According to a recent study from Psychology Today, decorating (early) for Christmas stirs up nostalgic helping use to find more meaning in our lives. In simple terms from Homemakers.com, you decorate right after Halloween but before Thanksgiving then you are excitable! I for one tend to agree.
I used to be that person who waited until the last day in November before I began decorating but as I grew older and had children of my own, I began decorating sooner and sooner, till November 1st was declared my Christmas Decorating day.
And boy, I try to make it something special. I get a nice hot pot of hot cocoa going, and I have some sweets like homemade cookies, cinnamon rolls, and minced meat pies. The children and I then get to placing decor wherever we want, without reason or focus on “making sense.”
But this year, I decided to do things a bit more casually. Sure, I was going to keep the tradition of treats, but I included some extra. If you’ve read my post on Citrus Garland, you know my first step to “natural decor” started there.
I’ve seen all over Pinterest and Instagram these photos and videos of paper crafts that are so lovely, but they look so very complicated to make. However, I am not one to say “I’m not doing that”, some of the folding processes for the stars did turn out more complicated than I expected but I found one that I love and I’ve decided to use to decorate my home.
The paper bag snowflake.
So simple to make! And the best part is if you’re like me and you have a million lunch bags just hanging around you now have a simple and fun but also so cute and warming DIY Christmas décor.
Here we go!
Step one, for one star/snowflake (I’m calling them stars for some reason) you’ll need at least seven bags. I’ve tried a number of times with five, four or even six bags but the results were never good. Seven or more seems to be the magic number.
Step two: I like to glue with the flap (the bottom of the bag) face down. With a glue gun, glue stick or whatever glue you have for crafts, apply glue in the shape of a T. Starting at the flap, make the cross and then down the middle. (making a T).
Step three: Allow to dry.
I attempted to do the next step without waiting enough time for the glue to dry and I had to apply more glue.
Step four: make the “snowflake” design. I chose hearts sometimes on the sides and circles other times. Sometimes I made circles and triangles. Use your imagination. For the top of the bag, the open part, I either rounded the top, made a point, or zig zag. Thus making more texture for snowflakes.
Really the imagination is the limit!
Step five: bring the sides together and glue! Voila, now you have a lovely snowflake.
Want more DIY Ideas? Be sure to read how you can create a warm and fun cozy tradition with a simple DIY advent Calendar!
Thanks for stopping by and letting me share with you how easy it is for you to create a winter wonderland in your own home with simple materials such as a lunch paper bag, creating cozy Christmas elements that add that “extra” magic. I hope this inspires you this season to create something that is not only reflective of you but makes you feel warm and cozy right down to your toes. Comment below if you’ve tried this or share your pictures I ‘d love to see how you decorated your snowflakes.
Christina
