Authors John Gillespie & Christina Symons join us today with a festive winter project from their book, Everyday Eden: 100+ Fun, Green Garden Projects for the Whole Family to Enjoy (Harbour Publishing).
Swish Swag
Who doesn’t have a pair of old skates lying around the basement gathering dust? You can transform them into this charming vintage skate swag in just a few simple steps.
Put those babies back into use as charming holiday décor for your door. Embellish your skates with holly and other holiday greens from the garden, some fancy ribbon and a candy cane or two. You may also want to use bells, seed pods, holiday ornaments, mini gourds or small tree fruits.
Materials
- Pair of skates (vintage secondhand skates are also readily available at thrift stores)
- Heavy-duty or double-ply garden twine
- Assortment of greens from the garden
- Two jars that fit inside the skates
- Ribbon, pinecones and other decorations like bells, seed pods,
- holiday ornaments, mini gourds or
- small tree fruits
Clean the skates and replace the laces with heavy-duty or double-ply garden twine.
Find two small jars that will fit inside the skates. They will keep your greens in place and also hold water (optional) to keep them fresh.
Select an assortment of greens from the garden (holly, cedar, salal, etc.) and tie into two neat bundles. Place the bundles in the jars and trim the ends until you have a pleasing display.
Decorate your skate swag with more ribbon, pinecones, and ornaments and then hang it in place on your front door or potting shed.
Be sure to grab a copy of Everyday Eden: 100+ Fun, Green Garden Projects for the Whole Family to Enjoy. The book is filled with projects using inexpensive, often recycled, materials and easy techniques. This lively collection of garden projects and practices will delight beginner and experienced green thumbs alike.
Great idea and am going back to our local thrift shop to pick a a cute pair of child’ skates and make this today!!!!!! Instead of real holly I am going to substitute artificial (as I can only get the live holly from the florist and it is very pricy).
I am another proud Canadian that CAN NOT skate even thou I lived many years in Parry Sound, Ontario home to Bobby Orr one of N.H.L.s’ greatest hockey players!
Thank you for this great post Stephanie
Yvonne
HEllo from Milwaukee Wisconsin, neighor of Canada. I am going to search my basement for a pair of skates maybe abandoned by one of my 5 sons (now in their 60’s) who played on hockey teams for many years. I was a loyal follower and audience throughout. This display will be a happy reminder of days past.