Bravely Bohemian

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Make Bohemian Feather Ornaments

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As part of our boho Christmas blog series, I recently made these bohemian feather ornaments.

Clear boho feather ornaments

Do you see the clear ornaments in the store and wonder what to do with them? Some people fill them, while others paint the interiors or exteriors with alcohol inks or crayon wax. If you look on Pinterest, there are many suggestions.

I like the bohemian feather ornaments I created because they are simple to make and give a festive vibe to our other bohemian Holiday décor.

Here are the directions for the bohemian feather ornaments.

You will need:

*Clear glass or plastic ornaments
*Small white feathers
*Brightly dyed small pheasant feathers
*White and green or white and blue fine glitter
*Birch cones
*Red, green and turquoise hemp thread, thin enough to string your beads
*Multi-colored glass beads
*Beading needle
*Craft tweezers or long blunt needle
*Scissors

Directions:

1. Carefully remove the tops from your clear ornaments and set aside.

2. Start by gently adding a white feather or two into the interior of each ornament. To keep the feathers in good repair, slide the bottom of the feathers into the ornament first, so the tops are the last to go in.

3. Next, add a few colored feathers to the ornaments. Use your craft tweezers or long blunt needle (such as a tapestry needle) to carefully arrange the feathers on the inside of your ornaments.

4. Now tap some glitter into the bottom of each ornament. I used about a ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of glitter for each ornament.

5. On top of the glitter, drop 2 to 3 birch cones into each ornament.

6. Use your craft tweezers or long blunt needle to do the final arrangement of the feathers and cones.

7. Gently squeeze the tops back onto your feather ornaments.

Boho feather & pinecone ornaments

8. Next, cut 5 to 6 inches of colored hemp thread. I cut two different colors for each ornament.

9. Tie a knot on one end of each strand of hemp thread.

10. Thread your beading needle, followed by 6 to 8 colored glass beads onto each hemp thread. Then knot the other end of the hemp thread.

11. Gather 2 beaded hemp threads together and hold in the middle so an equal amount of beads slide to each end of your threads.

12. Wrap and tie the centers of the beaded hemp threads around the tops of your feather ornaments, so that the threads and beads drape like tassels. Trim the ends of the hemp.

Clear boho feather ornaments

*Of note, you may want to store your feather ornaments upright in the off-season, so the interiors stay where you want them and the glitter doesn’t spill out.

Enjoy your wonderful, colorful bohemian feather ornaments.

For a full list of our Boho Christmas series projects, click here.

Happy Boho crafting!


Felt Mandala Ornaments

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After recently making 36 feet of festive felt garlands for our boho Christmas tree, I found myself thinking about other Holiday projects I could make out of felt. Check out these easy-to-make felt mandala ornaments.

DIY Felt Mandala ornaments with tassels

I love these felt mandala ornaments because they are bright, simple and have fun tassels made of crochet thread.

Supplies:

*Precut felt flower mandalas in various colors (mine are from Studio g) OR thin craft felt squares, Sizzix machine and a simple mandala cutting die
*Indian shisha mirrors
*Mini gems
*Embroidery or crochet thread in various colors
*Clear fabric glue
*Cardboard scrap
*Needle
*Scissors

5 mandala felt ornaments

Directions:

1. Prepare your felt mandalas by deciding how you want to decorate them. My mandalas were purchased at the craft store precut. However, you can also make your own with the use of a Sizzix machine and a simple scrapbooking cutting die. Lightweight felt seems to work best. Also, make sure to select a simple mandala pattern for your cutting die. Dies with a lot of intricacies can cause some frustration, so be sure to experiment with your machine and cutting die on scrap felt first.

2. Stitch an Indian shisha mirror to the center of each of your felt mandala ornaments. Shisha mirrors can be affordably purchased on Amazon, eBay or on Etsy.

3. Attach the mini gems as you see fit to highlight the edges of a felt mandalas. You can use the sticker backed mini gems from the scrapbooking aisle of your craft store. However, these may not hold up for the long run. Instead, you may want to use clear fabric glue to glue on the gemstones.

closeup of felt mandala ornaments

4. Use colorful embroidery or crochet thread and a scrap of cardboard to make tassels. Directions on how to make the tassels can be found here. My tassels came out about 4 ½ inches each when completed. Or you can buy pre-made tassels.

5. String a thread through the top of each tassel. Stitch the tassel to the felt mandala ornament. Trim the excess threads.

6. Take an additional piece of thread and stitch through the top of each of your mandalas. Create a loop and then tie the ends several times. This will be used to hang the ornament on your Christmas tree.

And that’s it! Enjoy your beautiful felt mandala Christmas ornaments.

