Rustic Clay Winter Garland DIY

Warm your house up this winter and add a little rustic charm with a DIY garland for your fireplace mantel, bookcase or stairway.

Just choose a cookie cutter and grab the air dry clay to whip up this adorable decor.


Every house has something special. It's that one feature that really tugs at your heartstrings as soon as you walk through the door.

In our first home, it was all the sunlight. A southern exposure and huge windows lit up every inch of that 900 square foot cottage. Dreamy.

In this house, a mere hundred or so feet from that darling cottage, it was the fireplace.

Floor to ceiling stones that were met with strong wooden beams on the ceiling.

And a rustic wooden mantel that was just begging to be decorated.

Of course, there were many other features in this 1920's charmer that pulled me in...but that fireplace was the clincher. 

It reminded me of the lovely inns and historic hotels we've always adored. 

So I never take it for granted and decorate it whenever a new season rolls around. The winter months are always the most fun, since we actually use the fireplace. 

Delightful. 

At the moment, that mantel is covered in a moose banner, in an ode to the cold.

I made it using air dry clay and the metal cookie cutter my cousin sent me from Vermont. What could be more rustic than that?

Banners have always been one of my favorite holiday crafts, because you can get really creative with them.

In recent years I've used:

• Puzzle Pieces 
• Crochet Pot Holders 
• Fabric Cutouts 
  
• Notecards...and more.

See what I mean. 😉

For this one, I used the same process I used to make my patterned clay ghost banner and my gingerbread men ornaments. Super simple.

I started by cutting a chunk of clay with a plastic knife.

Then I rolled it out between two sheets of parchment paper.


Next, I pushed the cookie cutter into the clay.

And then gently pulled the moose shapes away from the clay and smoothed the edges with my fingers. I also used a straw to poke holes in the clay, so I could lace them up. 

Banner style.


I needed about 7 moose cutouts to cover the span of the fireplace.

Once I had them all cut out, I placed them on a flat surface to dry.


Air dry clay takes at least 24 hours to dry.

About halfway through, I turned them over to give the backside a little more exposure to the air.


It's easy to see when they are fully dry, as the gray clay turns a chalky white color.

The clay also gets very hard and doesn't bend. At that point, I was ready for a little bit of embellishment. I covered each moose with two coats of a light brown stain.

In the past, I've used both acrylic paint and chalk paint. They all work equally well.


Once the paint was fully dry, I was able to string them up with twine and drape them across my fireplace mantel.


For a little extra texture, I added a thin ribbon and small pieces of a red checked remnant I had in my stash.


And when I was done, I had the cutest moose banner in my living room.


A tiny rustic touch for the winter months in my little beach cottage.

And that fireplace I love so much.

😌

What's your favorite feature in your home?

Happy Crafting, Friends!