Home for the Holidays

Treasure meaningful moments, slow down gracefully, embrace elegant simplicity, and free ourselves from the constant need for full engagement. Considering this, doesn't the idea of a minimalist holiday season hold great appeal? Taking inspiration from Scandinavian minimalism, these tree-themed projects pay homage to our counterparts abroad. They are both budget-friendly and elegantly sustainable, encapsulating an essence of refined simplicity. 

Pine perfection

Is there any symbol more beautiful and uncomplicatedly representative of winter and the holiday season than coniferous trees?

The only materials you need for these three-sided non-needle-dropping beauties are pieces of ½” plywood, sandpaper, wood glue and paint.

• Measure out height and width of triangle and cut to desired dimensions.

• Use one of the off cuts as your centre support.

• Glue support to the centre of one side.

• Lightly sand edges and face before painting.

Paint any way that tickles your tree trimming tastes. We used simple patterns, stripes, solids and triangles. Simply tape out the pattern and then paint. Make sure you seal the tape well so the paint won’t bleed. For a nice clean edge remove the tape before it dries.​

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Magnificent Mountains

​The perfect backdrop for your pretty houses, these beautifully simple mountains are almost too easy to create using plywood and a bit of paint.

• Using ½” plywood measure a square to desired height. In this project we used 16”, 24”, and 30” in order to stagger the peak heights and to fully utilize the pieces of plywood.

• Measure a line diagonally across the centre and cut, giving you 2 triangle shapes.

• If you like, glue a leftover block of wood to the bottom back to support your mountain

• Lightly sand edges and corners to soften the look of the wood.

Since no majestic mountain is complete without a dusting or wallop of snow, we used Beauti-Tone FD065-0 White Dew. An artist brush helped us to add the polka dots.

Simple Houses

These beautiful wee houses are truly the Scandinavian answer to our long loved holiday village scenes.

All you need is some 2x6 pine or spruce, sandpaper, some ¼” tape and a bit of paint.

• Use spruce or pine 2x6 off cuts.

• Measure to desired height and cut. We used 10”, 12”, and 14” to stager the heights.

• Find the centre of the board. On each side measure down from the peak to create your desired wall height.

• Cut the two sides of the peak using a mitre saw.

• Lightly sand edges and corners to soften the look of the wood.​

The Sign of simple celebrations

​Whether the holidays is just for you and your immediate family or there is an opportunity to include others, a sign that you create with your own personalized message sets the perfect tone.

You can keep it super simple using a piece of plywood cut to shape, or use 1”x 6”x 8’ pine, wood glue and clamps for a more refined rustic look. Either way, you will also want some bead trim and paint.

• If you are using 1”x 6”x 8’ pine choose the size you would like your sign to be. Ours is roughly 18”x32”.

• Cut boards to the length you have chosen.

• Glue boards together to give you the desired height and hold together using pipe clamps.

• Once dry, sand or scrape off glue and sand rough edges. For ease, we suggest painting the main area of the sign before the next step.

• Paint 1” bead trim desired colour. Once dry, cut and trim the edge of sign, attaching with glue and pin nails.

We stained the frame with Wood Shield Boathouse WST08-9 and painted the main area Beauti-Tone FD065-0 White Dew. We then created a stencil but in the spirit of keeping this simple, you could easily freehand your message. Our colours are Beauti-Tone C34-1-1561-3 green on the greens and Beauti-Tone red DR68-3 Looks to Thrill.

Tree Truck

Regular tree stands are so 2019. Perhaps it’s time to think inside the box when it comes to creating the perfect home for your holiday tree.

You can keep it super simple using plywood cut to shape, or use 1”x6”x8’ pine, wood glue and clamps. Either way, you will also need some nails or screws, a pair of hinges (we used piano hinges), and of course, paint.​

If trees could grow on walls

You simply cannot get more minimalist, rustic and easy to create than these wall trees. Just scour around your home (or your neighbours!!) for some old planks, cut to size then paint trees in simple designs. So pretty, so easy. We used Beauti-Tone FD065-0 White Dew.​

The Nutcracker gets new clothes

​In the true spirit of a sustainably simplistic holiday season, why not give your old nutcrackers new life? Simply spray paint them a flat white or even black! How refreshing!

Warning, as soon as you get that spray can in your hand you may find it difficult to stop. But that’s ok. There is practically no limit to what you might bestow a new monochromatic life on.