holiday spirit

In the midst of holiday decorating, I thought I’d share with you a bit of inspiration…

This tree over at Thrifty and Chic is so simple and elegant. I love all white décor and am always envious of those that can pull it off. Unfortunately, with a little dog that just loves to get dirty, any white décor I have tends not to stay white for long!

Trish over at Uncommon Designs created this adorable mantle piece using stained pallet wood, paper mache letters from JoAnn’s, and umbrella lights from World Market. And the burlap banner and stockings – oh my! You can find the full post here.

With $15 and hundreds of old ornaments on hand, Virginia over at Live Love DIY put together this fantastically frugal tree. Head on over to her post for a full tutorial!

Speaking of ornaments, this fabric covered ball was created by Whitney at Shanty to Chic. All you need as an ugly Christmas tree ornament, fabric of your choosing, a glue gun, twine, and ribbon. Viola – a brand new ornament!

And lastly, this no sew ruffled tree skirt is right up my alley! Get the full tutorial over at The Happier Homemaker.

Happy decorating!

ps…to really get yourself in the holiday decorating spirit, you can watch this video of Bo inspecting the White House holiday décor! (found over at Jess in Belgium).

‘Tis the season. I am slowly packing up my Fall décor and transitioning over to Christmas – I’ve given myself until Dec. 1 to get in gear! And while I have yet to unpack the boxes brimming with Christmas spirit, I have found a moment to get my holiday craft on.

Before diving into my DIY, however, I must divulge to you a most amazing deal! I mentioned in a previous post that Trader Joes was selling boxwood wreaths, but at the time I wasn’t quite sure of cost or size. Well, I happened to swing by Trader Joes yesterday and to my disbelief, these adorable and perfectly sized wreaths were only $9.99! Needless to say, I left with an armful (and a dazzling smile). At such a fabulous price, I highly recommend grabbing a few for yourself before they are all out!

I then headed to Michael’s and left with an armful of supplies…

My first task was to hang up my newly purchased boxwood wreaths. Two of them were perfect as is for my dining room French doors – I simply wrapped a ribbon around each and pinned them to the door. For my third boxwood, I wanted to add a little zest, so I wove in a few berries, added a couple of doves, a few pinecones, and again, hung with ribbon:

Now full of holiday spirit, I moved on to my next project:

I picked up this guy while at Michael’s, as well as this:

So with the Krylon in hand, I lightly sprayed the wreath to give it that frosted look, allowed the paint to dry, and then sprayed the snow in areas where snow would typically gather…

I then wove in a few red berries and added a couple of cardinals for that pop of color (unfortunately, the Charlottesville Michael’s was out of a lot of supplies so I only managed to snag two of them, but as soon as a new shipment comes in, I’ll be adding more!).

Here is what it looks like in the meantime, simple and sweet:

Finally, since I didn’t quite complete the above wreath and my hands were itching for another project, I decided to fashion another, smaller, sheet music wreath for my living room mantle:

(yeah, that’s an a/c vent you see there, right in the center of my living room wall! Not sure why the renovator decided to place it there…but it is the bane of my existence. I try to hide it as much as possible!)

You can find the tutorial here.

After this little bit of crafting, I’m now feel like I’m on a roll. Next: the mantles. Time to break out my big box of Christmas!