10 Life-Changing HOME HACKS for the HOLIDAYS!

if you're busy and kind of stressed out but  still want to have a festive and fabulous   holiday season then you're going to want to  watch this episode because i've got a ton   of holiday home hacks for you that will make your  life easier and more festive so let's get started so for our first holiday hack i kind of  discovered this one last year when i had   just finished building this beautiful fireplace  i knew i wanted to hang stockings but i did not   want to clutter the whole thing up with either  stocking hangers or put a whole bunch of holes   in my beautiful new mantel so what do you do and  as an added bonus this will work if you don't have   a fireplace mantel but have a console or a shelf  or something else that you don't want to put screw   holes in as well so this is a good little hug so  what you're going to do is you're going to find   two stocking holders that kind of curl over and  can act as a brace for a curtain rod so i did this   last year where you just slide kind of a skinny  curtain rod through these two stocking holders   on either end of the piece that you're using  whether that's a mantle or a shelf or whatnot you put them on either end slide the curtain rod  through then you can stack them up with as many   stockings as you want without making any kind of  holes this is such an amazing hack super easy to   do and it's beautiful too so don't you think  this looks good on my mantel what do you think maybe you've been cooking maybe you have like a  odd odor going on or maybe you just want to plain   boost the smell of your home to make it smell  more festive and more beautiful well you could   use a candle but my next hack is very efficient  at pushing it through your entire house and   that is because we are going to scent our  air filters with essential oils the scents   are indicative of a holiday flair this is also a  good time to kind of switch out your air filter   you should be switching them out at minimum about  four times a year every quarter but realistically   it's probably better if you can switch those out  once a month put in a fresh filter when you're   doing this and then i like to use therapeutic  grade essential oils because i know that they   are clean and pure and not full of chemicals i  use doterra a lot but i also found this essential   oil off of amazon that i'll link below that is  a little bit more affordable but go ahead and   use whatever essential oils speaks to you the  scents that speak to you and just sprinkle that   onto the air filter with a brand new fresh  one and you will see it's pretty punch and   at first but it does kind of subside after  a while and then if you want to kind of like   refresh it here and there if you've got a party  or a get-together and you want that little extra   then you're going to want to just sprinkle on some  essential oil and that will solve the problem and   really boost your holiday spirit make  you feel very festive and it's so   easy to do and then it's also a good reminder to  switch out your air filters and this something   that you could do year round switch out the  scents it's awesome but what do you think   so for my next hack you're gonna need to meet me  in the kitchen i promise it's not cooking so for   our next hack maybe you're in a super hurry but  you need a really cute dessert i'm gonna save you   with some store-bought cupcakes but they're gonna  look really homemade the first thing we need to do   is throw them in the freezer for at least  30 minutes maybe an hour get them nice and   chilled and the frosting hopefully a little bit  hard and you'll see why that's important this is   our bakery like a big cupcakes but we're busy  we're going to put these into the freezer for   30 minutes maybe an hour so we've just  pulled our cupcakes out of the freezer   and what you're gonna need next are a pair of  kitchen shears because we are going to take   one of our cupcakes and very carefully take  our kitchen shears and cut off the frosting   and set it over here on a piece of wax paper  then you're going to take a apple corer shove   it down into the cake pull it out you're going  to take some raspberry pie filling or maybe you   have some raspberry jelly i think both of those  would work good and we are going to put that   on the inside of our little hole and then we're  going to take a fresh raspberry shove that down in   there right you following me here then we're going  to take our cake push it back in then we're gonna   very carefully take our frosting set it back into  place and hopefully you haven't created too much   mess we are going to embellish the top i am going  to take a couple of raspberries put those on top   mine's still a little frozen but it's still gonna  work and then we're gonna take a little sprig of   rosemary or you could use mint or anything green  and push that right into our cupcake there you   go i mean seriously how cute are these as is  we're gonna even take it up just a notch more   by making it snow so we're gonna make it snow  with a little powdered sugar so they get that   snowed on look just a little bit at a