Why is it that winter is one of the hardest seasons to decorate for? Once the holiday season is over and all the menorahs, kinaras, and Christmas trees have been packed away in storage, our homes start to feel colder, and the bleakness of winter creeps its way in. The season drags, the chill starts to feel hostile, and we hold our breaths with desperate anticipation for the flowering season of Spring to roll in early so we can live in color once again.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
The following five, super simple and easy DIY projects will bring color and life into your home all winter long, without looking out of place once the holiday rush is over. Each craft is perfectly at home in any cottage, and invokes all the rustic witchy vibes that come naturally with the craft. I’ve even included a decorative spell for those magickally inclined. Once you’re through with these witchy winter cottage DIYs, your home will feel like the coziest cottage getaway!
1. Dried Orange Slice Garlands
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Did you know that Yule is actually a sun celebration? The Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year, and the start of the sun’s return. It’s a time to celebrate everything the sun does for us, and look forward to the warmth and growth in the coming year. That’s why citrus fruits, though often associated with summer, are a traditional decorating staple this time of year. The vibrant oranges and yellows of these round fruits represent the sun, and stringing them up around the home brings its warmth and light into the home. It also makes a room smell fresh and inviting!
Making your own dried orange slice garland is extremely easy, and it looks classy, vintage, and far more expensive than it was to make. All you’ll need are fresh oranges – the number depends on how long you want your garlands, but 4 to 5 should serve you well – some parchment paper, and a needle and thread, ideally natural woven twine.
Begin by preheating your oven to 250°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut your oranges into even, 1/4 inch slices and lay them out in a single layer in the pan. Depending on the number of slices you’re making, you may have to dry in batches, but that’s okay. It’ll give you more time to enjoy the fresh citrusy scents!
Before you bake, be sure to gently blot out as much excess moisture as you can with a paper towel. Be careful not to damage the orange flesh, though! You’ll need it to string them up later.
Once they’re ready, slide them into the over for two hours, making sure to flip the slices half-way through. If you have a confectioner's oven, the internal fan can help ensure your slices dry evenly. After the timer’s buzzed, if your oranges don’t seem dry enough, put them back in for ten minute increments until done.
After that, lay them out to cool and leave them be for a couple of days to finish drying up. Then, come back with your needle and twine, and start stringing! It’s as simple as threading beads to make a bracelet; poke through the orange flesh with a threaded needle, slide the slice gently down the twine, and poke into the next. Make your garlands as long as you like, then tie off the thread ends, and hang. These look especially lovely when strung up alongside other greenery, such as evergreen fronds decorating your mantle.
2. Homemade Witch Balls
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Maybe you’ve seen them on Pinterest or Etsy: elegant glass ornaments filled with salt and herbs, crystals and flowers, strung up with pretty ribbons or hung in the garden to bless a space. So much thought and careful selection seems to go into the ingredients when they’re sold online that it’s daunting to imagine putting one together. But the truth is, these beautiful and powerful little spell baubles are easy to make for yourself, your home, and your loved ones. All it takes is a little planning.
Since we’re going for a super cozy cottagecore vibe, I’ve put together a witch ball recipe to lock in the peace and joy of gathered friends. Each of the ingredients included here have some mix of purifying and protecting properties, while the lavender and chamomile promote peace and calm. But you can change out the herbs and other elements you put in your witch balls to bring in love and passion, ward off unwanted visitors, invite luck and money, or anything else you can think of. Just research the properties of different herbs you have available and see what you can put together.
For our cozy cottagecore witch ball, we’ll need a sprig of rosemary, a cinnamon stick, a clipping of cedar or pine, a bit of lavender, and some chamomile flowers. You’ll also need an empty glass Christmas ornament. Many craft shops are now selling big glass baubles meant to be filled and decorated, so be sure to check your local favorites before searching online. When all else fails, you can always disassemble a standard ornament and repurpose it.
Unless you plan to hang your witch ball on a tree, you’ll want some ribbon or twine to easily hang it on a hook or mobile somewhere in your home.
For the witch ball to be functional as well as decorative, you’ll need a clear head and a purified space to craft it. Practicing witches should cleanse their ingredients, their workstation, and their body before they begin. Open the ornament and insert each herb one by one, pausing to instill your intentions into each one before adding them in. The rosemary and cinnamon each offer protection, while cedar and pine help to purify and heal as well. Lavender brings peace, and chamomile brings calm. Carefully envision each herb’s purpose as you add it, to ensure it does its job.
Feel free to adjust the order you add things, rearrange the herbs to be more visually pleasing, add elements like ribbon, crystals, or purifying salt, or otherwise dress up your witch ball. Once you have a beautiful glass ball full of pretty flowers and herbs arranged to your liking, put the top back in place, gluing if necessary, and hang it in a space that is used often within your home, such as your living room. This way, you’ll reap the benefits of the cozy spell all winter long, and keep the darkness at bay.
