Decorating for the holidays with natural ingredients is a hoot! This year, I have come up with five ways to decorate with nuts this Christmas.
Three of these ideas are mine. Two are not.
I consider the two ideas that are not mine to be crafts-in-waiting. There’s only so much time in a day. I can either buy something another maker has made if I really want it now, which is okay! I can also save the idea to make it another year. At my current rate of idea saving, I have enough crafts to keep me busy for the next 1,413 years, give or take a decade. Can you relate?
Here are five ways to decorate with nuts for Christmas:
Idea #1: Nut Garland
String a nut garland using in-shell nuts like walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds. I like to think of this garland as the cousin to the popcorn garlands and the dried orange garlands that are popular during the holidays.
Making the nut garland is straightforward, but you will have to drill a hole in the nuts. I used a 5/64-inch drill bit and strung the nuts on clear picture hanging wire.
The nuts will be heavier than, say, a wood bead garland, so you need to use wire or twine that will support their weight. The picture hanging wire I used is sturdy, but flexible, so I could string the nuts directly onto the wire without needing a needle.
Two 16-ounce bags of in-shell walnuts and one 16-ounce bag of mixed nuts (Diamond brand) can make an approximately 12-foot-long garland.
For most garland applications, you’ll want the length of your garland to be 1.5 or 2 times the length of the area you are hanging it from, so that you can get that nice swoop-y effect.
Idea #2: Nut Floral Picks
Hot glue in-shell nuts to wood skewers or directly to the greenery of a garland or wreath to make nut floral picks.
In the photo below, you can see a couple of lone walnuts on the garland. Some of the walnuts are glued to wood skewers. Some of them are hot-glued directly to the garland, depending on where I placed them.
Idea #3: Nut Ornaments
It sounds a bit nutty, but you can make ornaments with in-shell nuts.
Hot glue the nuts together into various shapes. I glued 4 almonds and a hazelnut together to create a flower that, in the loosest sense, reminded me of a poinsettia. I also glued 2 hazelnuts and a walnut together to hang in a vertical stack. You could also glue hazelnuts together in the shape of a mini wreath!
To hang the nut ornaments, hot glue a looped string or ribbon to the back of the ornament.
Idea #4: Nut Wreath
Nuts, pinecones, and cinnamon sticks combined can make a gorgeous wreath. This wreath available on Etsy is one of the prettiest winter wreaths I’ve seen in a long time. Love the pops of green.
(image: Etsy shop StyleSparkle)
Idea #5: Advent Wreath
Similar to the wreath above, you can use nuts, pinecones, and other natural elements to make a tabletop Advent wreath.
Isn’t this one pretty? It comes with the candle holders already attached, which is nice. You just need to add your tapers.
(image: Etsy shop KIADEbouquet)
Those are my five ways you can decorate with nuts this Christmas.
Do you have any other nutty ideas? Please share with the class. You can comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also direct message me on Instagram or Facebook.
Happy holiday decorating!
Thank you for spending part of your day with me. If you’d like more decorating ideas, I’ve got you covered. Try one of these:
14 Beautiful Christmas Ornaments From Etsy
DIY Mini Silhouette Christmas Ornaments
Piano Hammer Christmas Ornaments
*affiliate links in this blog post*