JOHANNIKA
Advent is such a magical time of the year. It officially opens the door the all sorts of wonderful things: hot chocolates in Santa mugs, carefully hung Christmas wreaths, freshly baked sugar cookies, and wonderful times with family!
Of course, you can buy a ready-made Advent calendar to keep track of all the days leading up to Christmas, but why not to make your very own Advent decor – with a little help from us!
The Advent decor we love is a ten-minute, 7-component (ok, you can even reduce it to 4 or 5) project that requires no tools and no sewing, hot gluing or drilling. You can make this with zero mess, even if you can’t come up with a single craft skill to save your life.
Materials needed:
- A wooden tray – great for creating a rustic look!
- A yard of wide silver ribbon with a wire, because you can style it much easier than a regular ribbon
- 4 votive candles – any color
- 4 votive candle holders – your candles will look prettier, but it’s not a “must” item
- An artificial pine branch – to channel that “traditional advent wreath” feel
- A small white linen napkin or fabric with lace for that rustic effect: the more wrinkled, the better (not kidding).
Advent candle tags – just go with the classic design at johannika.com or create your own with your text, color and font choices!
Steps
1. Place votive candles in the candleholder.
2. See, the neat thing is, you can get any color candles that match your decor, you don’t have to hunt on the internet for three purple and one pink candles. Just use any color you want or have available – we’ve opted for a plain white, just because we love white!
3. Tie candle tags on your candle holders. You don’t have to do a perfect job with the loops – the natural hemp cord will look even prettier and more rustic when a bit messy.
4. Get your tray or container ready for your decor composition. Our tray is a simple wooden tray, but you can use any tray you want, really. We’ve experimented with a mirrored thrift store find before and the reflections of the candles looked amazing!
5. Place your wired ribbon on the tray to make two large loops in the middle. Secure the two ends with your 1st Advent Candle and 4th Advent Candle. Make sure the loops are the same size.
6. Next, place your 2nd and 3rd Advent Candles on the tray, pacing them equally.
7. Now that you got the core of your advent decor (see, that wasn’t too hard), it’s time to get creative and decorate a bit. If you love traditional Advent wreaths, just arrange a smaller, plain artificial pine branch in the middle.
8. Place your candle decor the table (or a mantel) and tuck a small linen napkin underneath the tray – again, the messier looking, the better.
9. Voila! Your perfectly handmade and unique Advent decor is ready!
HOWEVER.
If you are in an experimenting mood, you can look for additional items in your home you can incorporate into the decor. This is what we did with the wire bird found at a yard sale many years ago.
Instead of the pine branch, we went for a farmhouse feel with the bird placed in the middle of the tray… Just look for any object with a farmhouse feel – an angel, a snowflake, a tin container… even a vase will do it.
Another wonderful option is to go on a walk with your family members and collect a few pine cones along the way!
Arrange the cones on the tray for an earthy Advent decor. If you have young children eager to do projects, they can even paint half the cones and dip them in glitter! (Good luck with the clean-up. We have messy toddlers, too… )
See how easy that was? Your own creativity is the limit when designing Advent decor, just look for items you already have in your home. Hidden gems from Grandma’s basement, thrift store treasures or commonly used items (pitchers, jars, candleholders). You can even enlist your family members to help!
And now, just sit back and enjoy that large mug of hot chocolate. Tell Siri to play “Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel” and savor the precious moments of Advent.