3. Dried Herbs and Flowers
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One way to make your home feel lush with life is to fill it with plants. But in smaller homes and spaces frequented by pets and small children, it’s just not practical to have tall trees as house plants. So, unless you have a lot of little shelf plants and hanging ivy, it can be hard to get the vibrant energy up to eye level. That’s where dry hanging comes in.
Whether you have an herb garden or just like to indulge in a bouquet or two of seasonal flowers to brighten the dining table, nature has already provided you with gorgeous winter home decor. All you need are some wall hooks and twine. Some folks buy special herb drying hook sets to give the display a more intentional appearance, while others opt for handcrafted feel by gluing wooden drawer knobs to a wooden cutting board they then mount to the wall. Come up with a hanging display that suits the theme of your home best. Just be sure to keep any flowers away from direct sunlight, and choose a hanging area with good airflow to avoid your plants molding.
Gather your herbs and/or flowers. If you’re picking them yourself, it’s best to harvest in the morning, just after the dew has all evaporated. Different plants should be cut at different points in the stem, so be sure to look up what’s best for your particular herbs. Then, pluck away any yellowing leaves and wilted bulbs, as well as lower fronds to get a clear stretch of stem you can bind. Wash any edible plants you plan to use later in cooking, and carefully dry them between paper towels.
Once they’re ready, pile your plants together and bundle them up with twine, then hang them upside down to dry. Be sure not to make the bundles too thick – you’ll need good airflow between the leaves to properly dry. Then, leave them up to dry for a few weeks before eating, or keep them out longer if they’re just for decoration. To preserve bouquets, spray down the flowers after they’ve had a few weeks to dry with hairspray, which will help stop any petal shedding after all the moisture has gone. After that, you can leave them hanging decoratively, or even replace your dried flowers in vases if you like.
A small word of caution, though. If you are drying plants that are dangerous to small children or animals, be very careful where you hang them. Even the slightest nudge during the drying process can knock a petal or leaf loose. If these fall to the floor when you aren’t looking, they can easily find their way into little curious mouths.
4. Chunky Knit Throw Blankets
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Taking a step away from plants and herbs for a moment, one of my all time favorite ways to decorate my home is with throw blankets and pillows. There is nothing more cozy and inviting than a comfy couch brimming with soft things to snuggle up into. And since winter is already a time of knitted sweaters, hats, and scarves, a nice thick chunky knit blanket invokes all the warm and fuzzy feelings of cuddling together and sipping hot chocolate.
The best part, though, is you can make your own chunky knit throw blanket without any knitting experience or knitting needles! Personally, I find that the super tight loops of traditional knitting wear harshly on my hands, making it just too difficult to finish even a scarf. But handknitting a chunky blanket is surprisingly comfortable, without any cramping in my fingers, and it’s also much easier to count the loops and make sure I haven’t dropped a stitch. Plus, it’s fast. While it takes my mother weeks to finish knitting a sweater with needles, I can knit a full sized throw blanket in about six hours, and folks with more experience in the knitting game can get it done in the time it takes to watch Home Alone. If you’ve ever wished you could knit but just didn’t know where to start, or found the whole process frustrating, this is the project for you!
You’ll need about five skeins of extra thick yarn for a full sized throw, though if you want to make a specific pattern such as accent stripes, you may want a few extra. Some brands sell chunky yarn specifically for blanket making, so check the labels in your craft store. I’ll go into a full description of how to knit your blanket below, but for visual learners, this tutorial video might be more helpful.
When you’re ready to begin, knot a loop at the start of your first ball of yarn. I found that my first instinct was to make the loop too big – try going a little tighter than you think you need. So long as you can fit your thumb through it, it’s big enough.
Next, reach through your tied loop and tug the yarn through to make a second loop, the same size. Then, reach through that loop and tug more yarn, making a third loop. Go on like this, chaining loops together, until you have somewhere between 15 and 25 loops. This is the width of your blanket, so make it to your liking. When you’ve decided you have enough, make one more loop – this is the first loop of your next row.
Now, go back the other way and push the yarn through each loop in the first row, until you have the same number of loops in your second. Once you’ve finished this second row, you’ll have gotten through the hardest part of the blanket. Congrats! From here, start the third row the same way you started the second, and go back down, looping a new loop through every loop in the row below. Repeat this for as many rows as you like, until your blanket is long enough.
Whenever it’s time to add a new skein, or if you want to change the color yarn you’re using, just tie the ends of the yarn together and clip the loose strings. The knot will blend in with the rest of the blanket.
One you’re ready to finish the blanket, you’ll start to make one final row. Make your first loop, then the second, and pull the second loop back through the first. Make your third loop, and pull that through the second loop. Keep going like this, pulling the inner loop through the edge loop and creating a braid like you started with. At the end, tie a knot and weave the trailing end down through the blanket, which will hide it. Now you have a blanket!
5. Lebkuchen
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