Dress up your hearth with a few bright ideas
Take your fireplace from drab to dazzling with six holiday crafts
By Heather Camlot
A fireplace is the focal point of any room, especially during the holidays. Adorning the hearth is no easy task — understated elegance can quickly become kitschy catastrophe when too many decorations and too little direction combine.
To inspire your holiday décor, we offer two looks — one traditional and one modern — fit for a warm family gathering or a rockin’ New Year’s bash. Best of all, our ornaments are homemade, so you can easily adapt them to your space.
Keeping traditions alive
Stockings
It's a wonder old St. Nick never mixes up the children on his list. Help him out by printing a photo of each member of your family onto linen-style printable fabric and sewing or ironing it onto individual stockings. Those cherubic faces may even make Santa think twice about delivering coal to naughty girls or boys.
Botanical plates
The 18th century was the golden age of two of today’s most sought-after collectibles: transferware porcelain filled the demand for inexpensive yet decorative dinnerware, while botanical prints exploded in popularity under the influence of German artist Georg Dionysius Ehret and French artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté. We’ve combined both elements by using Clip Art botanical images and waterslide transfer paper for inkjet printers.
Click here for step-by-step instructions
Gift tags
Forgo store-bought cards for gift tags made from a timeless kids’ classic — Shrinky Dinks. We used the beautiful botanical prints from the plates, wrote the recipients’ names on the shrinkable plastic and then popped the tags in the toaster oven. It’s still a thrill to watch Shrinky Dinks at work — perhaps even more so knowing the results are pretty and practical.
Click here for step-by-step instructions
Modern art
champagne flutes
Toast the new year with stylish glassware. Flutes are a must as the clock strikes midnight, but why not liven them up with designs etched into the glass? Print a pattern onto decal paper and cut it out with a sharp utility knife. Wrap the paper around each flute and apply etching cream. You can create a matching set or experiment with individualized glasses. Cheers!
Click here for step-by-step instructions
Wall clock
No need to synchronize watches. Our above-the-mantel artwork does double duty as a clock to help count down to the new year. The striking black-and-white orchid is a Clip Art photo reproduced onto multiple sheets of paper and glued onto foam core board. We then made a hole in the centre and popped in a store-bought clock mechanism. If only our New Year’s resolutions were so simple.
Click here for step-by-step instructions
Tips from a pro
Holiday decorating doesn’t have to be complicated or costly. Peter Fallico, host of HGTV’s Home to Stay, offers some fun and festive ideas for creating a memorable holiday mantel.
- Decide on a theme, such as vintage, contemporary or traditional.
- Three-to-five repeated holiday items — such as vases, candles* or ornaments — along your mantel create a clean, contemporary look.
- An artist’s canvas covered with beautiful wrapping paper, ribbon and bow makes a wonderful piece of art over your mantel.
- One or two white feather boas add a twist to the white Christmas theme. Rest the boas on the ledge of your mantel, and use silver or chrome accents to complete the look.
- Natural elements are always classic. Consider decorating your mantel with pine cones, cedar boughs and holiday plants such as holly, poinsettias or amaryllis.
*Never leave burning candles unattended, and don’t place them near flammable objects.
Photography “Keeping Traditions Alive”: James Tse. Crafts: Julie Stoyka. Photography “Modern Art”: Shun Sasabuchi. Crafts: Heather Camlot and Tara Nolan.
