Using Home Grown Greenery

Remember when I transformed this pot for Fall?

Well, I transformed it again for Christmas! Everything you see here I got from my backyard. I cut some tree branches and spray painted them white.

Some branches from a very large pine tree in our yard; an evergreen bush with some interesting leaves; a ground cover bush with some red berries on it and my painted white branches.

Lots of nice shades of green with different shapes and textures. I love it!

And yet, I feel it's missing a little something . . .

There we go! I used some plastic ornaments from the dollar store in red and silver.

Linking up to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.

It Just Needs A Little Something ~ Christmas Decorating

Sometimes you have a spot in your home that "just needs a little something" to add that holiday touch. Sometimes you have to add in some decoration where you can, because whatever is in that room on a daily basis needs to stay.

I found these pictures that show how you can add a little something that says "it's the holidays" without having to rearrange everything already existing in certain areas of your home. Like the picture above. All the items are placed on a tray, which is not taking up much room at all, but makes for a lovely holiday vignette.

Or what about these ornaments in a bowl with some beaded garland. Most of us have bowls we could use. With a sleeve or two of ornaments and some garland from the dollar store you've got an instant holiday piece.

Here you just have a green garland and some small trees tucked into a hutch {which happens to work wonderfully with these dishes}.

A small red tote hanging on the house with some fresh greens. All the better if you can collect the greens from your own yard.

How simple is this and yet it looks great!

Presents and a couple of little trees mixed in the china cabinet. I love the way this looks.

Again, so simple with a garland across the top of the hutch and a line of pinecones ~ a very natural looking decor.

Some small wreaths and a couple of ornaments ~ it says that it's the holiday without overwhelming you.

It's okay not to lavishly decorate every area of your home or, for that matter, any area of your home. These very subtle decorations still give you a holiday feel. I've done a few little things like this myself this year {to be shared when the Christmas linky parties start}, and I have to tell you that it's nice to set one or two things in a room and say, "this room's done".

{All images from Country Living}

Covering Christmas Cones

I decided to start covering my cones and so I got some things together. Some very high-tech tools here ~ glue gun and glue sticks, scrap card stock, scrapbook papers, ribbons, scissors, coffee filters and two different size flashlights.



All kinds of trims from my stash.



And a paper plate, which I used to get the proper size from the scrapbook paper, that would wrap around the cone.



Coffee filters become trim and those circle ruffley things. I've seen them on other people's projects. I love them, but I don't know what they are called, and I don't think I've seen them to purchase at Michael's. So ~ I made my own. I've taken to calling them a "medallion". For the "medallion" portion I just kept scrunching the filter holding it from the back and working it into a smaller circle. I glued it a little bit just so it wouldn't straighten itself out.



I used a graphic from The Graphics Fairy. Using the larger of the flashlights, I traced a circle on the card stock and used the smaller flashlight to trace out the image. I glued the image to the cardstock and then glued that to the filter "medallion".

The top part is also a filter. I just put it on top and pushed it inside the cone to where I wanted the "ruffle" to fall. I then glued underneath the outside to secure it. I didn't cut it yet, but you could then cut the inside of the cone where the filter is and either glue it down so it hides that portion of your unfinished cone or cut it out altogether depending on what you put inside.

Here's another using some trims:

This one is scrapbook paper and trim used at the top and bottom, and ribbon as a hanger. I just stuck an ornament in each one for the pictures.

I tea-dyed two coffee filters and I'm going to try using them next. Still have several of these to go!

Don't forget to enter our current giveaway from PaperAddict.com! Ends Friday!

~ Christmas Decor & The Graphics Fairy ~

Thanks to Karen over at The Graphics Fairy, I have been making some items to use for Christmas decorations. Here's what you get when you take some graphics that Karen offers up.

A couple of frames from Goodwill {at $2.99 each}, a little bit of craft paint and a scrap of fabric.

This first frame I just cleaned up and used the sheet music graphic as a background and the children graphic on top. I'm thinking I might hang this on the wall behind one of my little Christmas trees that I will be putting in my front entry {since the sheet music is entitled "Around the Christmas Tree"}.

The second frame I took red and black craft paint {since the red was a bit bright} and dulled the red a bit with the black. I just painted the inside groove of the frame with the red. I used a red fabric scrap that has a gold scroll design for the background and used the Christmas fairy graphic on top of that.

This red actually works in my big den with the red drapes I recently got from Target and the pillows from Kohl's. I think that is where it will call home for the holidays.

This just goes to show that you don't need to spend a lot of money making decor for your own home for the holidays or even to give as gifts.

I am linking this post up to Brag Monday over at The Graphics Fairy.

Also, the DIY Show Off Holiday Highlights

And It Begins ~

Okay, that's it ~ I'm in Christmas mode! I've already made two Christmas gifts and now, my first piece of Christmas decor. This image is one offered by Karen at The Graphics Fairy and I am linking this up to Brag Monday over at Karen's blog.

I love the vintage, antique-y, whatever-happened-to-this-kind-of-Christmas image. I purchased an unfinished wood plaque from Michaels, some red craft paint, a Christmasy scrapbook paper and printed the image {5x7} on a color printer.



The red seemed a bit bright for "the look" and I wanted to give the whole thing an aged look, so I took some walnut stain and wiped it on.

I think the walnut stain might have been a bit too dark, but it was what I had available. I took red and green sheer ribbbon, tied it in a bow and put a dab of hot glue to attach it.



And there you have it. Let the Christmas preparations begin!

Also, linking up to the DIY Show Off Holiday Highlights.