12 Christmas Ideas From the Archives

It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s officially officially Christmas season and no one can tell me otherwise. Not even you grinchy people who refuse to acknowledge the existence of Christmas until after Thanksgiving. We’ve arrived and I’m excited and it’s about to be all Christmas all the time around here.

Sorry, not sorry. It’s my very very favorite.

As I was sitting down this year to plan my Christmas content and think about what I’d like to share, I felt a little sad thinking about all the old Christmas blog posts that don’t ever see the light of day. There are so many Christmas ideas and projects in my archives, and I think it’s worth taking a minute to recognize them. Because, for many of you, it’ll be the first time seeing them!

So basically, think of today’s post like 12 different posts in one. You’re welcome.

(Oh, and you’re also welcome for the quality of some of these photos. Let’s just say in the early days of blogging things were a little different.)

12 christmas ideas & projects from the archives

1. DIY Christmas Village

I made this cute little DIY Christmas village last year, and I’m so excited to pull it out again! Christmas villages have a special place in my heart because they’ve always been a tradition in my family. But, I never have a good spot to really display a huge one like I’d love to (plus, it’s a lot to keep up with!). This simple, modern version gives me the same vibe and feels like an ode to my family’s traditions. But, you know, it doesn’t take up half the living room.

2. Ruffled Tree Skirt

This ruffled tree skirt was probably the first DIY Christmas project I ever took on. And, honestly, I still love it! It only lasted a few years because we stored it in our attic and ended up with a bit of a rodent infestation (whoops!), but I was so proud of this thing while I had it.

This was a really easy DIY project and is such a great idea if you can’t find a tree skirt you love. If I was making it again, I’d probably use a warmer white fabric for a more vintage feel, but I’d 100% make something like this again today!

3. scrap wood christmas trees

I made these little scrap wood Christmas trees as my last project before we moved from our first house. In fact, I remember that when I staged the photos for this tutorial, our house was empty. We had already closed on the new one, but I wanted to photograph these guys in the old house!

I still have these little trees and still scatter them around the house at Christmastime. They usually find their way onto our floating shelves, and they still make me happy every year.

4. Christmas Eve + Day Traditions

Last year, I was talking with you about Christmas traditions on Instagram and realized I’d never really talked about ours! So, I wrote this post, which lists all of our Christmas Eve + Christmas Day traditions and routines. It was really fun to sit down and write out all of the things we do each year, and I loved hearing from you about your own family traditions.

If you are looking for new traditions to incorporate, or if you’re like me and just love reading about what other people do, it’s a fun post!

5. DIY Glittery Christmas sign

Ahhh, another incredibly old project. This DIY Christmas sign is one that I made in our second Christmas in the first house we ever owned. And I still think it’s a really cute idea! I was so proud of the idea I had for this DIY sign, and I’d still recommend the project to anyone who wants something similar!

Of course, it’s a super glittery project, so be prepared to have your entire life covered in glitter for a while. But it was worth it.

6. Miniature Christmas Vignette

A few years ago I got really into the idea of miniatures. It was a whole thing. So, I made this miniature Christmas vignette, and as I’m writing this I’m wondering where in the world it ended up! I don’t have it anymore, but man it was adorable.

Maybe it’s time to make another one?!

7. Simple Wooden Christmas Trees

These simple wooden Christmas trees were so easy to make and they’re such a fun, modern take on a DIY Christmas tree. I made this little set of three using scrap wood that I had laying around, and it only took me a couple of hours to throw together. I think these would look so cute on a front porch!

8. DIY Outdoor Lanterns

I made these DIY wood lanterns as Christmas decor, but they’ve ended up on our porch pretty much year-round! Of course, I still think of them mostly as Christmas-y. There isn’t anything more cozy and holly jolly than a glowing candle sitting on the front porch, if you ask me.

9. Interactive Christmas Tree

This is one of my favorite Christmas project ideas I’ve ever had. I made this interactive wood Christmas tree for kids when Grant was a teeny tiny toddler, and he absolutely adored it! We’ve since passed it on to another family with a kid younger than Grant (by last Christmas, he was mostly over it), so it’s still spreading joy!

All of the ornaments on this little tree are attached with velcro, so your toddler can pull them off and re-arrange them as often as they like. I found that this was a really great way to reduce Grant’s desire to mess with the real Christmas tree!

10. DIY Christmas countdown

We have an advent calendar that we do ever year (more on that in a second), but I always found my kids asking me how many more days we had left, despite being able to see the days disappearing off the calendar. So, I decided to make this adorable carved wood Christmas countdown, and it quickly became a favorite decoration of everyone in the family. Jackson loves being in charge of changing out the numbers every day, and he’s constantly reminding us of how many days we have left.

11. Christmas Cookies

We love to bake Christmas cookies. We take baking very seriously in our house, and if you haven’t heard of Cookie Day, just wait because it’s coming! I always make a big list of what I’ll be baking throughout the holiday season, and a couple of years ago I started sharing the list on here for anyone who wants to bake along!

I’ll be sharing 2022’s list soon, but you can start gathering ideas from previous lists!

• Here’s our Christmas cookie list from 2021 (It was a little, um, overly ambitious)
• Here’s the list from 2020
• And this post has some other great cookie ideas!

12. Advent Activity Tree

If you ask anyone in my family what their favorite Christmas tradition is, we’ll all say it’s the activity advent tree. It’s the best idea I’ve ever had, and we all look forward to it with great fervor.

You can see last year’s advent activity tree here. And, if you want more ideas for your advent activity calendar, this post has you covered!

And there you have it – 12 Christmas ideas and projects you may have missed the first time around! I’ve got a few fun posts up my sleeve for this year, of course, so stay tuned for that, too!