Holiday Ideas

Those of you who have been following my art for a while know that I used to publish a zine or two. My two regular zines were Mysterium and La Luna, and there were some on-offs as well. I still have a few zines left storage and may be listing some on Etsy if there is interest. Also I have decided to make some content available on-line.

Mysterium issue 2 had a list of 100 holiday ideas. I am going to start sharing these on my blog here. I figure I will do 10 per blog entry - but I may miss some days blogging over Thanksgiving so please be patient! :)

So, here we go, 100 Holiday Ideas, by Megan Noel, 2002, with some edits made 2011.


1) To celebrate Autumn, have some fun with leaves. Press leaves overnight in a book, just to flatten them. Then lay them out on black paper and sponge paint around them. I prefer Lumiere, especially the Halo colors. You can get an interesting effect. Try any acrylic paint, metallic if you prefer.

2) Try tracing around leaves and then drawing inside the shapes with ink, crayon, etc. Or do the same on watercolor paper and do layering and glazing so it looks like some leaves are lying on top of others. For kids I would trace large leaves with sharpie and let them color the rest with crayons.

3) Make acorn beads. It works best to pick slightly green acorns and punch holes in them with an awl. They will naturally dry to the usual brown color. You can try this with brown acorns but they are more likely to crack. Also you might need to glue the caps on with white glue or wood glue, because they are prone to falling off. You can leave the acorns natural or spray with metallic spray paint.

4) Pretend you are back in grade school and iron leaves between layers of waxed paper. We used to make place mats.

5) Don't forget to collect cool autumn stuff to use in your art, twigs, acorns, seeds, maple whorls, etc. You can dry them and store them in plastic containers or zip-lock bags. If you leave near the beach this might be a good time to stock up on shells, bits of driftwood, etc., unless you like cold walks on the beach in winter.

6) Hmm, I have not tried this yet but I wonder if it would work to emboss velvet with leaves? Mist the velvet with a spray bottle, arrange the leaves on top of your ironing board, lay the velvet over the leaves with the good side up, cover with a pressing cloth, and press briefly on the appropriate iron setting for your fabric content. Or try the same using leaf rubber stamps.

7) Send out Halloween cards, or Day of the Dead cards, or Thanksgiving cards. Everyone likes getting unexpected mail. Postcards are good too if you want to save on postage.

8) If you are expecting small holiday guests and want to keep them amused draw an interesting picture on 11 x 17" paper. If you can't draw, use clipart or art from coloring books. Take this to your copy store and have it photocopied onto 11 x 17" card stock, Now use these for your holiday place mats. Add small boxes of crayons and you are set. Adults might like this too, anyway, I know I would.

9) On the note of coloring, make your own coloring book to give to your artistically inclined friends. Again use your own line art or clip art, print it or have it photocopied onto nice paper. Your local copy store can bind it inexpensively, or you can bind it yourself if you are into bookbinding. I recommend a stab binding or pamphlet stitch. Add a few beads to spruce it up. Wrap it up with a box or crayons or markers.


10) If you are an artist, writer, or other creator-on-paper, make a holiday zine or booklet to give to your friends. Use art, poetry, stories, etc. Have it printed and bound at your local copy store or do it yourself. This won't cost much and is an inexpensive way to share your artistic vision with family and friends.

stay tuned for 90 more ideas in blog entries to come!