Last Minute Christmas Project

In case you haven’t quite finished picking up those small gift items for friends or you still have some presents to wrap, I have a quick, last minute Christmas craft project just for you.

This little project is so quick and easy, yet versatile, and can be used in several crafty ways. If you need some last minute small gift items for co-workers, little something’s for your dinner quests, tiny decorations for those teeny-tiny places that need dressing up, stocking stuffers or as an added decoration along with ribbons and bows for your gifts, then this project fills the stocking.

Items needed for this project: (1) 4” and 6” cinnamon sticks, (2) straw flowers in red and green, (cinnamon scented straw flowers are nice if you can find them, if not, purchase a can of cinnamon scented or Christmas scented air freshener and lightly spritz the flowers. Allow them to completely dry before working with them), (3) gold filigree (any dried flowers that have been spray painted with gold will do), (4) red and green satin ribbon in 1/8” and ¼” width, (5) gold, green, red beads, (6) jingle bells, miniature presents, miniature Christmas decorations, artificial holly leaves and berries, hot glue and glue gun.

Depending on the size of the decoration, you can make either 4” or 6” items. For smaller items, you can cut the 6” cinnamon sticks in half.

First, hot glue the cinnamon sticks in groups of 3 or use 2 and make an X. The sticks serve as your base. Put sticks aside to dry. While waiting for the cinnamon sticks to set, gather a small bunch of straw flowers (multi-colors) together. Add a piece of filigree. Secure by tying a piece of 1/8” ribbon around the bunch, set aside. Make up several bunches using different color combinations, or just gold filigree.

Whenever I’m making this type of craft, I lay out all of my decorations on my worktable. It makes it much easier when you actually start to create the craft and all of your decorating items are readily available to mix and match.

Once you have the number of cinnamon sticks you want and have made up some bundles of flowers, start “building” your decoration. I suggest visualizing what you want the decoration to consist of and how you want it to look before you start hot gluing.

When you decide on a specific design, starting with the sticks, place a small dollop of glue and place your first item. Let dry. If using the flowers, once they’re glued, you can secure them to the cinnamon sticks with another piece of ribbon. If you plan to use this as a hanging decoration, tie a piece of ribbon securely around the middle of the stick then tie the two loose ends together creating a loop that can be used as a hanger.

Continue placing your decorating items being careful, first and foremost, not to burn your fingers. You’re working in tiny spaces with this project.

Add miniature presents or Christmas ornaments, gold, green or red beads for highlight, and hot glue a jingle bell as the finishing touch. Create multi-colored miniature bows and glue to the base. As with all our projects, be sure to check for any gaping holes or globs of glue that might be visible. Fill in with bits and pieces or bobbles and berries until you have the desired decoration. As you can see, this is another project with endless combinations so just let your holiday imagination take charge.

I hope you enjoy this quick, simple, and fun Christmas project.

Happy Holidays to all!