on the walls of rooms - they can easily be turned into pendants. They can be found in the kitchen, living room, bedroom, hallway and home office. Thanks to them, we will give a unique look to organizers, dressing tables and wardrobes. When it comes to children's rooms, they are ideal for decoration. Beautiful and beautiful props - flowers, animals and fairy-tale characters - will fit perfectly here. We recommend attaching them to the crib, closet and door.
Simple decoration
There is nothing to hide - in interior design we are limited only by our own imagination. If desired, we can beautifully decorate the apartment, bringing a lot of warmth into it. Plywood decors are not only for exceptionally gifted people. We are confident that everyone will quickly and easily create a small work of art based on them. However, it is worth noting that these items, even without our intervention - left in the natural color of the wood - will look great.
What branches are suitable for crafts?
It is best to collect branches in early spring or autumn. Pay attention to appearance. The sticks must be free of mold and signs of damage by bugs. As soon as you bring the twigs home, they should be processed before handicraft. If necessary, wash and then dry. Wet sticks are not recommended. Otherwise, a tree made with your own hands from tree branches will warp in the first month.
You need to dry it at room temperature for a couple of weeks. You can speed up the process (up to seven days) using a battery. The fastest way is to dry it in the oven for several hours. Just do this with the door ajar and on low heat so that the moisture evaporates. If you want to make a tree for more than one season, then be sure to treat the branches with any varnish.
Christmas decorations. Kinds
Christmas balls are by far the most popular type of Christmas decoration. The offer is so large that it is sometimes difficult to decide on the shape, color or texture of jewelry.
Variety of New Year's balls
A beautifully decorated Christmas tree is the basis of New Year's decor. Should you bet on traditional or glass toys, toys with ribbons or glitter?
The models presented on store shelves have several features that are worth paying attention to:
- Execution material. A Christmas ball can be made of glass, wood, fabric or plastic.
- Color. Hand-painted Christmas balls can be purchased in literally any color. Plain colored balls allow you to decorate the Christmas tree in the same style.
- Form. The traditional Christmas tree toy is a ball. But you can also find other forms, for example: angels, stars, hearts, cones, snowmen and snow maidens.
- Size. Christmas balls are available in many sizes. Their diameter can vary significantly.
- Sample. In addition to smooth models that are solid in color and without additional decorations, you can find Christmas balls with a variety of patterns, including hand-painted ones, decorated with glitter, crystals or beads. Christmas balls have different surface finishes. They can be matte, shiny or glossy. Clear glass models are also very popular now.
Glass ball - the main element of the Christmas tree
Decades ago, glass balls dominated Christmas decorations. They are still highly prized for their traditional look and elegance, but are increasingly being replaced by jewelry made from other materials. Despite many advantages, glass balls are very fragile and easy to break. An excellent alternative to glass balls are plastic products. A plastic Christmas tree toy is lighter and stronger, and is not inferior in aesthetics to traditional decorations.
Other types of Christmas tree toys
In addition to all sorts of options for balls, there are other paraphernalia for decorating the New Year tree. For example, electric garlands, which can be either colored or plain. Garlands can also be made from paper or tinsel.
Tinsel is also not inferior to garlands and can safely be called a traditional decoration. Tinsel comes in all sorts of colors, shapes and different volumes and lengths. In addition to decorating the New Year's tree, it is actively used in interior decoration and costumes. It is also worth mentioning the New Year's rain, which is often the final stage of decorating a New Year's tree.
Decoupage technique
Using decoupage you can decorate wooden objects with designs. For example, to transform a cutting board you will need:
- the cutting board itself;
- New Year themed napkins;
- white primer;
- acrylic paints;
- wood varnish;
- washcloth, brush, rag.
Cover the entire surface of the board with white primer. To do this, dip a piece of sponge into the liquid and press it against the wood so that the mixture is absorbed into the deeper layers. Set aside further work until completely dry.
Cut out a New Year's themed drawing from a napkin and attach it to the board. Dip the brush into the glue and begin processing. To do this, make strokes in the direction from the center of the picture to the edges. Make sure there are no folds or air bubbles underneath.
Mix a few drops of acrylic paint to get the desired shade. The color should be slightly lighter than the picture, pale, translucent. Apply it with a sponge to empty areas. Treat the area near the napkin with a thin brush.
After the paint has completely dried, apply 5-6 layers of varnish to the board. After each coating, take a break for several hours. This board will be a wonderful decoration for the kitchen and a reminder of the New Year holidays.
Decoupage can also be used to decorate small Christmas tree decorations made from saw cuts. To do this, clean their central part to apply a napkin design. After the varnish has dried, make a hole for the loop using tape.
How to make a Christmas tree from branches with your own hands
For the New Year, it’s rare that a person won’t think about a Christmas tree, because the coniferous beauty is a symbol of his favorite winter holidays. You can bring an artificial tree from the store or choose a fragrant tree at the Christmas tree market, or you can make a unique ecological Christmas tree with your own hands.
The nearest forest or sea coast will provide consumables in abundance - driftwood, twigs and cones. Natural gifts will become the basis for two different Christmas trees, which can capture the imagination of guests, and will cost nothing.
Wall tree made of branches
Sometimes it is better to hang the tree higher so that small children do not reach it or the cat does not drop it. By the way, a wall-mounted tree will be an excellent backdrop for a New Year and Christmas photo shoot.
What you need for work
- dry twigs, branches, sticks without bark of different lengths (collect from the forest, park);
- a skein of rope made from natural materials or a thick woolen thread;
- wood scissors or hacksaw;
- various decor (small Christmas tree balls, bows, pine cones, artificial berries, tinsel, cinnamon sticks, star anise, dried fruits).
