Is anyone else a “November 1st basically means it’s holiday season” kind of girl? Because, let me tell you, I have wasted absolutely no time whipping up the festive decor.
(Someone maybe check on my boyfriend, though. He’s a solid “put the tree up a few weeks into December” kind of guy. I’m working on it.)
Over the past few weeks, I have been doing a ton of holiday crafting in the background. We’re talking apartment-friendly DIY Christmas trees, a cardboard fireplace (yep, you’re going to want to recreate that one), and no less than 3 handmade advent calendars. Make sure you’re subscribed to my email newsletter and following me on Tiktok, pals, there’s a lot of fun stuff coming up!
Back to today’s post, though.
Living overseas – not to mention, in the opposite time zone – means I’m not always the most present family member. Unfortunately, Australia to UK flights are normally around the $2k mark and . . . well, I’ve spent the past 3 years as an international student. That kind of money is reserved for tuition fees. (And rent.)
While I can’t afford to go home this Christmas, I wanted to send some gifts back – starting with a DIY advent calendar for my grandma. I decided to make this an ornament calendar with a cottagecore theme (regular readers know how much I love me anything cottagecore) and make all the fun little tree decorations inside! Shall we jump straight in?
Table Of Contents
Watch This Post In Video Format
I would love it if you checked out the accompanying Youtube video for these tutorials and subscribed to me over there too!
2 DIY Cottagecore Tree Ornaments
DIY Rustic Mushroom Tree Ornaments
What You Need:
- Air dry clay
- String
- Dark bronze or gold paint
- A tool to score clay (an old knife would work)
How To Make:
TikTok tutorial:
@miasdiyprojects p2 of diying xmas decorations for my grandmas advent calendar 🌱 #diychristmasornaments #diychristmascrafts #diychristmasdecor #diychristmas #mushroom #mushrooms #diymushroom #cottagecore #cottagecoreaesthetic #cottagecoreart #cottagecorecraft ♬ QUARTER LIFE CRISIS – Taylor Bickett
Written tutorial:
- Warm clay in your hands until malleable.
- Roll out thin snakes of clay and use your tool to score long vertical lines down them. (Vary the lengths of clay you roll if you want the mushrooms to be mismatched.) Set aside.
- Use your hands to create mushroom tops from the clay, then use your thumb (or the end of a pen) to push a hole in their underside. Set aside and leave everything to dry fully.
- Paint the pieces in gold, then hot glue them together.
- Use super-glue to attach string.
Easy DIY Pressed Flower Ornaments
What You Need:
How To Make:
TikTok tutorial:
@miasdiyprojects p1 of my DIY ornament advent calendar 🌼 #cottagecore #cottagecoreaesthetic #cottagecorevibes #diyproject #craft #diyornaments #christmas #diychristmas #diychristmasdecor #diychristmascrafts #diychristmasornaments ♬ How`s Your Day – aAp Vision
Written tutorial:
- If you have fresh flowers to press, place them between two sheets of paper towel and microwave them for 2 minutes. Use something heavy and flat on top while microwaving; they should be ready to use straight away. Otherwise, you can purchase pressed flowers online.
- Work on a totally flat surface and lay down a thin sheet of plastic. Place your gold bezels on top.
- Squirt UV resin into the bezels to create an even base layer, then place your dried flowers inside.
- Cover with more resin until the bezel is full.
- Use a UV lamp for 2 minutes until fully set.
- If needed, use scissors to cut off any excess resin.
- Thread string through the top of the bezel and you’re done!
Use Cardboard To Craft A Gingerbread House Garland
What You Need:
- Cardboard
- Acrylic paint marker in white
- String
How To Make:
TikTok tutorial:
@miasdiyprojects yep it's not even november but aus post's international shipping times are 💀 so we starting early #diychristmas #diychristmasdecor #diychristmascrafts #ecofriendlychristmas #diygarland ♬ Howl's Moving Castle – Merry Go Round of Life – Vitamin String Quartet
Written tutorial:
- Draw house shapes into spare cardboard, then use an X-acto knife or scissors to cut them out.
- Puncture a hole through the top of each house using a pen or paintbrush end.
- Draw gingerbread-style illustrations using your acrylic paint marker.
- Once you’re happy with the look of the houses, thread string to join them together.
Create A Dreamy Christmas Dollhouse Advent Calendar!
What You Need:
- Flat wooden advent calendar
- Acrylic paint markers
- White spray paint
How To Make:
TikTok tutorial:
@miasdiyprojects diy dollhouse advent calendar 🌼 almost ready to shipped off to the grandmother #diyadventcalendar #kmart #kmartfinds #kmarthacks #kmartaustralia #diyadvent #diychristmascrafts #diychristmasdecor #diychristmas #diychristmasornaments #cottagecoreaesthetic #cottagecore #cottagecorechristmas ♬ Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Helms
Written tutorial:
- Spray-paint your advent calendar white.
