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15 DIY Christmas Decoration Ideas for the Eco-Friendly Aussie
‘Tis the season of festivities, generosity and celebrations! It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement, but if you’re looking to minimise your waste, keep Christmas costs down or simply embrace a unique, Australian Christmas, check out these 15 awesome DIY Christmas decoration ideas!
Eco-friendly and inspired by Australian bushcraft, they’ll be sure to make a difference to your décor, wallet and your eco-footprint this silly season.
DIY wreaths
DIY native bush wreaths and garlands
Deck the halls with boughs of banksia this year with a native wreath or garland! This awesome DIY tutorial shows how to weave it all together, but keep flicking through for tips on what kind of foliage and flowers to use.
Foliage
With your greenery, explore different leaf and feature types, such as:
Flowering gums, with firework-like blooms
Wattles
Grevillea
Red Ironbark
Weeping Bottlebrush
Purple fountain grass
Flowers
Explore some festive, native wildflowers such as:
Banksia
Pincushion Hakea
Powderpuff Lilly Pilly
Kangaroo paw
Protea
Waratah
Extras
For additional details, use gumnuts or berries, such as those found on the Hill's Weeping Fig or riberry tree, or add white accents such as aniseed myrtle, tea tree and silver croton.
For something a little different, combine your love of crafting, gardening and Christmas with an amazing succulent wreath! They're easy to water and you're left with a living decoration to last you for years to come, if properly cared for. Check out this super simple DIY tutorial!
Christmas décor
Herb garlands
Weave together herbs like rosemary, bay leaf branches, oregano, basil, thyme, mint, and any other herbs you like, to create a centrepiece that doubles as flavour enhancers for your Christmas meal.
Add red chilies, radishes, garlic bulbs or cranberries for splashes of festive colour! Check out the DIY tutorial here!
Festive fruit centrepieces
Turn the standard fruit bowl into a festive and unique centrepiece!
Mix fruits, such as pomegranates, cherries, plums, figs, nectarines and apples, with native green foliage, to be enjoyed as a light dessert and palate cleanser after all that roast turkey.
Popular in coastal style décor, it can be laid against a table, mantelpiece or propped in a vase, with ornaments hanging from its branches. Not close to the shore? Check out this simple tutorial on how to DIY your own driftwood!
Wrapping paper alternatives
Even though paper is recyclable, every festive season sees an increase by 30% of rubbish volumes Australia-wide; including gift wrapping and packaging.
Check out these gift wrapping alternatives, like fabric wrapping with secondhand scarves, to cut back on your waste this Christmas.
Choose a metallic that best complements your Christmas theme and morph them into whatever shapes you wish with some wire benders.
Copper and brass ornaments look incredible against almost every colour of tree, whilst gold is rumoured to be the Accent Metal of 2019!
Glass bulb planters
Bulb terrariums are so versatile, as they can be filled with any type of plant or clipping you desire!
These mini bulb planters are perfect for air plants, but if you're worried about them breaking, opt for a less fragile alternative by using wire or woven baskets.
Stick snowflakes
This tutorial shows you how to create beautiful rustic snowflakes out of the sticks in your yard that you were going to sweep up anyway.
Turn a trip to the park or beach into a treasure hunt! Simply glue or screw a bauble hanger onto foraged gum nuts, banksia seed pods, pine cones or driftwood!
Consider every purchase you make an investment toward the future you want to see; if every dollar you spend is financial support, who do you want to support the most?
This year, as our sun-burnt country is ravaged by drought and fires, you may want to support the rural Australian businesses that have been most affected. Buy From The Bush is a curated website of rural small businesses across Australia, filled with handmade, artisan pieces.
By choosing to support these businesses, you’re gifting twice; once to the recipient of the gift, and again, to the small Aussie business fighting to survive this difficult time.