DIY Black Vine Witch Hat

The first halloween decoration I saw this year was a black witch hat made out of vines and I knew I wanted to have one. The only problem is I wanted multiple and they were fairly pricey- they were from Anthropologie after all. So I set on a mission to DIY one myself. This is the simplest way I figured out how to do it.

For these DIYs you will need: (These are affiliate links.)

- Christmas tree form

- Wire wreath

- Hot glue

- Grapevine garland (or foraged vines)

- Zip ties

- Jute Rope

- Black Spray Paint

- Fairy Lights

- Fishing Line

The Christmas trees I bought in person at Old Time Pottery as they always have Christmas things out. One of them had lights already installed in it so it was $9.99. It would be more price effective to find the Christmas trees without the lights (like these ones) and then add the lights on at the end. The red one didn't have lights and was only $6.99. 

Anyway, the first this I'm doing is zip tying the bottom of the Christmas tree to the wire wreath. I'm using black ones specifically so they blend in when we paint later.

I ended up putting 4 on each,  sort of equally distanced. Make sure that the zip tie is attached the wire fram of the Christmas tree and not just the rope and garland wrapped around it.

For the taller Christmas tree I put together two different sized wire wreaths.

I gave them the same zip tie treatment. Four equally spaced and we are good to go!

Since this one has lights on it, I made sure the plug was going through the middle and not above the wire wreath.

Now it is starting to look like something resembling a witch hat. 

On another note, sometimes you can find witch hat frames already made in this shape (but obviously halloween colors) but I think it just really depends on the styles that are out that year. This year I looked at every Box store, dollar store, discount store and more in two different cities and could not find a single one.

Then I decided the white balls wrapped around the Christmas tree could be easily removed, so I took that off and saved it for another project. 

I'm doing two versions of the witch hat. For the red one I am adding jute rope at the bottom as it will match the top pretty well. I tied the end of the rope to the bottom of the Christmas tree and started wrapping it around. It took a good amount of layers for it to finally start reaching out toward the next hoop of wire.

I'm using hot glue to attach the rope to the wire and to itself. In between the wires I attached the rope to itself until a row was close enough to the wire to glue it there.

For the other one I am using dried grapevines that I unrolled from a wreath. I'm wrapping it around the bottom just like the previous one except the grapevines cannot be held by hot glue. I used only zip ties to attach the grapevine. I used about 4 ft. lengths that I cut off the wreath and attached one end to the bottom wire with a zip tie. Then I slowly wrapped the grapevine around and about half way around added another zip tie. It's a little particular to get it started, but once you do, the other pieces attach much easier.

I think I ended up using 4 4ft.(ish) lengths to make it look as full as I wanted. Of course, I could've added more grapevine to the top, but in the end I didn't really think it was necessary. But if you want it to be more concentrated, just wrap your hat as much as you'd like.

Another option is to buy a grapevine wreath in the correct size for your tree and zip tie them together. It would make this so easy! The only difference would be that the wreath is a little more dense and neat whereas this one looks more oganic and natural. Just depends on the look you are going for in your decoration.

Now of course the red witch hat could not stay like this, it needed to be painted. You could keep the natural grapevine color of the other one if you like that look.

But when I started making these I knew I wanted them to be black, so I spray painted them. Side note: spray painting something with glitter on it was very interesting. I guess I've never done such a thing before? Because I was surprised to see that the red glitter really resisted the black paint when I first sprayed it. But I let it dry and then put a second coat on. That coat finally covered the glitter. 

And one more tip: you'll want to spray the inside of the hat too as the color on the inside can be seen from the outside too. Especially if your Christmas tree is bright red like mine. 

I wrapped these fairy lights around the hats for some added magical-ness. They are battery operated so the battery pack can be hot glued to the inside of the hats. And because my plan was always to hang these on my porch, I tied a fishing line loop around and through the top of the hat.

If you want to see the rest of our Halloween porch this year and all the DIYs we did for it, please check out this blog post!

Happy Halloween!

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DIY Small Batch Natural Lip Balm

**This post contains affiliate links.

We've made natural lip balms over the years and one thing I've learned is that most recipes on the internet make a huge batch. Seriously, the last one I looked at made 18! Unless you are making lip balms for Christmas gifts (good idea!), you  probably don't want that many. This recipe will make 3 tubes of lip balm, which is likely all you need for a while. But by all means you can double or triple the recipe if you want to make a larger batch. 