time how  cute is that it is seriously gonna look like   you slaved over these for hours and hours and it  will be our little secret now that we have made   this beautiful cupcake we need something festive  to wash it down with and so for our next hack   we are going to be making a cranberry and  mint infused water is super easy super festive so you're going to definitely want to  do this in place because once you put   everything in there it's going to be  super heavy you don't want to move it   so just place the jar where you want it this  is like i think this holds like five gallons   so that's what we're working with i've  pre-washed it to make sure it's nice and   clean and so now we're gonna start assembling  it's super easy so i've got some ice down here we want this super cold it's gonna look nice  and frosty okay so we've got a lot of ice in   there so then we're gonna add a couple of bags  of cranberries you can even freeze these and   that will help keep the water cold as well i  didn't i just pulled these out of the fridge i'll put in part of another one just  in case but i think that did a good job okay and then you're gonna want some fresh mint  you're gonna break these off into little sections   you don't want to put the whole stem in that  wouldn't look very aesthetic toss them in and   by the way this would look really cute on those  cupcakes as well the mint it smells wonderful   it's wonderful in water you're not going to taste  the cranberry a whole lot but the mint will infuse   into the water and be really delightful and you  can see that this is kind of looking very festive   so we'll just keep putting in this mint and then  we'll just put in the water and then that's it   you can see how this really wants to float  so we're going to just take a wooden spoon   and just kind of stir that in and we can  add a little bit more of that mint and   just keep layering until you're happy and  it's beautiful you let it sit chill and serve super easy right for my next hack this is a good skill to  have because garlands are kind of expensive   and this is a way to kind of get a christmas  garland for free yes free so what we're going   to do is we are going to go foraging  in my little florida neighborhood here   for christmas greenery all right so i'm  in like way back in my community where   they haven't really even begun to build houses  yet i've spotted some stuff that i think might   work i'm a little nervous that i've worn the  wrong shoes i'm wearing flip-flops which is my   standard issue there are snakes i don't know if  there's any snakes here we're gonna be careful and we quick and we didn't get caught now if i can forage a  christmas greenery in florida i'm pretty sure that   you can find some near you but if not wait for the  christmas tree lots to open a lot of times they   will cut off like the bottom of the christmas  tree and have a lot of cutoffs sometimes they   give those away for free sometimes they charge a  little bit now that we've got all of our greenery   foraged and we've clipped it and we've got a whole  basket full of it you're gonna now meet me outside   and i'm gonna show you how to easily make a  garland it is a lot easier than you might think   so let's go do a garland so we've gone foraging  through my neighborhood found some greenery   it's a little sparse but that's okay i i don't  need to show you like a big long one you'll get   the idea and we've got the diy dolly she's gonna  assist us with this she's really gonna be running   around in the background but she just wanted she  wanted to say hi but now she wants to go play so   you're going to need an assortment of greenery  i've gotten everything by foraging at my home in   maine i have a beautiful holly and berry bush  it's beautiful but we're not in maine so the   the thing that i struggled with was berries  and i really think that the berries will look   really good in our garland so i've thought about  using these and the jury's still out i may put   these in i got these at the dollar tree they look  a berry po or i ended up buying at my grocery   store some hypericum berries i use these all the  time in florals i think they are so beautiful i   think that they could add kind of like that berry  twist they kind of remind me of cranberries so i   think that that would look really beautiful in  our garland the other thing you're going to need   is you're going to need some twine you want to  cut this twine to however long you want your   garland to so i may not cut mine off until down  the road so we'll just start with this end and   then you're also going to need some wire that's  kind of like on a roll and not just a segment one   that can go for a while because this is how we  are going to assemble our garland oh hey no no okay well that was exciting we're still  trying to socialize our puppy she's still   only four months old hasn't been around a ton of  dogs so she got a little excited when she saw one   nothing bad happened back to regular schedule  program so we're gonna have our twine and our wire   and we're gonna have it laid out and then we're  now gonna start assembling our garland and