Inside: Three simple DIY, easy to make Christmas Decorations for the home; all using basic tools and simple wood supplies including a scrap wood wreath, a Hygge style Advent Calendar and jigsaw holiday tree decor.
*This post is sponsored by Craftsman Canada and may contain affiliate links
It’s so fun to fill your home with handmade ornaments and trinkets each holiday. Not only does it save a lot of money, but it’s creative and a fabulous way to celebrate the season. Today, along with my partner Craftsman Canada, I’m sharing three home decor projects you can make for the holidays! You can now purchase Craftsman Tools at any RONA, Lowe’s or Ace Hardware in North America.
In case you missed it, I’ve already shared some fabulous homemade gift ideas using power tools! You might also want to check out my DIY Christmas Tree Stand Cover and these Scrap Wood Trees that hang on the wall – both are incredibly festive projects as well. 
But for today, we are focus on a few trends – namely clean lines, hygge at home, and shiny modern metallics.
Project 1: A DIY Wooden Wreath
I’m classifying this as a TOTAL beginner project. You don’t need much, just a few lengths of wood and if you don’t have a brad nail gun, you can totally achieve this look with a simple glue gun. I just like using my tools LOL.
So to start, you’ll need 12 pieces of wood; six that are 4″ long and six that are about 5″ long. Arrange them in a hexagon and then layer the smaller lengths on top, to join it all together. 
Tools for the Wood Wreath
I’ve chosen to stain mine with stain wipes (my fave), but this would look SO cute painted up with a high contrast bow or in multi-colours, don’t you think! It could also be painted bright metallics and adorned with greenery.
Other supplies for the Wood Wreath
- 1 1×4 (six foot length)
- 1 1×2 (if you’re building a second smaller wreath)
- Minwax Stain Cloths
- Heavy Duty Glue Gun
- Scratch Filling Pen
- Ribbon
- Wreath Hanging Hardware
I’ve gone very Christmas-like with mine and used a laser-cut word from the craft store and a bright red bow. Rest assured, if I have lengths of wood left after all my projects this year, I will be making another one of these and testing out new styles. You can see the full tutorial and step by step for this DIY Wood Wreath here.
Project Two: A Hygge Inspired Advent Calendar or Christmas Countdown
I’m classifying this as a TOTALLY ADORABLE project that is great to do with the kids. Honestly, nothing about this is challenging with the exception of taking the time to cut out 24 small houses – but I’d definitely use different scraps of wood for this to make your houses look different and stand out. The goal here is to have everything look really homemade, which aligns well with the Hygge concept. 
The nutshell version of this project is to clamp your scrap wood and rough sketch a small house shape. Use a jigsaw to cut it out and if it’s the appropriate size for your backer board (which can be anything really), then trace it and cut the next one and so on.
Tools for the Hygge Inspired Advent Calendar
Other Materials for the Hygge Inspired Advent Calendar
- scrap wood
- upholstery tacks
- twine
- Sharpie Paint Pens
- clothes pins
- heavy duty glue gun
- faux greenery (optional)
I used the trace and cut method so that each of my houses was slightly different. Then I used Oil-based Sharpie Paint pens to decorate the houses, used my glue gun to add a clothes pin and attached them to twine on my backer board. 
Super cute and easy right? And this is is something you could easily add to a garland instead of a backer board to give it a real homey feel. You can see the full tutorial for this Advent Calendar here.
Project 3: 3D Christmas Trees
Easily my favourite project of the season because this method can be used for almost any complex shape and painted in almost any finish!
The basic steps are to draw a tree figure on your wood (I recommend either a 1×10 or a 1×8) and cut it out with your jigsaw. Then trace it and cut out a second identical one.
Tools for 3D Christmas Trees
Materials for 3D Christmas Trees
- 1 x 1×8
- 1 x 1×10
- DecoArt Metallic Paint in Sterling Silver
- DecoArt Metallic Paint in Aged Bronze
- Paint Brushes
- Wood Sealant and Primer
Now the only tricky part is cutting the slot so they fit together. You want one tree to have the slot originating at the bottom and the second tree to have the slot originating at the top. The slots should go to roughly the tree’s centre.
Just cut it once and if they don’t sit straight when interlocked, you can either cut the slot slightly larger or chop down the trunk of your trees.
Then paint them up! I’ve used brilliant metallics in silver, gold and bronze and I love the clean, mod look! 
Want more holiday goodness? Check out the posts below
