Using Christmas Fillers & Picks

I like to pick up Christmas filler and picks {usually at the end of the season clearance sales}, but the dollar store makes it so easy to buy them now. I'm not always sure where I'm going to use them, but I like to have them on hand.

This piece below is all dollar store items. The holder it's in is the glass vase and candleholder I put together last week. The bells are sold in packages, with glitter and without; and there are four berry filler pieces. I wound up not using them on one of my mantels, so I put this together. The bells help hide the stems. This makes for a nice tall arrangement and I will probably use it on my dining room table Christmas Eve for the buffet I will have set up.

You might recall that my second trip to Goodwill netted me the finds below. The next two projects include the two pots you see sitting on top of my fab window panel find {that will become pillows}. The black and polka dot pot had cream/beige polka dots and I decided to keep the design ~ I just painted the polka dots white. The smaller pot was a peach/pink. Both were $.99 each.

Once the polka dots were white and dry, I took my floral foam and glued a piece inside.

I took this filler piece that already had the berries and a couple of pine cones on it, purchased at Michael's, and just stuck it in the foam.

A red ribbon, some reindeer moss, a few dollar store ornaments tucked in and Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown! A nice size table top piece.

Trying to incorporate some of the lime green color that is so popular this year, I found this craft paint at Michael's to be the closest to the color I was going for. I painted that little peach/pink pot, two coats plus a little bit of touch-up here and there. The existing paint was shiny and I sanded the pot before painting, but it still needed that little extra.

I had found these pick/filler pieces at Michael's and loved the pink color. When I saw them I thought they looked like they had a Christmas tree shape to them.

The other side appeared flat. So I put the two flat sides together and wired them together. This wire is great and so handy to have around. It even cuts with scissors. I've used it on numerous occassions for many different projects.

Added some foam {that I had to shave off bits to fit in this little pot} and stuck in the piece that I wired together.

Stuffed in some reindeer moss and added a ribbon around the edge. A perfect size topiary piece that will fit in just about anywhere you need a little decoration!




Okay, back to decorating. I've got Holiday house parties I'll be linking up to soon!

Linking this post up to DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land.

Christmas Gifts That Won't Break The Bank

What do you get when you take

3 cylindrical glass vases
2 short glass vases
5 glass candlesticks
2 small glass prayer candles
Some ornaments, ribbon and peppermint sticks

. . . all from the Dollar Tree?

You get Christmas gifts that won't break the bank {and a hubby that says "what the heck are you making now?"}.

I read a blog post by Melissa at 320 Sycamore {she has such fabulous ideas; you have to check out her blog if you haven't yet}. I've already copied/adapted a couple of her projects. Melissa's inspiration came from the Williams Sonoma hurricane.

Melissa at 320 Sycamore

While I could not find the large vase she used at my Dollar Tree, I got the largest I could find. Unfortunately, the large glass prayer candle stuck out of the top, so I had to skip it.

Here are mine:

I used Gorilla glue {a favorite, I'm finding, among many bloggers}. Like Melissa, for the short vase I glued the candle inside the vase first. Then glued that to the candleholder. Vase, candleholder and candle ~ total $3.00.

The larger vases really became two gifts in one. After gluing the vase to the candleholder, I filled one with ornaments and one with peppermint sticks. The recipient can use the ornaments on their tree and the holder for one of their own candles or filler. Vase, candleholder, and one sleeve of ornaments ~ $3.00.

You can add ribbon or other embellishment, and if you get that at the dollar store, too, it's still under $5.00! Here's one with what was labeled a "mini wreath".



You could even monogram these with stickers! I think the possibilities are endless to what you could add to these.

Yes, these are gifts ~ I'm only keeping one for myself! Four gifts put together in about an hour at under $5.00 each ~ can't beat that!

Linking up with Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

It's So Very Creative over at It's So Very Cheri

DIY Day over at A Soft Place To Land.

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous.

Be sure to check out our current giveaway from PaperAddict.com ~ ends Friday, November 27th!