it's   a little windy here so hopefully things don't go  flying but what we're going to do is we're going   to create bundles and so that's kind of why i've  got this assembly line because we're going to take   little pieces and we're going to create some  bundles let's do the berries last so i took   some of the long kind of pine needles with some  of the cedar we can put in some of this kind of   softer pine i'm not native to florida so i don't  know all of the technical names for a lot of these   greeneries and then of course magnolia leaves i  think look beautiful in christmas arrangements   so we've got a few different types of greenery  these are just like some seed pods from my front   tree out front i liked it because it was a  little bit darker and added a different texture   and then we can take some of our hypericum  berry and i'll put that kind of on top   and then we don't need any of this excess on the  bottom so we'll just kind of rip those off so then   once we feel like we've got a bundle like we like  we're going to start by wrapping this wire around   one two three times or so and then we are going  to take the end of our twine and we are going to   attach that see and you can do actually thicker  twine than this this is just what i had on hand   and then we are going to wrap it  snugly around that rope one two   three so we've got bundle number one we've  got some of these that are a little bit long   or kind of in the way we can just clip those  off and then we'll just keep creating bundles so we've got another bundle and we haven't wrapped  it with twine yet because we can just kind of   place this along our rope leave the  rope where it is we're not going to   do anything with the rope it just is  there to kind of hold it all together   so then we're going to wrap this around three  times pretty snugly and if you want to do it   four times for a good measure and then we just  keep repeating this process and this is how   we are going to create our garland  is just creating several bundles   we're going to line it up with our twine kind of  angle it the direction that we want one two three   you want it to be kind of what determines where  everything's placed here's what we've got so far   very pretty i really do think it would look better  with more traditional christmas tree type green so   just keep that in mind you can keep this process  going for as long as you want and make it super   long i'm going to show you how to finish this off  you could just put a beautiful bow on the end and   maybe like hang it downward at garland like that  or what we're going to do is we're going to build   one last bundle if i don't like knock everything  off here we've got our one last bundle here   and we're gonna attach it to the end in the  opposite direction and there will be a hole   so just be aware of that and we will fill in  that hole so we're just gonna wrap that on one   two three very snugly maybe even a fourth and  we're not going to snap the wire yet because   as you can see we've got this kind of weird  thing going on here and the way we're going to   fix that is just wiring in individual pieces  until we are happy with the look so we'll   put in some more of this greenery kind of in  different directions wrapping it around we   don't want to get too crazy and make it like weird  thick but we do want to fill in that hole so just   keep working on it until it feels nice and  honestly if you needed to break out your hot glue   gun wouldn't be the end of the world but i think  we can get the job done with just wiring things   and then when you are happy with it cut off a  little extra we're now detached from our wire and   then just kind of wind that through and there you  go and then of course make sure you cut off your   twine there you go and our garland's not very  long but it will look great on my dining room table so here is our beautiful mostly foraged  garland that we made ourselves super easy for our next hack if you're in need of like  a really cute centerpiece but you don't have   a lot of time or maybe you don't have a lot of  floral arranging experience but you still want   something that's cute and festive this next hack  is for you and it's very similar to kind of what   we just did with the infused water so what we're  going to do is we're going to take some more of   those cranberries and some christmas greens or  if you don't have access to christmas greens you   could use some rosemary you are going to take a  little vase or a large one depending on like how   big you want to do it you could really make a good  sized one you're going to fill it up with water   put in some more of those cranberries  and christmas greenery whatever that   looks like for you there's a  lot of flexibility in this hack   and then you're going to  stick in some floating candles then light them and it gives such a beautiful ambiance and  a beautiful centerpiece for your holiday   party or display it's a really nice vibe it's  such an easy thing so beautiful so easy and   pretty much no skill required what do you think hack number seven is having an emergency gift  stash you know we've