Happy boho crafting! Click for the next article in our boho Christmas series where we’ll make Bohemian Feather Ornaments.

Pink & Blue mandala Christmas ornament

Make Mixed Media Tart Tin Ornaments

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As mentioned in a previous post, I love to collect found objects and then figure out later how to craft with them. While poking around a thrift shop last year, I picked up six vintage mini tart tins. I knew immediately that I wanted to make mixed media tart tin ornaments for our boho themed Christmas tree.

boho tart tin ornament with Shisha mirrors

The tart tins are made of shiny aluminum so I knew they would reflect the lights on our tree.

Mini tart pans come in a variety of shapes and sizes, perfect for making ornaments. If you can’t find vintage tins, you can purchase new ones at an affordable price on Amazon or at a restaurant supply store. My mixed media tart tin ornaments are approximately 3 inches across.

Here is how I made our tart tin ornaments:

Supplies:
*Mini Tart Tins
*Imported handmade paper with metallic elements (such as Thai batik paper scraps)
*Gold metallic trim
*Mini pompoms
*Microbeads
*Mini gems
*Shisha mirrors
*Gold metallic thread or string
*Craft glue that dries clear
*Scrapbooking punches or Sizzix machine and metal dies
*Hammer and awl or electric drill or Dremel tool
*Self-healing cutting mat
*Scissors
*Scrap of cardboard


Directions:

1. Start by punching small holes into the top edge and bottom edge of each tart tin using your hammer and awl, electric drill or Dremel tool. Do this over a self-healing cutting mat so you don’t scrape your work surface. The holes should be big enough to slide the ends of the gold thread or string through and knot in step 9.

2. Lay out the general designs you want for each of the ornaments.

Mixed Media Tart Tin ornament designs

3. Start with the outer rim of your tart tins. For two of my ornaments, I glued gold trim along the fluted edges. The next two are coated in multi-colored microbeads. The last two are decorated with red and green pompoms. Set them aside to dry.

4. Next, use your scrapbooking punches to cut designs out of the imported Thai papers. You can also use a Sizzix cutting machine and your favorite metal dies for this step. For my ornaments, I cut circle, paisley, and bird patterns to fit into the center of the tart tins.

5. Gently glue in the paper designs, then if you like, decorate the designs with metallic gems.

6. For the last two ornaments, decorate with a variety of colorful Indian shisha mirrors. You can usually purchase shisha mirrors on Amazon, Etsy or eBay. Affix metallic gems. Let everything dry.

7. String the ends of your gold thread through the top hole of each tin and knot several times, making a loop to hang the ornaments on your tree.

8. Use your scrap of cardboard to make tassels out of the gold thread or string. I made my tassels about 4 inches long. Here are directions on how to make the tassels. You can also purchase premade tassels if you don’t want to make them.

Mixed Media tart tin ornaments with tassels

9. String a loop of thread through the top of each tassel. Feed both ends of the string up through the bottom hole of the tart tin. Pull the tassel up to the desired length, and then knot the ends of your threads several times. Clip the excess threads.

Your mixed media tart tin ornaments are ready to be hung on your Christmas tree.

boho Christmas_tart tin ornaments with Bird

Happy boho crafting! To continue in our Boho Christmas series, click here for directions to make Felt Mandala Ornaments.


Make Easy DIY Christmas Garlands with Felt and Wood Beads

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Today I am going to share with you how to make these easy DIY Christmas garlands.

Felt Christmas Garlands with Beads DIY

The garlands are made out of strips of felt and wood beads. I made 7 strands to string on our Christmas tree, each 6 feet long. To tie the look together, you may want to make additional garlands to add to your tabletops and banisters. Intertwining with greens and white lights make your DIY Christmas garlands extra festive.

Every few years I pick a new theme for our Christmas tree. I decided our tree had to be bohemian and colorful. As you know from my previous post, I selected some vintage ornaments we inherited from my mother-in-law and mixed them with handmade ornaments, plus some store bought ornaments. However, I really wanted to pull the look all together. The DIY Christmas garlands created the perfect balance on our tree.

Boho Christmas_DIY Christmas Garlands

Here’s what you need to make your own DIY Christmas garlands.

Supplies:

*String or multi-colored baker’s twine, 6 feet plus 4 inches per garland
*Felt in 6 colors, ½ yard each
*Colored wood beads in assorted sizes and colors
*Beading needle
*Sharp fabric scissors


Directions:

1. For each garland, cut your string or baker’s twine approximately 6 feet, 4 inches. Make a loop on the one end of your string and then tie a double knot. You will want approximately a 2-inch loop on the end of your garland.

2. Next, cut strips out of your 6 colors of felt. I made my felt strips approximately ¾ inch wide by 6 inches.

3. Now simply overhand knot the felt strips onto your string, alternating colors. In my garlands, I tied the 6 colors on in random order, then another 6 in random order for a total of 12 felt strips.

