Two of our all-time favorite vendors – Salt Harbor Designs + Millie Holloman Photography – joined forces to get us all in the holiday spirit! Their fun and festive Christmas DIY potluck is not only an amazing an idea for bringing a little crafting cheer to your friends and family and getting your home holiday-ready but it would also be such a sweet party for you and your bridesmaids to knock out all those wedding DIY projects too, don’t you think? I absolutely adore the moss and paper trees that they easily whipped up and can’t wait to get my craft on now! Scroll through to see all their holiday handiwork and learn some incredible DIY projects that you can do at home! Then head on over to the full gallery to see the entire gleeful gathering!
Moss Trees:
1. Put Styrofoam in the base of a pot and cover the foam with moss.
2. Wrap a cone with sheet moss using floral pins or floral wire bent into pins.
3.Push a short branch into the base of the cone to form the trunk (curly willow branches work great for trees with character). Glue it into place to make sure it is secure and let cool.
4. Push the other end of the branch into the pot. Glue into place.
* Styrofoam can also be covered with materials such as twine, music, book pages, burlap, cinnamon sticks, etc.
Table runner: We created a table runner out of old book pages, first laying down a sheet of brown paper and taping the pages to it. This not only protected the tablecloth from wax from the taper candles, but also provided great protection once it was craft time.
Book Wreaths:
1. Tear pages from an old book and fold the pages into small fans (do not crease paper, just bend).
2. Staple the fan near the bottom. Make enough to cover the outside and inside of the wreath.
3. Glue the fans to the inside ring of the wreath, overlapping enough that you do not see the wreath form.
4. Glue fans to the outside ring of the wreath (also overlapping).
5.To finish the wreath between the inner and outer rings, you will need fans that are ½-1” shorter than the others. Cut down pages, and repeat the folding, stapling, and gluing process.
6. Fill in the rest of the wreath until you cannot see the form.
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From Salt Harbor Designs…I am asked all the time what my house looks like, and I always have to laugh. It would certainly not be what people imagine! At Salt Harbor we design so many things for our clients and their events that oftentimes we are just too tired to focus on our own homes. Crafts and creative projects are an every day occurrence for us, so doing them at home is not quite as enjoyable as it might be for some. This Christmas I thought it would be fun if we held a Christmas party with our staff and their families to design things for our own homes. We invited friends, moms, and of course, the girls at Millie Holloman Photography (who share our office space). Between the staff at Salt Harbor and Millie Holloman Photography, everything always tends to get bigger than we planned, and this was no different. The idea turned into a pot-luck dinner and crafting photoshoot. We transformed a section of our office space into a craft room, complete with supplies, stations, and blackboard instructions. We had more fun than we could have ever imagined, and I dare say, we created a Christmas tradition that will be expected every year!
We sent out invitations encourgaing our guests to bring their cutest aprons and any crafting supplies they could gather. They hit the stores in the days before the party and bought up all of the styrofoam they could find. We also tasked specific guests with requests such as brining greenery, holly, pin cones, and moss. Each guest brought a appetizer, entree or dessert. Everyone arrived arms loaded with more supplies, food and wine than we could have ever anticipated or consume. A week later everyone is still buzzing over all the festivities and their new decorations!
Tip: We purchased a bunch of old books for 50 cents at a local book store. Many of them were old romance novels, which gave a number of the girls the giggles. You would have thought we were school children!
On the book page trees: Book page trees are all the rage this year and can be found in many stores for as much as $50. Our version ran us less than $5 and you would never know they did not come from a trendy store!
Photography: Millie of Millie Holloman Photography / Crafts + Styling: Jennifer Rose-Sandy of Salt Harbor Designs / Tables, Chairs + Linens: Party Suppliers and Rentals