all been there you get a   knock on the door close to christmas time  that was a really good knock and then you   open the door and somebody has a gift for you  and you're like oh crap i forgot this person ah   well that's not going to happen to us this year  because we are going to get a few things you're   going to have a few homemade gems or jellies  you're going to have some handmade soaps   a really cute candle something very thoughtful and  feels like you really spent a lot of time thinking   about it even though you may have forgotten i've  got a gift video right here that you should check   out that's jam-packed full of ideas like 50 of  them so if you're in need of some ideas you're   going to want to watch that episode if you simply  don't have time because i know we're all busy and   that's what this episode is about is how to make  it fabulous and stress-free if you can stop by   like a farmer's market or something  like that we can shop a little local   it's really personal and meaningful and just have  some ready to go in gift bags ready to grab now if   you're watching this video and you know me if you  get some of those things that doesn't mean i've   necessarily forgotten you i might be giving that  to everybody but i love you anyways let's not get   caught off guard let's have an emergency  gift stash what do you think of that hack   this next hack is so much fun because it's so easy  and it creates instant decor like in the matter of   a snap so all you need is a pillar candle  like a real one and all you're going to do   is you are going to take a holiday napkin so  we have a napkin here that i got off of amazon   because there's not a whole lot of christmas  in general in any of the stores right now we   just want to see where we need to cut the napkin  down and then we are going to cut it down to size   then we're going to just separate  the napkin so it's just the top   layer of napkin and then we're  going to wrap it around the candle and then we're going to take a hot  blow dryer which will melt the wax   and infuse the napkin into the candle wax the seam area is a little tricky because the blow  dryer wants to blow it all around so you may want   to take some rubber bands to hold it into place  and use some clear scotch tape while you do this   but eventually we will get the job done now  just think of all the different ways you can   use this idea you can do it for every season you  can even throw this in your emergency gift stash   what do you think of this fun hack fun right and then i've got two more hacks for you both  of them are napkin themed as well if you want   like a festive way to fold a napkin for your  holiday dinner maybe your christmas dinner   or whatnot i'm gonna now show you  how to fold a christmas tree napkin and there you have a very cute   christmas tree napkin whatever color you want  mine was green but you you know you could do   red or whatever color works for your decor and  you can even put like a little poinsettia on   top or a christmas star to really finish it  off just as a little embellishment super cute   and our last napkin hack we are going to be  making a poinsettia napkin ring out of a shower   curtain ring from dollar tree these are going  to be super cheap super easy to put together   so in this case all you're going to do is take one  of those crystal clear shower rings that you can   get from dollar tree and you're going to glue  the poinsettia of your choice to the top of it   and that's it you can call it a  day here or you could upgrade it   just a little bit by first wrapping around  some greenery garland that you can also pick up   at the dollar tree it's like the little  green twist ties i'm just gonna wrap it   all the way around and then attach your  poinsettia to the top with some hot glue and then you can even add some  little embellishments with some   glittery berries or other berries and this hack is really great because  you could use it any time of year   and then these end up being you  know anywhere from 35 cents to 50   cents a napkin ring and it really adds a  really pretty touch to your holiday table i hope you enjoyed that holiday hack if you  enjoyed this episode here's another one that i   think you'll like as well and if you haven't done  so already consider hitting that subscribe button   right here it's super easy to do and i would  love it if you joined the diy niner family   and to all of my diy niners i  just want to remind you that you   are more powerful than you know  we'll see you next time bye

Channel: Designed to the Nines

Views: 245,420

Keywords: 5 minute crafts, christmas hacks, christmas hacks 5 minute crafts, cleaning hacks, cleaning tiktok, cleaning tips, decor, design to the nines, designed to the nines, diy, diy decor, diy hacks, diy hacks for home, diy home hacks, garden answer, hacks, high end decor, holiday, holiday hacks, home decor, home hacks, how to, kristen mcgowan, life hack, life hacks, life hacks for home, liz fenwick diy, lone fox, natalee callahan, tiktok hacks, xo macenna

Id: 1qLFR_ysJGk

Length: 23min 25sec (1405 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 04 2021