Holiday Decor DIY

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! ❄️ If you’re anything like us, you have got to be over the moon to start decorating your home for the holidays! Nothing beats having holiday cheer live throughout your luxury apartment here at The Aqua at Lakeshore East, especially if you made your decor yourself. If you’re hoping to get creative this season, check out these three easy projects that will have your space feeling festive.

Ornament Wreath

If you’d like to create your own wreath, make sure to purchase a round metal wire wreath frame (or a pool noodle), a hot glue gun with glue, and ornaments of all different sizes, textures, and colors or patterns. When you’re ready to begin, just place your metal frame on a solid surface, glue your ornaments on the frame with the largest of ornaments nestled between smaller ones with different textures, and let dry! In the end, you’ll have a wreath full of festive colors making the perfect accents to your home.

Wrapping

When it comes to gifting presents this season, gift wrapping is pretty inevitable. One way to help reduce the need to purchase rolls of wrapping paper would be by reusing any brown bags you have; this could be bags from trader joes, jewel osco, or any other store. Make sure you have some colorful string or ribbon and some greenery like pine leaves or foliage too! First, make sure your gift is a manageable size for your DIY wrapping paper. If it’s too large, you may need two bags. Next, remove any handles that are glued to the bag, and then cut the seam of the paper bag so it gets the shape of wrapping paper. Then wrap your gift as usual with tape, and once you’re done, wrap your present with your string or ribbon. Then finally, add your greenery by tucking it behind your twine.

Garland

What home is complete without a garland? All that’s needed to make an aesthetically beautiful one would be five to four oranges and string! With your oranges, slice them to be 1/8 inches wide, and then preheat your oven to 200° F. Next, press with a paper towel or cloth to remove any extra moisture. This process can take a few hours long depending on how much moisture your oranges hold, and flipping your oranges constantly can help prevent any burned slices. Once most of the moisture is gone after they are baked, you can take the slices out and begin to place small holes in them for the strings to fit through. Then once each slice is hung on the string securely, you can place it in your home and voilá!