What I particularly love about making my own lip balm is knowing exactly what is in a product that is going directly on my mouth. Most lip balms you buy are petroleum based and that's pretty nasty stuff to be on your mouth. Also, it is rumored that petroleum based lip products dry out your lips more than they actually help. My anecdotal and somewhat scentific evidence is: When I was 16 I had to have my jaws wired shut for 6 weeks, and as a result my lips dried out terribly. My doctor told me to find a lip balm that did not have petroleum in it because it would make my dried and cracked lips even worse. So do with that with you will :) Now onto making your own lip balm...

Ingredients & Supplies: 

- 1/4 Tbsp. Beeswax pellets ** if you want a firmer lip balm you can add a few more pellets 

- 3/4 Tbsp. Shea Butter

- 1/4 Tbsp. Coconut Oil

- 2 Drops Vitamin E Oil

- 4 Drops Essential Oil(s)

- Lip Balm Tubes

- Pipette

Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil on the stove. 

Measure out all your ingredients except the essential oil and put them all in a glass heat safe bowl. 

The amount of ingredients used for such a small batch seem insignificant, but I promise it's enough to fill 3 lip balm tubes with a little to spare.

Place your glass bowl on your pot and you now have a double boiler! Let all the ingredients melt then turn off the heat and add your essential oil drops. Stir to combine.

Use a pipette to squeeze the liquid from your bowl...

and then release into your lip balm tubes. The liquid should go right to the top of the tube.

The lip balm will start to harden up pretty quickly. If you're really impatient you can put them in the freezer. And voila! You've made your very own lip balm. 

If you like making your own self-care products you should check out our blog posts where we make calendula salve and a hand scrub that leaves your hands feeling so soft (and also makes a great gift). 

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DIY Nourishing Calendula Salve

**This post contains affiliate links.

Calendula salve is a great herbal remedy to always keep on hand and it would make a great gift for anybody! It's not overly complicated to make and has lots of benefits. It has anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. Which make it great for applying it on minor cuts, scrapes, and burns but it's great for many other things too like chapped lips. 

Speaking of chapped lips... if you are looking for a way to make your own lip balm, look no further. 

Ingredients & Supplies:

- 2 Tbsp. Calendula Oil**

- 1/4 Tbsp. Shea Butter

- 1/2 Tbsp. Beeswax pellets

- 1-2 drops Essential oil(s) (optional)

- 1 oz. Tins

- Pipette

**If you want to make your own calendula oil, you will need to make it at least 3 weeks before you wish to make your salve. You can buy some already made if you don't have the time to wait. Our preference is to make it ourselves so we know exactly what is in it.  Making the calendula oil  is very simple, but you do have to think ahead a little. All you do is steep dried calendula flowers in a carrier oil. You can use sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, or argan oil. We used sweet almond oil in one and argan in the other. We made a very large batch in a 32 oz. mason jar for a class we were teaching, but you can do something smaller like the 8 oz. jar we did on the right.

Add dried calendula flowers so that your jar is 3/4 full of flowers and then pour over your oil. You can use whatever size jar you want. The key is to fill it 3/4 full and then add your oil of choice. No heat is necessary and it's great for this oil to get some sun as it will help the calendula infuse into the oil better. Let this flowers soak for 3 weeks to a couple of months. If you are really thinking ahead, you can grow and dry your own calendula. 

After you have let it sit for the appropriate time, then you will run the oil & flowers through a cheesecloth to strain out the flowers and be left with only oil. No big deal if a few calendula bits are left. Now your calendula oil is ready to use! 

Melt the beeswax, shea butter, and calendula oil over a double boiler. You don't need a special double boiler, we just used a glass bowl over a pot. Add water to a deep enough pot that a glass bowl on top won't touch the bottom and then put the glass bowl on top. Bam- double boiler. Let the water get up to a boil and the mixture will start to melt. The beeswax will take the longest to melt, but stir as it melts to keep everything incorporated.

Once the mixture is melted, turn off the heat. At this point you can add whatever essential oil you would like to use and then mix it in.

Pour the mixture into whatever container you would like to use. We love these metal tins but you can also use these glass jars. We also used a pipette which made "pouring" less messy and more accurate. If you are making multiples, you could pour the hot mixture into a measuring cup with a spout and then pour from there. 

We made these stickers to put on our salve tins. This is great if you want to give this as a gift. You can get these printed at a print shop or office supply store and it's a nice little touch. If in the end you feel like you'd like your salve to be a little softer, reduce the amount of beeswax and if you want it to be a little more solid, add a little more beeswax. 

Store your salve in a cool, dark place. If stored properly the shelf life of the exact recipe in this post is up to 6 months. Your salve will smell like an old box of crayons if it has gone rancid. 

If you like making your own self care products, check out our blog post on making your own lip balm and making your own hand scrub. 

Thanks for stopping in :) Happy DIYing! 

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