Christmas decorations you can gather (for free)

Last time I went to the farm I mentioned I gathered pinecones and gum nuts with the plan of using them in Christmas decorations. (I also gathered some deer antlers but I will do something with them later.)

There are all kinds of things that are just beautiful that we can collect to use instead of buying bows and trims, baubles and sprays. Many of these are really expensive.

Actually, if you go to a newsagents and buy wrapping paper, gift bags, decorative elements, gift boxes, you could spend a fortune and still have no gifts to give! I'm going to cover most of these in coming posts as they can all be made really beautifully and really inexpensively.

Many natural elements look lovely in their natural state. ie gum nuts on brown paper with string looks really earthy and good.

But I am a glitter kind of girl there's no denying...

I used spray paint which was $3 a can in my local cheap shop. I bought one silver and one gold. This will do some baskets that need a spray for my gift baskets and a few other things. I always have glitter so I didn't need to buy that.

The colour schemes are endless. I can imagine doing pink and pink glitter! You could do silver and blue or red and gold, deep green, white on white...

I simply gave my collection a light spray and sprinkled glitter onto the still wet paint. You could dip them into glue then glitter, or use spray glue and then glitter. There are no rules. I just played and had fun. By working over a tray you can save glitter and re use it as lots escapes...

I used these gum nuts and pinecones as this is what I had. See what you have in your area that you might be able to collect and all year round keep your eyes out for things that you could use. Dried leaves, shells, antlers, feathers, interesting seed pods...

I have a giant basket of these now. My plan is to use them as decor at Christmas piled on cake stands, in the fireplace and on parcels. Also I think I will make a wreath and a hanging garland. Doing this I have lots of possibilities. But just piled into a sparkly container that would make a table centre piece. Or one each on a side plate around the table to hold the serviette in place... or along a mantlepiece. So many pretty possibilities!

I have gone ahead and wrapped a couple of presents I had ready to demonstrate how they look on parcels. I bought some beautiful wrapping paper for 50c a big roll in the January sales. Now adding these...

They sparkle so much! 

I can't wait to keep wrapping! Glittering parcels under the tree!

Apart from saving so much money getting things started now helps get you in the frame of mind for Christmas. After all this glittering and parcel wrapping I was feeling pretty enthusiastic!

Thank you for the lovely letters about my e book. If it saves one person a lot of money this Christmas then I am happy!

Have a wonderful week.xxx