4. To break up the felt sections, add about 3 inches of assorted wood beads to the garland. Use a large-eye needle if necessary to string the beads.

Bohemian Christmas DIY Christmas Garlands

*I found colorful beads to match my colors of felt. However, you can also buy unfinished wood beads, and then paint them with acrylic paints.

5. Continue alternately tying sections of felt strips and beads until you get close to the end of your garland, ending with a section of felt strips.

6. To complete the garland, tie the remaining open end of your garland string into a loop and knot it as you did in Step One.

Have fun decorating with your festive DIY Christmas garlands! Click here to see our next boho Christmas decorating project, Mixed Media Tart Tin Ornaments.


Tips on Collecting and Using Vintage Christmas Ornaments

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Christmas is a great time to surround yourself with bohemian style. Mixing vintage Christmas ornaments into your favorite Holiday decor is a great way to get a beautiful, eclectic look that will wow you and your guests.

Vintage Christmas Ornaments

I love collecting and using vintage Christmas ornaments in our Holiday décor. Vintage ornaments remind me of decorating our Christmas tree as a kid. We always decorated our tree on Christmas Eve and then left it up through the New Year until Little Christmas. Every ornament had a memory and story attached. It was fun to share our favorites.

Here are some tips on how I go about collecting and using Vintage Christmas ornaments in our décor.

To get a boho Christmas décor look, remember it’s all about being eclectic and colorful. I like to mix vintage ornaments and modern ornaments with ornaments I’ve made. I also mix bright, cheerful ornaments with natural elements.

Review What You Have

Start by looking in your own collection of Holiday décor. Do you have any ornaments you absolutely love and can present in a new way? Do you have any vintage Christmas ornaments in your collection? Also, consider asking older relatives and neighbors if they have any vintage ornaments they are ready to part with. Often, people love to downsize their holiday stuff.

Blown glass vintage Christmas ornament
One of my absolute favorite inherited vintage Christmas ornaments. I love the vibrant color and delicate blown glass.

Collect Year Round

If you want to collect vintage Christmas ornaments, you can often find great stuff year round. You just need to know where to look.

Church and Non-profit rummage sales are my favorite places to find affordable Christmas décor. Garage Sale season is another off-Holiday time to find neat, affordable Holiday decorations. People are often willing to bargain because they just want to get rid of the stuff.

Next, keep your eyes open for Estate Sales. Depending on who is running the estate sale, items can be affordable or pricey. If pricey, decide if you want the items anyway or take your chances that the decorations will be there later. More expensive estate sales often have a half-price time in the afternoon or on the second day. Be sure to ask when their discount sale will take place.

Thrift shops are another place I frequent. You never know what you will find, so I enjoy the random hunt of the shopping experience. Some thrift shops put out holiday décor year round, while others just display it during prime Holiday shopping season. Check with your favorite thrift stores to find out their schedules. At the thrift shop I volunteer at, we have a “Christmas Corner” in one section of our shop. However, we also have a slew of Holiday-related donations we hold onto to display closer to December. At our shop, you can also let our staff know what you are looking for. We will keep our eyes out and contact you if we get something in that you might enjoy.

Thrift Shopping for Vintage Christmas ornaments
Thrift Shops are great places to find affordable vintage Christmas ornaments. Check back often, as the shops get tons of stuff in all Holiday season.

Thrift shops often get so much Holiday décor that they price it very affordably. They just want to keep the décor moving to make room for more. I have seen all sorts of great vintage ornaments, wreaths, garlands, you name it, come through our shop and the other thrift stores I frequent.

Finally, check out flea markets and antique shops. Sometimes vintage Christmas décor can be really marked up in price at such places. I’ve seen individual glass-blown Christmas bulbs from the 1950s marked as high as $8 a piece. Meanwhile, we may sell a whole box of similar ornaments for $2 at our thrift shop. Be ready to bargain if you see something you really want. Or if you see something really special, maybe it is worth the asking price.

Tin Christmas ornament from Mexico
Mexican tin Christmas ornament my mother-in-law collected during her travels.

Pick a Theme

Picking a theme for your Holiday décor or Christmas tree may help you figure out what to collect and how to utilize the vintage ornaments you do collect. For instance, for our Bohemian Christmas tree, I recently designed, I was inspired by two things. First, we inherited a set of beautiful hammered and hand-colored tin ornaments from Mexico. My mother-in-law purchased the ornaments in her travels, so they carry special energy for me. We also inherited three hand cut wood snowflake ornaments originally from Germany. I think they were circa 1940s or 1950s. I always admired the ornaments on my in-law’s Christmas tree.

