If you need ideas for a rustic Christmas, I have you covered! From a tree branch Christmas tree, to stick candleholders and real leaves as a table centre piece.

We had our Christmas last year on the Bushveld Farm. We did not take our tree so I had to improvise because one can not have Christmas without a tree, right?! The awesome branch Christmas tree inspired a whole lot of other decor to make our Christmas a charming rustic Christmas!
First off, the branch tree. I made 3 triangles from branches and tied them together- first with rope and then with strips of red fabric from an old t-shirt.

Then the lights were added and some ornaments. The ornaments were stars made from twigs and wrapped in silver string, together with ready-made stars and baubles.
Next, candleholders were made from twigs and glass jars/bottles. The kids helped to collect the twigs, then it was broken to more or less the same length. I used a glue gun to glue it all around the glass jar. It was filled with sand and the candle was placed in the middle of the sand to keep upright.

The table- I used butcher paper as a table “cloth”. Placemats were drawn with names written. The candle holders and local plants were added as decorations too.

Final touches included some bling ornaments, Christmas crackers and chocolates for each person.

It was fun to make all the decor and it was such a different kind of Christmas- genuinely charmingly rustic! Pictures don’t do it justice!

The presents were placed below the tree. All the presents were wrapped in brown paper with simple string and THESE tags which we used to turn the gift-giving into a game.

A memorable, rustic Christmas indeed! One we will always treasure as it was our last Christmas in South Africa before we emigrated to Australia.
Leave a Reply