Deck the Halls... last minute and budget solutions

It's never seems as there is quite enough money or time to do everything we want at this time of the year. That's OK. Just make the best of it. Here's a few easy solutions for decorating for the holidays that come to mind.




Mittens - Mittens have to be the cutest things. I love little mittens, especially the handknit variety. Frame them for some festive decorating or hang them up like a banner for a cozy look. If you're really ambitious, fill them with treats.

photo by bhg.com

Pictures - Wall art and picture frames can be easily and quickly decorated for a fun holiday touch. Place family holiday photos from past years in your picture frames,

photos by bhg.com

Ribbon - Ribbon is always festive looking. Use it as a garland, around the tree, tie it around any of the usual decorative accents in your home to give them a festive look.



Epsom Salts - Is this not the coolest thing? I found this Epsom Salts candle idea at the Inspired Room.

Candles - Candles are cozy and while wonderful all year long, they are especially festive at the holidays. Buy some holiday scented candles to make the house smell great and you get double duty for your money. If you buy white or ivory candles, you can use them for other occasions throughout the year making them much more economical. Tie a group of them together with twine and place a spring of greenery behind the knot for a pretty look.



Greenery - If you have access to spruce, pine and cedar trees, snip off some branches here and there and use them for holiday greenery. Yes, the needles will eventually fall but you have a vacuum right? And it's free!



Jingle Bells - This year I invested in a few packages of jingle bells in classic silver. Jingle bells never go out of style and by just adding them to the tablescapes you already have, add a festive touch.

Snowflakes - Love snowflakes as they are more of a winter decoration than specifically for Christmas. You have to like something that you can keep up for a little longer. Snowflake decorations are a classic touch and worth the investment.

bhg.com

Lights - I love white lights. You can never have too many lights and the new led lights are so energy efficient to run.

Sticks - The humble stick or branch is a great economical embellishment. Put them in a planter with greenery. Sprinkle them with glitter and arrange in a vase. Cut branches to straight even lengths and wrap around a candle. Anchor a branch in a pot and hang some sweet decorations from it.

Paper...banners, chains, tags are all great and inexpensive ways to decorate for Christmas. There is no limit as to what you can create from a little paper. And to tie in with the snowflakes theme, why not cut some out of paper? I've always loved how each one is different.



Baking Supplies - I love baking for the holiday and a sweet little arrangement of cookie cutters and other baking tools is a fun accent using things you already have. Baking tins are also great for trays to arrange things on.

So that's a few of my thoughts on decorating for the holidays. Just remember, you don't need to decorate every room. You don't need to keep up with the Jones'. Take time to enjoy the season and most of all, your loved ones.

This post links up with the Holiday Linky Party at the Inspired Room.



Happy Decorating!

Julia

White Christmas Crafting...a canvas tree & a mitten frame

Friday was a super fun day for me. I somehow managed to squeeze in a bunch of simple holiday crafts. While I was out Friday morning picking up the styrofoam wreath for my Tassel Fringe Wreath, they had darling little styrofoam tree shapes as well. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it but thought glitter perhaps. Well, as you can see in this photo, I kind of went the other way and just covered it with long strips of canvas. A simple shabby look. I had some canvas left over from my canvas pillow project and thought a monochromatic look would be pretty. To cover the tree, I just wrapped the styrofoam with 1" torn strips of canvas and pinned on as I went. The fun thing is that if I want a different look next year, I can just un-pin it.


And here it is at night. I love that little lamp I picked up at Wal-mart in the fall for my back hall table. It's so much cozier and more welcoming than the bright overhead light. To complete my winter whites arrangement, I added in a candle, a sequin star, an old clock face I purchased on ebay, a little verse quote display that I have on the table all year and tied them together by grouping onto a white plate from my kitchen. I'm pleased with the simple look and of course the price was just right.


I had thought I was finished crafting for the day and went to work sorting mittens, hats and scarves and just getting organized for the colder weather. I guess it doesn't take too much to sidetrack me though as I came across this sweet little hand-knit mitten in almost new condition. Unfortunately, one of my little kittens had lost their other mitten. As I couldn't match it up, I started thinking. Last year I would have sighed and thrown it out. But not THIS year. Now I'm thinking creatively with more than just paper.


A Goodwill frame I picked up made a great holiday accent when spray painted white. I don't recommend you spray paint in the basement like I did because of the cold. Yuck...the fumes were not nice. After taking out the glass, I filled the inside of the frame with yet another piece of leftover sweater from the sweater pillow, tied the mitten with some of my scrapbooking supplies and adhered it to the frame. Super quick and super fun and I love all the recycling I did on this project.



This post links up with DIY Day at a Soft Place to Land





Have a creative day!

Julia

Felted Pin Cushion

This is a fast little project I've been meaning to make for quite a while. Although the saucer of this teacup is missing, I thought it could be reused for a fun project. I need a little pincushion for my paper crafting and making it out of felted sweater scraps was a fun idea.



To make the pin cushion...

• form felt around a wad of polyester fill, sew into a firm ball that will fit into a teacup
• To make roses, cut 1.25" strips of felt. Roll and twist them into roses while tacking with a needle and thread.
• Tack your roses to the felt ball.
• Cut out leaf shapes from green felted wool. Stitch around roses.

I'm excited with my quirky little pin cushion. I use needles and all kinds of fancy pins in my paper crafting and this will be a fun way to store them with ease.

Have a beautiful day!

Julia

A Frugalicious Christmas Accent

Don't you love it when you can create something new and not have to spend a cent? How cool is that? Last week I created this fun little tiered china project and had it sitting in my kitchen. I thought it would be lovely with some holiday treats on it but as it sat there, my brain started whirling. Do you ever do that? Keep something out to look at it for a few days. You just never know what creative idea will pop up while you're washing dishes. I'll tell you more about me little tiered china project when I can take a decent picture of it unadorned after Christmas. By then perhaps, I'll come up with a project idea for it for Valentine's!



Sorry if I'm rambling...back on topic. As it sat there, I noticed it's very loose Christmas tree like shape. Hmmmm..... and then I saw my bowl of decor pears on the sideboard. And that darling little silver bird that I keep in my kitchen window. How about some greenery to fill in the spaces. I'm too lazy to crawl into the crawl space and try and find some so I run outside to the closest coniferous tree and hack off some greenery. Not much as I have the worst nasty cold on the planet this week and baby it's cold outside! I found some beaded fruit sprays to add a pop of Christmas color but it still needed something. I know. Some silver jingle bells I had purchased last year quickly placed around the "tree" tie in that silver bird. So...it's not quite a partridge in a pear tree but for absolutely no money and very little time...I'm pretty tickled with how it turned out. I know that the spruce isn't going to last until Christmas but no worries...there's lots more where that came from!

Quick Tip: Mix things you already own some holiday color and greenery for a inexpensive project.

This project links up with Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas.


And Kimba's DIY Day...



Happy Decorating! Julia