Hello Everyone! With the holidays approaching, it’s time to think about decorating for the occasion! In my household, we gather for a Christmas Eve dinner. For us, (if at all possible)….this is usually more grand than Thanksgiving. And since I’ve seemed to get out of a lot of the cooking this year, I figured a great way to contribute to the festivities, was to create a beautiful centerpiece for the table.
As always, this project involved everything I had on hand. I try to buy new things as little as possible for all my DIY projects. RECYCLING AT IT’S FINEST! And on the plus side, this beautiful project only took about 30 minuets to create!
So let’s get this tutorial started!
What you’ll need:
- Glass canning jars (I used three)
- A few small branches from an evergreen tree
- Thick twine
- Rubber bands
- Hot glue gun
First, I gathered some small branches from the evergreen trees outside, wiped them down. (Of course, it’s raining in Seattle) Then, I cut off each individual section of needles, and sorted them into two piles; “small” and “large.”
Next, place a tight rubber band around each of your jars. As you can see, the three jars I used were not exactly the same. But that’s okay! As long as they’re all the same size, everything else will be covered up.
Once your rubber bands are in place, it’s time to add your evergreen needles. I started by putting the long pieces around each jar. About 4 or 5. Then I added the small ones to fill in the spaces. Make sure you rotate between needles that curve to the right, and those that curve to the left. This is supposed to look random. Too much order will not look as nice.
Once you have all your needles in place, add another rubber band to hold down the needles a bit more. Then trim the ends, eaving about an inch of space at the bottom, all the way around.
Finally, the last step is to add the twine. I started at the bottom, and worked my way up. The first row needed a dab of hot glue on both sides of the jar to keep the twine in place. After that, I just wound the twine around the jar nice and tight, insuring the rubber bands and needles wouldn’t show through. Then, I finished the twine off with a dab of hot glue on the top.
I decided to leave about a half an inch at the bottom for light to peek through when the candles are placed inside.
I also want to note, that the reason I put these together the way I did, was so that it could easily be taken apart after the holidays. Obviously the evergreen needles will eventually dry out and look awful. But the hot clue can be pealed off the glass easily. Which means, the jars and twine can be used for other projects!
And there you have it. Add some candles and you have a lovely centerpiece for your holiday table. This might also look great with other plants such as holly…..but be careful trying that one out!
TOTAL COST: 0
Total Items SALVAGED from the Inevitable Seattle Trash Day:
- Canning Jars
- Twine
- Glue
- Rubber Bands
Let me know if you try this one out!!
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Salvage Seattle 