Garland Christmas Tree

Garland Christmas Tree

I have shared a few dollar store styrofoam Christmas tree ideas lately, but I still have one more.  I just had so much fun making these trees - and I love getting all of my supplies at the dollar store!  Heres the finished tree-

I started with a tree form and base - which I spray painted - and some garland-

I glued the tree form onto the base with some hot glue (I didnt want all of my trees to be the same height) - 

Then, I glued the garland - starting from the bottom - 

I just worked my way up-

I wanted to finish the top, so I added a bow using dollar store ribbon (its the same ribbon I used to hang my Ornament Wreath)-

And here it is with my Thumb Tack Tree - 

Now it sites on my mantel (with my Tinsel Tree) - 

And my Thumb Tack Tree sits on the opposite side with my Moss Tree - 

I think they are so cute!  And I love how inexpensive they were - it makes decorating for the holidays affordable! Yay!  

Ive shared this project here-

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Garland Christmas Tree

Christmas chicks

Christmas chicks

A lovely present on Christmas day: the sight of two mother hens outside in the sunshine fussing over the four little chicks that hatched. Its hard to spot them, as they tend to disappear under the hen as we approach. A lot of the eggs did not hatch, and one chick died trying to get out of the shell, but we are still happy to have four healthy chicks being cared for by the hens and out free ranging. Its one thing to see them hatch in our incubator; quite another to see it done how it should be. Super cute. Last night they took themselves off into the bush and slept the night out there, but all still there in the morning - so far so good.

Christmas chicks

CHRISTMAS DECORATING PART ONE

CHRISTMAS DECORATING PART ONE

Every year I think maybe I wont do any decorating.....then I get shamed by all of the blog tours and great ideas on the web and I fold like a cheap tent.

The first thing I did was drive all over tarnation looking for black and white stripe ribbon.  That was a bust.

After going to HGs, Marshalls, Michaels, and Target I gave up.  It looks like every blogger in the city bought it all.  Of course they probably started in November:)

OK....scratch that..... go up to the attic and dig through what I hastily shoved into bins last year. 

I am thinking you better  bring your expectations way....way down.  

This shot is the entrance after coming through my foyer.  A plaid bow, some greenery from the back yard and a strand of gold mercury glass beads from West Elm [all Christmas decor is 30% off].

Easy peasy.

I added a few small mercury glass balls on top of my limestone sewer balls....

Whew...exhausted.

Moving into the LR

Who am I kidding....its all one room actually:)  There is my one piece of stripe ribbon that started the hunt.

I mean black and white ribbon was made for me right?

You can see I went all out  here....with some more greenery and a large glass ball.  Are you scratching your head wondering what all the fuss is about?  It looks so much prettier at night with all the candles lit and Christmas music playing:)

I know....lame.  And guess what?  Of course I am going to stretch this out for another post cause what else is there to talk about in December?

Go ahead and hate.

I can take it.

And it will give me time to steal some more ideas from yall:)

16 days.

Shabambaby

CHRISTMAS DECORATING PART ONE

White Christmas

White Christmas

A view of the new potting shed on Christmas morning. We literally drove the last nail in mid-December.

Isnt it beautiful with the freshly fallen snow naturally flocking the trees.

I cant wait to do a post when the garden is full of blooms and the glass roof is on full display.

But natures hand here is just as stunning.


Linking to White Wednesdays at Faded Charm





White Christmas

Christmas Day One

Christmas Day One

Christmas Day +, originally uploaded by Cathy (Kate) Johnson.

What a glorious way to start Christmas Day, sitting in the shed and watching the feast of birds and animals...


Christmas Day One

Christmas Decor

Christmas Decor

Before I get to this little Christmas project,  I have some exciting news!!  Last week, on a whim, I auditioned for a crafting competition.  Im not sure what I was thinking.  Anyway, I just found out that I am in the top 12!  Thats right, I will be competing against some very talented ladies during the month of January on One Month to Win It.  Yikes!  Ill give you more details soon about how you can VOTE for your favorite project - I hope you like my projects but you wont know which is mine during voting.  Im excited (and so nervous).

But back to my Christmas projects,  this is what Im working on now -

A bit of Christmas fun.  As you know, I purchased a giant glass bowl a few months ago (I shared that with you here).  In October, I filled it with Halloween pine cones -

Well, now that Christmas is coming up, I wanted to come up with an easy and inexpensive way to fill the bowl in a festive way.  I decided to use red ornaments that I already owned and I added a dollar store hurricane and a white pillar candle.  Heres the result - 

Since I already had the ornaments and bowl, purchasing the hurricane ($1) and candle ($2.50) wasnt too much to spend to complete the look.  I love how it turned out.  It adds a lot of color - perfect for the holidays!

Christmas Decor

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was an unusual year, full of firsts and wonderful memories. Most notably, it was the first year since 1997 without Santa. While it was hard to let go of the magic in their eyes on Christmas morning, it also let us enjoy Christmas as a family on an entirely new level. As an added benefit, without the internal clocks going off at pre-dawn hours, I was able to get up before the rush and take pictures of Christmas morning with the most beautiful Christmas Eve snowfall through the windows as a backdrop. The dining room:

I even had time to begin setting the table for Christmas morning breakfast. Few things can displace Blue Willow in my dining room, but Spode Christmas Tree is one of them. You can see just a glimpse on the table.


A close-up of the dining room tree with the snowfall outside.

Then I headed outside. My completed-just-before-the-first-snow-flies potting shed.

Isnt it beautiful with the freshly fallen snow naturally flocking the trees.

I cant wait to do a post when the garden is full of blooms.

But natures hand here is just as stunning.

And now were all up. Im enjoying my third cup of coffee (another first) and they are enjoying what it really feels like to give now that its not all about Santa.

Though Ill probably always leave a surprise in the stockings.

The family room tree with the potting shed in the background outside.

The aftermath.

A few shots of the season.
This year I scaled back on decorations and busy work. Instead I focused on enjoying traditions and quality time. We went to many Christmas shows, musicals, and concerts, including our own kids first band concerts and show choir concerts. We also attended several professional performances this season.

We enjoyed shopping together. We shopped the antique stores in small towns and (mostly window)shopped in the lively, hustle bustle of the city which I know many people despise, but we just love it. The sights, sounds, smells; it all enhances the holiday spirit. We made a lot of homemade gifts. We made pinecone wreaths for the wonderful teachers we have this year, we made baked gifts and citrus ornaments. I even followed the directions on one of the blogs I follow (sorry, I cant remember whose) where we crushed shells wed collected on vacation and gorilla glued them to wooden forms to make ornaments. We baked and baked. We made gingerbread houses. We went caroling with our good friends.

We spent Christmas Eve with wonderful neighbors and then we all attended a beautiful Christmas Eve service at our church. We spent Christmas day with family and took time to enjoy the stunning snowfall by going sledding.




We enjoyed hearing from family and old friends.

But mostly, we focused on the reason for the season. While Ill miss the youthful magic of Christmas with Santa, I welcome the real magic of the season back into our lives without the commercial distractions.

On more than one occasion this season I was able to take a moment, step back, look around at the smiles, listen to the laughter, enjoy the beauty of the moment and truly appreciate and thank God for all the blessings I have.

Linking to The House in the Roses, "Show Off Your Cottage Monday" and A Stroll Thru Life "Table Top Tuesday Anything Goes."

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Christmas 2010