PINATA

Its the middle of the week so happy hump day! We’ve also hit the middle of the countdown to Christmas today so I thought I would share with you another Christmas ornament DIY – specifically a miniature geometric piñata ornament! I’ve been seeing huge geometric shaped pinatas  all over the place of late including Real Living magazine which was my source of inspiration for this DIY. Pinatas remind me of  childhood parties and candy so why wouldn’t you want a miniature version hanging on your tree? This is a very simple DIY so let us begin (:

ONE: Download this template and print it out. Then trace it onto a thin piece of white card. TWO: Assemble your geometric shape and attach some ribbon to it with tape. THREE: Cut 1cm strips of crepe paper, lay them on top of each other and cut 3/4 of the way down so you have pieces and pieces of crepe fringe. FOUR: Start gluing pieces of the fringe working from the bottom to the top and working on one face of the ornament at a time. FIVE: Give your ornament a good old trim so its shape is visible again and you are done! EXTRAS: Instead of crepe paper you could make a shiny ornament with thin foil paper and you can also place a bell or some beads in your ornament before you assemble the shape so it rattles like an actual piñata!

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SQUIRREL

“Be like the squirrel girl, be like the squirrel/Give it a whirl girl, be like the squirrel” {White Stripes ‘Little Acorns’}

Considering this is my fifth post AND we’re only a month away from Christmas (27 SLEEPS!), I thought it was time we added some DIY-ing onto Style Smorgasbord. So today, I have a tutorial for some ornaments that I originally saw at Bed Bath and Table. I’ve been seeing a lot of twine kinda ornaments this year so when I saw this ornament in store, it was about $5 and I thought, hey I could totally make it myself! Of course, my take doesn’t produce the most uniform of decorations but I was really pleased with the result! To learn how to make these really inexpensive ornaments yourself using materials you’ll no doubt find in your house, keep reading! Oh and since I am obsessed with Christmas, expect a few more tutorials in the upcoming weeks!

ONE: To begin, take one sheet of newspaper and scrunch it up until it is egg shaped in size. Tape these acorn bodies into shape to make sure they hold together.

TWO: Taking some glue, spread it all over your egg and begin wrapping twine around your acorn, beginning one third of the way down and wrapping it tightly until you get to the base. Hold the base for about 30 seconds and it should stay in place nicely. Alternatively, hot glue could speed up this step!

THREE: Cut off a short piece of twine and attach it to the top of the acorn using tape so it creates a loop.

FOUR: Now this step took some experimenting and I used a variety of materials until I found a really solid one! I ended up using thin cardboard, cut into little semicircles but you could also try paper bags and cereal boxes. Then glue each semicircle around your acorn starting from the bottom to the top. The more semicircles you have, the better it looks!

Five: And then you’re done!!! If you want to make some branches like I did, just go hunt for a few thin but sturdy branches, tape them together, paint them white and stick them in a nice glass vase. Mine’s a maple leaf from a Canadian maple syrup if you’re wondering! I think these acorns would also look super lovely on a traditional tree or strung as a garland above the fireplace. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely weekend!