Old fashion on purpose is a life I am eagerly trying to curate more on a daily level. I love our simple life full of simple pleasures. Whether it be a stroll in a park, humble veggie soup with crusty bread or cozying up with a hot cup of tea and a good book- I am 100% there and present for that precious moment. While some want more and more, I crave simplicity. A simple life is no bad thing. When we were discussing holiday decor, we realized that we have nothing but a few of our favorite ornaments and a tiny tree Aunt Katie gave us years ago. Our stockings and a few other holiday treasures were lost in the move and that’s a bummer, but we realize those are just things. Those aren’t the memories or stories that we know and remember so well.
As my daddy would say “well shit”. I thought for a moment and was like well for one thing, I refuse to waste money on useless things. If it doesn’t bring joy, happiness or it’s not useful or meaningful, we don’t typically purchase or bring things like that into our home. Second, I hate fast fashion or fast anything. I would rather craft things or find things that will last for a few years to come. We celebrate both Christmas and Yule; so, why not focus on an old fashion Yuletide. A bit of magical nostalgia, bring some mama nature indoors and fill our home with beautifully handcrafted creations that spark the utmost joy.
We, originally, were set on finding a tree on our three wooded acres but quickly squashed that idea. Our pines here are either too scraggly or too tall. Neither option would work for a holiday tree. Luckily, we found a small 6.5 faux tree at Walmart for $39. Our hope is this little guy should hold up for years to come. Fun fact about this tree is it is pre-lit and has six different settings! Everything from solid colors to solid white, a blinking of each to a back and forth between white and color. So much fun! I am over the moon tickled about this find! Our felt tree skirt also came from Walmart… should be easier to lint roll (hello four huskies worth of fur!). We also purchased a $15 set of unbreakable ornaments from Target. I’d rather have glass but with the Sassholes, that is a not a good idea. We grabbed 2 of the $5 unlit nine-foot garland. I love these for placing around door frames and if your scissors are sharp enough, you can cut them to the size needed. I stopped in a thrift store and found a $3 ornament shaped cookie jar and a cute little snowman platter. We try to be more meaningful in the items we purchase… either thrifting or making sure the things we bring into our home will last for years to come. Crafting is something, I need to do more of. It brings me joy and makes my heart happy. These crafts below are simple, easy and relatively frugal.
If you want nostalgia, this is the perfect way to kick off any old fashion Yuletide! My gram showed me how to make these when I was a preteen… my momma still has a few hanging on her tree! That’s pretty neat they have lasted a good 15 to 20 years. A simple craft, I think human kiddos would even enjoy! All you need is holiday cookie cutters, a rolling pin, parchment, cinnamon, applesauce and a few tablespoons of glue. Attached is the recipe I followed since my gram was basically a little of this and a little of that then volia! One little thing to remember is poke holes at the tops if planning on using for garland or ornaments. Ours baked at 200 degrees for two hours. I did check them at the one-hour mark then periodically checked them until they were dry. This depends on the thickness of the shapes once rolled out too… I kept ours on the thinner side, so keep that in mind while their baking away.
Oranges
There is not a recipe per se but oranges in general I believe they scream Holi-yay! I found a bag of Naval oranges for $4 and sliced all of them relatively thin. I think a mandolin would help with evenness but a good old knife and cutting board worked just as well! Turn the oven to 200 degrees. Lay all of your oranges on parchment lined baking sheets. I pat over them with a paper towel to help absorb some of the liquid. I set a timer for 2 hours and check on them occasionally. Some were done within the time. I then checked them and set a timer for another 30 minutes. It took roughly three hours between all of them and I’m thinking next time I might try my dehydrator. Once dried and cooled, there are so many fun little things you can make! String them up as garland, string them up individually as ornaments and I even crafted a sunny wreath! To craft your own, lay dried oranges in a circle, then with a hot glue gun, overlap another layer of oranges overtop. Make sure to line the middle of the top orange with the seam underneath so it holds the wreath together. You could add a festive bow to the top and attach a ribbon behind to hang it from. Dried oranges are the easiest to work with!
Paw Print or Hand Print Art
Whether you are a dog mom or a human mom, we love crafts our creatures create, right?? I know for a fact I do! There are a million ideas whether it be Santa with a kiddo’s handprint to even colorful paw print lights on a string. A few years ago, at daycare, Atty created a tree out of his paw prints… seriously adorable! I have purchased mini canvas’ at the Dollar Tree and those hold up well. I lucked out this year at Goodwill. I scored a 4 pack of mini canvas for $2… perfect for the kiddos to “help with some paw lights!
Now I was both mesmerized and skeptical when I saw the TikTok for this craft. It looked easy enough but is it really? At $2 for 100 paper bags, it was a no brainer to give it a try at least. And I am so glad I did! Oh-My-Lanta, these came out better than expected and look so festively nostalgic! I found a tutorial, I added for y’all to check out. BUT it is super simple and a beautiful frugal way to make your home even more festive! First take your bags and make sure they are facing the same way. Next you are going to want to divide those 100 bags into piles of eight. Make sure they are all facing the same way! I kept the bottom of the bags flap side up towards me. This way when you open them it will fan out pretty into your snowflake. Now let me try to explain how to glue these together. Take your pile of eight bags, start with one bag (again make sure they are facing the same way), add hot glue in a squiggly line down the middle then a line across the bottom (where the flap is). Add the next bag and press on top of first one. Repeat for the next six until all are glued together. Once all eight are secure, now you get to design your snowflakes. There are snowflake designs on google… just type paper bag snowflake designs and you can use one of these templates. Otherwise, just get creative, like we did and wing it. I started with cutting a “v” shape in the top so it could be the points for the snowflakes. Now, if you want you can cut small shapes in the long sides of the bags…. just don’t cut through to where the v is. Don’t worry if this sounds confusing, that tutorial is super easy to follow as well as a few tutorials on TikTok. Once done with that step, you are going to gingerly pull the snowflake into a circle to where the bottom bag and top bag are touching. You can either secure it with paper clips or hot glue. I preferred the hot glue, and I was able to check the rest of the bags to make sure all were secure. If you are planning on hanging these up, I secured twine on the bag with hot glue and let cool completely before hanging.
Another odd one that I was curious about and am so happy I did! Three simple ingredients of baking soda, cornstarch and water. Bring these to a boil on the stove top and once thickened like toothpaste, remove from heat and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Roll out like regular dough and cut into shapes. I did follow the recipe above without the essential oil and not waiting the full thirty minutes for the dough to cool. Our seemed to start drying before that. These can either air dry for a few days or pop them in the oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes on one side, flip and do another 30 minutes. I turned off the oven and let them finish cooling in the oven. Super simple and super cute! I think these are going to hold up for a few years!
Happy holidays and happy crafting!
Our Fabled Nest 
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