7 Great DIY Centerpiece Ideas for Holiday-Season Countertops
November 24, 2022

7 Great DIY Centerpiece Ideas for Holiday-Season Countertops

One of the best things about the holiday season is the opportunity to decorate. If you are anything like we are, you've been looking forward to bringing forth the holidays-only fancy table cloth, napkins, and decorative items. Often, each family member has their own favorite holiday décor that they are eager to see again and find a special joy in setting up for themselves. Hanging ornaments on the tree, laying out the Nativity scene, or cutting the cookies shaped like bells and candy canes; each of these traditions represent an important and uplifting part of holiday preparations.

In the kitchen, the most central of family spaces, one of the best ways to use this space is to set up lovely countertop centerpieces for the island and key locations along the primary kitchen countertop. Centerpieces can help to discourage holiday clutter from building up on counters while also serving to brighten spirits each time someone moves through the kitchen space.

You don't even have to spring for matching centerpiece sets. There are so many beautiful, festive, and fun centerpieces that you can DIY to make your holiday kitchen look phenomenal this year. Here are some of our favorite DIY centerpiece ideas for holiday-season countertops.

 

1) Glowing Candles and Lanterns

Among the easiest and most beautiful DIY centerpieces for the holiday season is the simple addition of candles and lanterns. Candles in large glass containers can flicker elegantly from your countertops, providing faint light, pleasant holiday scents, and a beautiful ambiance for your kitchen. Lanterns of frosted glass glow the best when used as a centerpiece alone or together with other lanterns or candles. Mix size, color, and intensity across two or three centerpieces in the kitchen for a dynamic sense of beauty and to provide more illumination.  

 

2) Miniature Presents

If you're feeling the gift-giving season and want to share that joy, wrap miniature presents. Take small cardboard boxes or light plastic cubes and wrap them. Use metallic or otherwise elegant holiday wrapping paper and ribbons, then wrap each box using neat folds the same way you would a present about to be opened by beloved friend or family member.

Tie each little wrapped present with a cross loop of ribbon and a tiny ribbon burst on top. When the mini-presents are complete, arrange them in elegant or delightfully chaotic little piles as part of your DIY holiday centerpiece design.

 

3) Filled Glass Jars 

A nice clear glass jar is always a potential starter for a centerpiece. During the holiday season, shiny stones like marbles, pebbles, or the household collection of pretty rocks can be the perfect addition to your glass jars to create some stunning centerpieces.

Any clear glass item that will hold the shiny baubles can become the core of a centerpiece, with smaller vessels of marbles and pebbles surrounding it. You can also fill the jars with seasonal treats like round peppermint balls to bring the holiday feel to your centerpieces, or an assortment of colorful glass ornaments.

 

4) Seasonal Wreath Centerpiece

There is always a place for a wreath inside your home, even if you already have one on the door. A wreath, especially a fluffy artificial wreath that doesn't shed pine needles, is a great foundation not just for wall décor, but also for your DIY centerpiece design. Laid on their side, wreaths are just as beautiful as on your door. You can wrap the wreath in ribbons, glue in ornaments, or spice it up with dried berry branches.

Use the ring of your wreath to define and give a border to the centerpiece design, while the hole in the center is the perfect place to build up a taller display of glass-encased marbles or candles. 

 

5) Rolled Pinecones

One of the simplest and most charming ways to create a holiday centerpiece is to roll and paint pinecones. This is an especially fun choice if you are working with a small child who enjoys arts and crafts.

Pinecones can be lightly frosted with paint, then rolled in glitter. In fact, the number of things you can paint and glue on a pinecone seem to be never-ending. Gather a few pinecones from outside and start experimenting with ways to make them into a festive and delightful DIY centerpiece. 

 

6) Overflowing Fruit Bowl

If you're looking for elegance in simplicity, however, you can't go wrong with the overflowing fruit bowl. Arrange fruit in your favorite wooden or holiday-themed fruit bowl. Prepare fruit snacks to serve near the fruit bowl and encourage every guest and relative to dive in. Fresh fruit is good for you, but it's also highly photogenic. There's a reason why the classic still life is a bowl of fruit.

An overflowing fruit bowl says that you have enough for everyone to enjoy as much as they desire. So encourage friends and family to take fresh fruit as they pass. This will keep your supply fresh and your family just a little healthier eating fruit instead of cookies during the holiday season.

 

7) Coffee or Tea Service Tray

For the kitchen, you can combine decorative and versatile designs. A tea service, for example, is a great addition to the mix. Choose your most photogenic tray, cups, and kettle or teapot. Include a few small bowls or miniature trays for tea bags and packets of hot cocoa. Lay out two or more mugs as part of the service alongside little spoons for stirring.

When arranged decoratively, your coffee and tea service is a centerpiece. It also transforms any counter it sits upon into a station to mix the season's favorite hot drinks. You can do the same with snack trays and arrangements of baked treats just as easily with just a few beautiful trays to decorate with.

 

Holiday centerpieces are one of our favorite things about the season, and DIY is always the most enjoyable way to decorate. To make the most out of your holidays, think about adding a farmhouse sink into your kitchen.  Find more wonderful ideas with Fossil Blu.