Over the years as a blogger, I’ve created a whole bunch of Christmas-related content. If there is one thing I love about having a blog, it’s that I share my decorating each year which acts like a little time-capsule to what I was into, what I was loving and what I was doing in years gone by.
Of course, I know that not everyone who pops by Swoon Worthy will have been reading my blog for years and years (although I know there are many of you that have and for that I LOVE YOU). But for those who are fairly new to these pages, I wanted to ensure you were aware of a whole bunch of ideas and DIYs I’ve created over the years that can help you with your last-minute planning for Christmas.
So today’s blog post is a little look back on some of the projects I loved creating and that you can still do this year too – from hand-made gifts to decorating tips, think of it as having your very own visit from the Ghost of Swoon Worthy’s Christmas Past!
Christmas DIY Gift Ideas
DIY Wood Wick Candles with Essential Oils with free printables)
Christmas candles are SO easy to make. I started making my own candles a few years ago and let me tell you, once you have all the bits you need (and you don’t need much – just wax flakes, wicks and essential oils), you’ll wonder why you didn’t already make your own.
DIY Christmas Candles with Essential Oils with free printables
Now, don’t get me wrong – I love a gorgeously packaged candle too but making candles for friends and family is such a lovely homemade gift and you can personalise them with whatever fragrances you love the most. Plus, I’ve included free labels in the ones above so you can still have a gorgeous looking candle that looks like something you might buy from the shops.
DIY Christmas Soap with Essential Oils with free printables
Soaps are another gift that you’ll be surprised how easy they are. All you are doing is melting the soap and adding any natural fragrance or colours (I used cinnamon to colour these!) and there isn’t a huge outlay to get started. In fact, you can make quite a lot of soap so that’s stocking stuffers covered for lots of different people on your list. Plus, the soap brand I chose is fully cruelty-free as well as SLS-free so nothing harmful in these beautiful gifts.
DIY Christmas Room Spray with Essential Oils with free printables
You may notice that I’ve shared a few DIY recipes that have similar labels. I did these a couple years ago and packaged up three items – a candle, a soap and a room spray as a lovely little homemade gift parcel. I gave them out to a few people and they loved them. The room spray is another simple one using only 3 ingredients – vodka, water and essential oils. So it’s all natural too.
I really loved making these coasters and we used them a LOT over the course of a year or so and they held up remarkably well. I shared a bunch of different designs to create them and again, they are actually quite budget-friendly using simple wood disks and 3 different kinds of sticky back plastic. Super easy and super glam, you can easily make 4 or 6 of these, tie them with a lovely ribbon and give them out as home-made gifts.
This is another super easy one dressing up a simple plain tray and making it look a little more glam. This is a really easy one to do and will work for any number of different styles or colours of trays out there. You can even gather up a few handmade presents and place them on this or serve up Christmas or Boxing Day breakfast as a little gift to a loved one.
Jonathan Adler Inspired Malachite Coasters
I was inspired by Jonathan Adler’s printed coasters for this DIY and they came out incredibly well. These are just cheap £1 side plates that I picked up at the supermarket and free-handed the design with gold permanent marker. Thanks to the design, they are actually much easier to do than they look. These are perfect as trinket dishes or coasters as a gift. Bear in mind they aren’t food-safe but they are rather pretty and would make a lovely gift to anyone who loves something just a bit different in their home.
This post just shared a few tips for making your presents look pretty – a few extra flourishes go a long way!
Christmas Decor Ideas
How to Create a Glam Christmas Table Setting on a Budget
Christmas is a financially-stressful time for most of us so in the above post, I shared so many budget-busting tips for making a beautiful Christmas table without spending lots of money. You can mix-and-match what you have, make your own cheap and easy flourishes and save lots of money whilst pulling together something that looks pretty fabulous.
How to Prepare Your Home for Christmas Decorating
The above post really talks about getting your home ready for the onslaught of guests that normally happen this time of year. From cleaning and organising tips and more, you don’t want to start your Christmas planning without checking out the post!
How to Create a Floral & Pine Centrepiece
I’ve never claimed to be particularly good with floral design – it’s just one of those things I feel like no matter how many times I do it, I can’t master a professional looking finish. Except this one time. This is such a simple DIY and I take you through each step to create your own. Plus, it’s SO much cheaper buying your own flowers (I got these at the supermarket!) and pulling together your own centrepiece rather than buying an overpriced one.
It maybe too late for this year but definitely one to pin for next year! This is one you may recall I shared recently but I just love how it came out and I know we’ll get use out of it every single year. Plus, the design is so easily customisable to create the colours and finishes you love. It was fun to do too.
And finally, another one for your Christmas table. I used a similar effect as I did on the tray project above but used really cheap white plastic chargers and dressed them up. Let me tell you, I used these ones A LOT over the course of the following year and they held up incredibly well. Plus, you can pick up chargers like this at nearly any pound shop or on Amazon for just a pound or two. Cheap easy and yet the final result was so gorgeous.
So I hope you found at least a few projects here that you can still do last-minute before Christmas comes! Many of these are so easy and you can easily spend a single afternoon doing multiple gift and decor ideas. Any favourites of the ones I shared? Are you planning any DIY gift or decor ideas this year? Let me know!
Just a heads up to anyone making soaps, as I used to have a small business doing this. People love receiving handmade soaps, and may ask to buy some off you. But, you can’t sell them (nor any other cosmetics like bathbombs and salts) unless you’ve had your recipes safety assessed, and adhered to all the other requirements in the EU Cosmetics Directive. Essential oils have very stringent rules on how much you can add as a percentage of the whole amount of ingredients. Because many of them have allergens, you can only add 1 or 2%, although it differs depending on the actual essential oil used.
Soap making is very addictive, and lots of fun, but just keep it to giving as gifts, and be vary careful how much essential oil you’re adding-don’t just go by smell, it needs to be weighed out on a set of scales.
Oh yes, I’m aware of this! There’s so much legislation around both soap-making and candle making, you definitely have to do your research. In fact, I’ve looked into both at different points in time! Of course, this is strictly just about gifting, not about selling ;) xx
Yes, I understand that, but I’ve seen people selling handmade soaps who are obviously unaware of the regs. I guess they made some to give as gifts, and had people telling them that they should sell them. It happened to me, but luckily I was already a member of a couple of soapmaking forums, so was aware of the requirements.
Perhaps you could put a bit on your post mentioning this.
Some really fab ideas there and will make a big difference to your home but they won’t cost a fortune. XXX
Great initiative!! will do it for myself
All beautiful !! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!