Bring the chilly, beautiful outdoors in with these elegant faux frosted branches. When choosing branches to work with, look for pieces with short sticks coming off the main one, this will make it easier to display them indoors.

Things you’ll need:
Freezer paper or newsprint
Epsom Salt
Mod Podge
Foam brush
Branches

Things to do:
1. Lay the freezer paper out onto your work surface. Scoop out a pile of Epsom Salt into the center of the paper.

2. Working in small sections and from the top, paint the branches with a generous amount of Mod Podge and then press the area gently into the salt, sprinkling extra over the top so that it sticks to all sides.

3. Continue to apply Mod Podge and salt until the branch is covered down to the area where the branch will go into the vase. Allow the branch to dry upright before moving.

Every year, my kids look forward to our advent calendars. Yes. Calendars! December is their favorite month of the year because every day they get to open or fill in or peek at a new gaggle of surprises. This year we’re resurrecting a Calendar from my childhood, a mini advent tree. My brother and I loved having a tree that was just ours and opening a new ornament each day, knowing that as the tree filled up, Christmas was getting closer and closer, and your kids will love it too! If you have small children who don’t love to share, consider making a box per day per child to open to make life easier.

Things you’ll need:
Painted boxes
Paper boxes
Mini ornaments
Mini Christmas Tree
Star topper
Wrapped Christmas lights
Mini Felt Tree Skirt

Things to do:
1. Put the tree skirt around the tree and wrap the lights around the tree.

2. Fill the boxes with the ornaments, one box/ornament for each day leading up to Christmas Eve. Place the star in a box to be placed on top on Christmas Eve.

3. Each morning, have your kids open a box and add the ornament to the tree, then remove the empty box so that they can see the boxes diminish and the tree becomes more and more decorated, finishing with the star on Christmas Eve.