Frugal Christmas Garland

Perhaps I have mentioned before our dream of owning a bit of land and living off of it to the best of our ability.  Some these days call it homesteading.  Some call it mini-farming.  Basically, we want to get back to basics... the basics of long ago.  The days when the milk you drink is from the family cow (or goat as it were), the eggs are from the chickens that roam the yard, and the Christmas decorations are ones the kids scavenged. 

Oh, wait...

Perhaps we don't have to wait to do that last one.

This fall, when on our semi-daily walks (weather permitting... and it didn't permit often!) I let the kids collect pine cones.  I wasn't exactly sure what we would do with them, but we gathered anyway.  Then just the other day, I grabbed that bag of them and some raffia and some little cuttings of scrap fabric from some Christmas hot pads I'm working on, and vwa-la!

A sweet Christmas garland... using just what I had on hand... and what those little hands gathered this fall!


How to:

1. Gather how ever many pine cones you want for length.  They are still out there... just go hunting with your kids.  Or send them out in the yard if you have the right trees!
2. Tie raffia end to end (or use jute or whatever natural or unnatural material you want of proper length) until it's as long as you want it.  
3. Tie pine cones to raffia at intervals of your choosing.
4. Tie Strips of fabric (I pinked them for cuteness!) or ribbon to the top of each pine cone.
5. Hang Garland at will! 
6. Enjoy!

Participating here:

Labels: Christmas, Homesteading, With These Hands

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:58 AM