The thought of do-it-yourself Christmas projects probably conjures up a memory of sitting around the art table at school cutting out paper chains from red and green crepe paper.
But DIY decorations with an equestrian twist can be both stylish and fun to create, and they don’t need to involve a lot of expense. You probably already have plenty of bits and pieces in your tack room that are no longer in use, and with a bit of creativity and ingenuity, you can transform them into eye-catching pieces. They are the perfect way to introduce your love of all things equestrian into your Christmas embellishments over the festive season.
Don’t get too hung up on making your creatives overtly ‘horsey’ or go too avant-garde or futuristic. The essence of equestrian style is classic, with traditional lines and patterns, and at Christmas, that definitely means sticking to reds and greens, and adding basic wreaths, bows and garlands.
You can embellish your creations with freshly cut pine or spruce, holly and pinecones, but if you want them to last, you can pick up a selection of yuletide baubles including berries, greenery, flowers, bells and ribbons at just about any craft, department or DIY store.
Each week leading up to December 25, we will share an equestrian Christmas craft project that’s fun and easy to make!
First up, the traditional door wreath.
TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS WREATH
Symbolising an unending circle of life (because they have no beginning or end), evergreen wreaths are the perfect decorative feature during the festive season, whether used on your front door or as a centrepiece on your table. Before creating a wreath, it is always a good idea to think about the theme. You could bling it up by using materials such as tinsel and baubles, or you could take the traditional route with berries and foliage.
Materials
Basic store-bought wreath
Additional greenery (holly or ivy)
Roses
Ribbon
Plastic horse
Hot glue gun
Craft wire
Instructions
1 Following the circular pattern, weave some additional greenery such as ivy or holly leaves in and around the wreath.
2 Cut the rose stems short, and cut off leaves to re-use.
3 Hot glue or wire on roses and leaves at equal spacing around the wreath leaving a space at the bottom for the ribbon. It’s best to stick to odd numbers, depending on the size of your wreath. You don’t want them too close together. (I used roses to give it some added elegance, but you could use ribbons, balls, holly and even full size horse bits.)
4 Attach the horse using craft wire to the centre/bottom. You could spray the horse or sprinkle it with glitter if you wanted to make it even more festive.
4 Lastly, add a big bow at the bottom. Viola. Simple!
