Instead head for your local neighborhood grocery and hardware stores where you can find everything you will need. Once you get home, recruit the kids to help out.
An easy Christmas wreath that looks like it’s covered in snowflakes takes only minutes to make and fun to do with any little helpers you have. All you need is an evergreen wreath (fake or real) and a bouquet of baby’s breath (Gypsophila).
The kids at our house also love to make snowmen out of Styrofoam balls. The snowmen are assembled by the older kids and the little ones get to decorate them. You can make them as tiny or as large as you wish.
Start a tradition at your house and make your own de-icing salts using sea salt and favourite essential oils as an alternative gift. Assembled in paint cans with wooden scoops, they’ll soon become very popular among your neighbors and friends.
Materials and Instructions
10 Minute 'Snowflake' Wreath
- Bouquet of baby’s breath (Gypsophila)
- Evergreen Christmas wreath (real or faux - your choice)
- Newspapers to cover your working area
- Cover your working area with the newspapers (it can get a bit messy).
- Break off short lengths o the baby’s breath flower stems and discard these bits.
- Insert each floral stem into the wreath.
- Keep inserting the flowers until the wreath is evenly covered.
- Hang the wreath on your front door, above the fireplace mantel, or anywhere you wall space you’d like to brighten up.
- 3 Styrofoam balls in graduated sizes – small (for the head), medium (for the belly) and large (for the bottom)
- 1 Wooden skewer
- 2 Twigs (for the arms – optional)
- Small wooden or plastic ornaments, felt markers, bottle caps (to decorate snowman)
- Push the wooden skewer through each ball with the largest ball forming the bottom and the smallest for the head.
- Push the little twigs into the sides of the centre ball.
- Pass the snowmen over to the little ones who can decorate them with the Christmas ornaments, felt markers, bottle caps, etc.
- 1 kilogram bag of sea salt
- Cedar oil (or use a strongly scented essential oil, like cinnamon or rosemary)
- Empty paint cans with handles (the kind that are painted inside to prevent the can from rusting – you can buy these at hardware or building supply stores)
- Wooden scoops (or recycle the plastic scoops from your laundry detergent box)
- Pour the sea salt into a plastic basin and then add about 10 to 15 drops cedar oil to the salt.
- Mix with a wooden spoon and then pour into an empty paint can. Replace the lid.
- Tie the wooden scoop to the handle with a festive ribbon and you’re done.
