Christmas Decor

This year I had a challenge in my den on Christmas decorating. I do all colors in my den, and colored lights on my den tree. It's a whimsical theme. This year I wanted to incorporate some Shabby Chic. How was I going to marry the two styles? It wasn't easy, but I think I did it! My kids still got their colorful whimsy  and I got a little Shabby Chic. I added some burlap( I've been using it a lot this year.)to the mantel and kept my star that I always have out. Instead of a wreath this year I added a wooden, outlined star with Pine cones. I bought the star and glued pine cones from ribbon, then tied them to the star. I also added real minature evergreens to the mantel They were short and squatty so I painted some logs and placed them on top. I balance the jingle bell tree on the right with a red Christmas ball on the left. I painted pine cones white and put them in my garland with all the colorful Christmas balls. I think it works.

Combining two different styles can be a challenge, but give it a try.

White tree branches in a pot with Christmas balls. I love this simple, but impacting display. Didn't cost me anything. Branches from the yard, can of spray paint I had, Christmas balls I had. Done!

This year instead of Poinsettias on my foyer table, I used all the little decorative trees I had all on one table. Instead of spreading them about, I put them all together with a deer I had (painted white of course) and a new tree I made out of chicken wire and sticks.

I shaped the chicken wire into a cylinder first, then smushed it in a the top to have a point. I then took a thin piece of duck tape and winded it down the chicken wire. This was to give me solid areas to hot glue the sticks. After covering it with sticks, I ran wire all the way down the tree (in a winding pattern) to keep the sticks secure. I did add a little grapevine also. Spray painted it white and it was finished. I like all the different textures, heights and colors of the trees. You can add greenery, but I opt for this beaded garland I had. It matched the metallic trees and I thought it completed this arrangement. Just keep going and adding layers til it seems right to you.

I hope you enjoyed my tips and craft ideas. Visit me again soon, I still have more to share. Merry Christmas from my family and MyHome@CarolinaPlace!

Merry Christmas...Let's make some crafts!

I did some changes this year in my decor. I added Burlap. I really love it. It adds just a little Shabby Chic to my style. I still want it to be elegant though. Here I bought some real shrubs and just left them in their containers. Cover the bottoms with plastic so when you water them , they will not leak. I covered them in a cream burlap, tied black ribbon around them and added these burlap letters that I made. I'm going to show you how I made them. "Joy".....joy is what I felt after doing this craft. Burlap bow, black ribbon, pine cones;natural and some I painted white. Gold bells, lights and a little bird...can you see him?

The shrubs I got on clearance, for only two dollars. Yaaaaay!

Vintage button trees! I love making these with my kids. Well started making them with my kids, they were over it pretty quick and deserted me to finish them! Oh well!

I'm going to show you how I made these also.

Now these canning jars I made a while back. They weren't my idea, I was inspired by a friend who made one out of the vintage blue jars. I did them in my kitchen colors and added a bow, so I do not have pics to show you how I made them. I will talk you through it.

You add some fake snow stuff....I don't know what the official name is, to the bottom of the jar. It comes in a bag and it looks like flakes of snow. Then you cut a hole in the lid to string the ornament through. Secure it from the outer top and wire a bow to it. They are so cute.

Ok so I made the "JOY" out of card board from a cereal box. That's right, a cereal box! I am very frugal and have been accused many times that I can make something from nothing. This time I really did...trash. A cereal box that had been tossed. I drew the letters, cut them out, glued them to the burlap. After they dried, I trimmed them out from the burlap.

Ok so you know that same cereal box? Yea that's right, I cut some Christmas trees from it also. Just started hot gluing away all the buttons. These buttons are really old, so people like to call them vintage. It sounds far more chic. Whatever....keepin' it real, as always. After I finish the trees, I hot glued them to a piece of burlap ribbon, to make it a banner. You can easily make them as an ornament for your Christmas tree, or a great tag for a Christmas present.

This is my lovely family! My husband, our five kids and myself. Whew! just typing "our five kids" makes me tired. I love them all so much! Wanted to share one of the pics from our Christmas card. I'll share another on the next post. Have a Merry Christmas, from my family @ CarolinaPlace to your family @ your place! :)

It's Christmas Time!

It's Christmas time and I have been so busy...I'm sure you have been also! I have a few pics to share with you of my front door. I did a three tier wreath this year. I love it. I already had the other two wreaths, so I just wired them all together.

After I wired them together I wrapped ribbon around the wire, and ran a straight piece of ribbon down the back side of all three wreaths. I added real greenery to all three wreaths and pine cones. Adding real nature items to artificial greenery always "sophisticates it up". It's easier to add real greenery to artificial, rather than wire it all from scratch. I use to do it years ago, I just don't have the time now and this is easier. I'm all about easier!

Here's a closer look of the top wreath. I always use birds to decorate, so I had to put this cute little guy in. Real feathers, glitzy silk flower, pine cones and real greenery made this wreath complete. I used green this year on my outdoor decor. I preferred green velvet but only could find enough for my window wreaths and greenery swags. So I found some other ribbon that was in the same family of greens for the front door.

I put some grapevine and huge pine cones along with two different colored fresh greenery, in my artificial greenery. I love all the layers.

I had orange pansies in my pot for Fall , so I just rotated the pots around so you couldn't see them and added fresh greenery ,Christmas balls and pine cones to the front of my planters. Done!

I wanted to do something new this year, so I just changed my ribbon and revamped my front door wreath. Sometimes a little change, like ribbon color, can make everything seem new. I will be sharing a lot more of my home with you here at Christmas. Decorating ideas, DIY projects, recipes and another friend's home. So check back...Merry decorating, from My Home @ Carolina Place to your home.