- Use acrylic paint markers to draw festive scenes on each of the daily pullouts. (Pinterest is a great place for inspiration with this step!)
- Overlay these illustrations with simple windows.
- Optionally, change the base color of the calendar. (I went for peach!)
- Use paint markers to add any additional details.
- Fill your calendar!
And that’s it for today’s crafting round-up!
I think I’m going to move towards this style of content (fun video, roundup of crafts and a little chit-chat) in the future. Google’s algorithm update completely tanked my SEO – oh, sweet Adsense, goodbye – so your girl is going to at least try focusing more on social media.
On the bright side, this means I can be more creative! So the plan is to drop back to maybe 1 post per week with a cosy Youtube video and TikTok tutorials to follow along with as well. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this post and these crafts. Let me know if you’d try any of them at home – and, as always, share any thoughts in the comments below.
These DIY tree ornaments are cute!
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Thank you so much, Lovely! xx
These are all so cute – my favourites are the pressed flowers, I really need to make more of our garden flowers and this is a perfect solution!
Thank you, Lisa! That’s such a great idea, especially if you keep the ornaments year on year 🙂
Lovely ideas! I especially love the mushroom tree ornaments. You are super creative 🙂
Thank you so much! 🙂
OMG these are all such great ideas! Thanks for sharing.
-Nina
http://www.stylingwithnina.com/2022/11/faux-leather-shorts-for-fall.html
Thank you so much, Nina! 🙂
I adore the flower ornaments! I love the rustic look. You did such an incredible job with the doll house calendar, I remember loving it on Instagram! Thanks for sharing these great ideas for the holidays!
Thank you so much 🙂 x
Super cute! You’ve inspired me to start all the holiday crafting ❤
Thank you, Kate! <3
These are some great craft and DIY Christmas ideas. They all look great. Thank you for sharing.
Lauren.
Thank you, Lauren 🙂
Thanks for sharing such a great idea! Looking forward for the next post.
5 Tips To Pull Off A Stunning Look With Minimal Jewellery
Thank you 🙂
These are such fun DIYs! I made an advent calendar for a loved one this year too. I think it’s such a great way to personalize some small, fun gifts. Mine is no where near as cute as yours, though! And I’m loving those pressed flower ornament. I want to try that one!
Thank you so much for reading! I totally agree – handmade advent calendars are a really fun and personal gift idea 🙂 Definitely recommend trying the ornaments, they’re super easy to DIY x
What a cute and creative Christmas idea!
Shauna
http://www.lipglossandlace.net
Thank you, Shauna!
These are all wonderful but loving the the cardboard gingerbread house garland. And indeed holiday season is pretty much upon us. I stopped in to Home Goods the other day and it was like Christmas threw up in there it was ALL Christmas LOL. But so much fun things to get!! I am excited to decorate.
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
Thank you so much, Allie! The cardboard garland is one of my faves too – it’s so easy to recreate & eco-conscious 🙂
Bookmarking this for next month! Love the pressed flower decorations! xx
Danielle’s Beauty Blog
Thank you, Danielle! 🙂 xx
These are all such cute ideas! I love the flower ornaments especially!
Thank you so much, Laura 🙂
Loving these festive decor options! Thank you for sharing!
I’ve got a new post up and hope you swing by!
-Ashley
Thank you, Ashley 🙂
These are all such cute and fun ideas. Sorry to hear that you won’t be able to be with your family for the holidays but I bet your granny is going to love the advent calendar you’re making for her.
Those pressed flower ornaments are so beautiful!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Lovely DIY, thanks for sharing!
Kisses, Paola.
Expressyourself
My Instagram
Such great ideas. Thanks for sharing!
-Nina
http://www.stylingwithnina.com/2022/11/how-to-style-faux-leather-blazers.html
Thank you, Nina! 🙂
I love these ideas. The tree ornament is my favourite.
Annie,
Annies Food Diary
Thank you, Annie 🙂
I am getting excited for the holidays just by reading this!
https://www.mariannyc.com/24-hours-in-the-catskills/
Thank you, Mariann! 🙂
I have so much crafting to catch up on from your blog, Mia, when I finally am home in around three weeks! This is where I am starting – November 1st is long gone, but my Christmas spirit is indeed there xx
Thank you for reading, Simona! Hope you’ve had fun on your travels xx
Hi Mia, I really love the Mushroom, flower ornament and the doll house is supper cute! I hope you are well : ) x