German wood cut Vintage Christmas ornament
One of three vintage wood cut Christmas ornaments from Germany that we inherited.

From these ornaments, I knew I wanted to decorate the tree in bright, mostly primary colors. From there I dug out select ornaments from those that we inherited plus some ornaments in our own collection. I then made Christmas garlands and other boho ornaments to add to the tree. And this year, I’ve been keeping my eyes out while combing garage sales, rummage sales and thrift shops for additional ornaments that will enhance the boho décor look.

Keep An Open Mind

See something cool, but don’t know what you’ll do with it? That’s part of the fun of being eclectic and having boho style. Decide how drawn you are to the items and buy those that really call to you. You can always figure out what to do with the items later. Plus, if you didn’t pay much, you can always let go of the decorations later if you never find a use for them.

Holiday bird decor
Holiday bird fountain I found at a thrift shop for $4. We now also have a whole collection of winter birds we display on our bookshelves.

For instance, I grew up in the country where we were always surrounded by a multitude of songbirds. At our thrift shop, a winter, bird-themed fountain came in. When cleaned up (we dusted it off and then applied some spray glitter to it to freshen up the snow part of it), it was rather charming. I stared at it all season each time I came into work. When it was marked down to $4, I could no longer resist. That fountain became the base to a collection. Now we have a series of winter songbird collectibles that sit on our bookcase for the Holidays. (We also have a summer collection for the rest of the year).

So always be on the lookout for items you can build a collection around.

Vintage yule log and Pfaltzgraff Snow Bear collection
We combined a vintage yule log, gold greenery, and our Pfaltzgraff Snow Bear pottery collection on our antique buffet. In the background, you can see part of our miniature crystal vase collection that sits out year round.

Keep a Holiday Craft Stash

I always keep a stash of Holiday craft supplies and vintage components that I can visit if I am feeling crafty. Holiday craft supplies can often be found in garage sales. Look for unique components to make boho ornaments out of, such as beads, vintage cookie cutters, napkin rings, ribbon, fabric scraps and such. I also often purchase items 75-90% off around the New Year when the craft stores desperately want you to drag Holiday stuff out of their store at any price. That way I have supplies ready to go if I get random inspiration during the year.

Look Online for Inspiration

Going online to your favorite bohemian blogs and Pinterest are great ways to get ideas on how to use your vintage decorations to build a boho Christmas tree. There are wonderful DIY tutorials on how to make felt ornaments, mini dreamcatchers, yarn God’s eyes and more. You will also find great examples for upcycled ornaments from items like old cookie cutters, vintage lace and mini tart pans.

Tart tin DIY Christmas Ornaments
Keep a stash of Holiday craft supplies on hand to craft your own Christmas ornaments.

Add Some World Culture

Bohemian style is all about embracing world crafts and cultures. So finish your tree off with a couple of special ornaments from around the world. Cost Plus World Market is one of my favorite places to look for really unique ornaments. Amazon and Novica also sell a lot of Fair Trade ornaments and décor. World artisans are paid fair living wages to produce their unique crafts, so your money goes to a good cause.

Think Beyond the Tree

Some vintage Christmas ornaments are very fragile. Older glass ornaments tend to lose paint or shine over time. Others are too frail to put on the tree. Consider displaying these ornaments in a glass bowl or in a crystal ice bucket as a Holiday centerpiece.. You can also gently set ornaments into greenery to make a table or buffet centerpiece.

One of my absolute favorite vintage pieces is a 1960s Nativity scene. I found the nativity set in the attic at an estate sale for only $10! Each year, I love unwrapping the figurines and setting them up. It sparks wonderful memories. Our current nativity set is one size smaller than the set we had in our childhood. Our church also had a really large version of the same nativity. When my parents were first married, they collected a few figures each year, as they could afford them.

Collecting Vintage Christmas Ornaments_Nativity
I found this beautiful vintage Nativity set in an estate sale for only $10. Its one of the most cherished items I own because it reminds me of my childhood.

The nativity scene was one of the first items we were allowed to decorate the house with each year, as well as putting up our advent calendars and Santa cutouts on the windows and kitchen cabinets. This was followed by excessive amounts of cookie baking and being allowed to stay up to watch the classic Christmas cartoons like Rudolph. It’s funny how all the memories come floating back as I carefully put the nativity together.

Boho Christmas Tree with vintage ornaments

Collecting Vintage Christmas ornaments is fun. You will love your Holiday boho decor when you mix your vintage finds with the right amount of greenery, regular ornaments, and handmade ornaments.

Happy boho decorating!

Up next in our Bohemian Christmas series, check out how to Make Easy DIY Christmas Garlands with Felt and Wood Beads.

Vintage Christmas Ornaments