How to make a Christmas tree
- Place the branches, cleared of bark, on a flat surface parallel to each other: first you need to lay the longest sticks, and then the medium and short ones (closer to the top of the future tree).
- Use wood scissors or a hacksaw to trim the sticks, giving the structure the shape of an isosceles triangle (silhouette of a Christmas tree).
- Tie the sticks together using rope or strong thread. Knots are best made at opposite ends of each stick.
- Provide a loop at the top of the hanging tree for hanging on the wall.
- Attach a small garland to the structure.
- Decorate the spruce with decorative elements, trying to maintain a single style. For example, choose balls of one or two matching colors (white and blue, red and silver, blue and gold), bows to match the balls. The festive tree looks beautiful, decorated with dried orange slices, star anise, pine cones, and cinnamon sticks.
- Hang a homemade Christmas tree from branches on the wall, making sure the hook or nail is strong.
Spruce from branches on a rod
If you collect driftwood on the seashore, thrown out by the sea, or take a walk in the nearest forest to pick up twigs, you can create a unique Christmas tree in the minimalist style with your own hands.
What you need for work
- dry branches, cleared of bark, small driftwood - 40 pcs.;
- steel rod 2 m long;
- wood cut (diameter - 20 cm);
- steel wire - 1 m;
- hammer;
- drill.
How to make a Christmas tree from branches
- Clean the collected natural material from bark, moss, dirt and air dry if necessary.
- Sort the branches by length, starting with the longest stick (1.5 m), which will be the first to stand at the base of the future spruce, and ending with the shortest one (15 cm).
- Mark the center of each stick and drill a hole using a drill. It is important to choose the right drill so as not to crumble the wood.
- The diameter of the hole should be slightly larger than the diameter of the steel rod on which the sticks will subsequently be strung.
- Drill a hole in the center of the wood cut to its height. The hole in the cut should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the steel rod.
- Drive the rod into the drilled hole using a hammer. The result will be a design that resembles a toy pyramid without rings.
- Measure 30 cm from the bottom of the rod and make a support fastener from wire, winding it around the rod in several turns.
- String branches with holes in the center onto a steel rod, starting from the longest stick and ending with the short one at the top of the tree. The wire fastener on the rod will prevent the poles from slipping to the base of the “pyramid”.
- Spread the branches in different directions so that the Christmas tree made from natural materials looks harmonious.
Minimalism and the desire for naturalness are in fashion, so a Christmas tree made from natural materials will become a stylish decoration for any home for the New Year and Christmas, and will also require almost no financial investment.
DIY Christmas tree from branches
My mother and I make delicate openwork balls from wicker
There is enough work for everyone in the New Year's workshop. Handicraft mothers can easily cope with the simplest preparation of balls and weave them from willow twigs. Such toys do not even need additional painting; the airy structure of the balls will only emphasize their weightlessness, but if desired, the toys can be gilded or painted in different colors. To hang a wooden Christmas ball, just tie a small thread or a satin ribbon to one of its sides.
The ball will be neater and the vine will bend easier if, before weaving, the willow branches are first boiled for 30 minutes and the bark is removed from them.
What else is useful for crafts?
You can use absolutely everything that is in the house. The main thing is that the design solution is appropriate. To make decor from tree branches with your own hands, you will need streamers, tinsel, rain, Christmas balls, colorful ribbons, threads, artificial flowers, and even small children's toys. All these decorations can be attached using glue, plasticine, nails and needle holders.
The base for the tree will be metal trays and pallets, pieces of foam plastic, floral sponge, frames made of rods or wire, glass and ceramic vases. If you decide to add color to the craft, it is better to use gold, silver or white paint. Just remember that it should only complement the appearance of the winter tree. Therefore, the main thing here is not to overdo it.
Have a good rummage through your bins, because you can decorate a tree you made with your own hands from tree branches with all sorts of cute little things.
Tips for decorating a tree
A combination of New Year's balls (or large beads) with fresh or artificial flowers looks very good on a winter tree. Gather branches or pine paws into a bundle and secure it to the base. Decorate the tree with flowers on top and beads around and below. Just place them not in straight lines, but in waves.
When you decorate a tree with Christmas balls, remember one thing. They should be the same color, but different sizes. Or, on the contrary, take balls of the same size, but different in shades. At the top, randomly spread some silver threads or rain. This way, the compositions you make from tree branches with your own hands will look harmonious.
It will be very cool if you make two of these crafts and place them on either side of the TV. Watching New Year's films will become even more fun and interesting. And most importantly, a festive mood will appear.
It is not necessary to make trees; you can make small compositions from twigs. They will look just as good on a dining table or chest of drawers. Take baskets, decorate them with twigs, spruce legs, cones and bunches of viburnum. Place them in all rooms, and every corner of the house will feel like a holiday.
Natural materials for wood
Of course, you can buy ready-made material in the store. But why pay for something you can collect yourself in the forest or park? So take your kids or your other half with you and feel free to go into nature!
Without hesitation, select dry sticks, spruce branches and cones of different shapes and sizes. They will definitely come in handy to make crafts from tree branches with your own hands. Also, bark, sections of trunks, decorative pieces of roots, vines and clean sand can be useful for making the composition.
Even if you don’t know how you will use this or that find, take it with you anyway. Already at home you will understand how to use it. It's never too late to throw away unnecessary material. Tangerines, bunches of rowan or viburnum, and dried flowers will be useful in a New Year's tree. You can experiment with live indoor plants in pots.
