A New Years Wreath.

New Years Wreath

I've always left a Christmas wreath up until it'S been there way too long and then replaced it with a simple welcome wreath.  But this year I decided I would make one just for the new year. 

 I bought some big containers of ornaments on boxing day at 50% off.  Please ignore the mess in the background. This room is going to be re-invented as a craft / work room for me and Christmas kind of put a stop to the work.

 

 

 

Using a can of spray paint  I coloured a few ornaments black. 

It needed a third colour and I chose the bright turquoise.  Silver, black and turquoise. Love it.

 

 

 

Once the ornaments were completely dry I constructed the wreath using the same method as my red ornament wreath from a few weeks ago.  I left a little space at the ends of the hanger so when I joined it together I had room to add a little jewellery.  In this case some beads in silver and black.  After all no one gets dressed for New Years Eve without a bit of jewellery. 

 

 



TIP:  Really check your ornaments to make sure the little caps are attached. If they come off too easily, fasten them with some hot glue.  You don't want to be putting them back on after you make the wreath.  Bet you wonder how I know that.


WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 

Packing Away Christmas

I love my house decorated for Christmas but there is a great deal of work getting it out and packing it all away.  That's what I am going to be doing for the next couple of days.  With that in mind I  am on the search for some packing ideas that are a little more organized and secure for my packing options this year.


I really like this idea from Mom's Party Café where she glued plastic drink cups to cardboard and stored them in storage bins. It's a great place to keep all those little ornaments. 





















Because I hate untangling lights I was considering just leaving them on the tree, but I'm not sure that I wouldn't end up with a huge ball of "stuff" by next December. I think wrapping them around a hanger like this is a better idea. Then I could add a tag to each hanger about where the lights go.

There are a ton of storage boxes and bags for storing wreaths but I find most of them a bit on the pricey side.  And I'm addicted to wreaths so imagine how much I would have to spend.  I found this little idea on  Good Housekeeping, and because I plan on utilising a closet space for Christmas storage I think this one is perfect. I picture a whole row of wreaths neatly bagged and hanging side by side, right next to all the hangers with the lights on them.

I am going to add all my wrapping supplies to my new  wrapping station, when I get it done.
All I need are a few storage containers for all my angels and snowmen and other knick knacks.  One more for linens where I can keep them protected using these cedar balls from Amazon and I might just have this storage thing under control.





















Ornament Wreath DIY

How many wreaths do you put up throughout the year?  Do you use them just for the holidays or for all the seasons?  I try to have a wreath on my front door all year long.  I actually think doors look naked without them,  kind of like they forgot to get dressed before they went to work.

Ornament Wreath DIY

That's just my front door.  During the holiday season I like them anywhere I can fit one.  I never seem to have enough. 

With that thought in mind I had this big box of red and gold plastic ornaments that had been on our traditional Christmas tree for about seven or eight years and I've grown tired of the red and gold theme.

 

















I've seen a lot of wreaths made with plastic ornaments  using a hanger for the form and wanted to see how hard they are to make.  All you do is untwist the hanger ends, bend it into a circle, and thread the ornaments onto the hanger until it's full. You do need to twist the ornaments around the hanger though, don't cut it at the end to make it easier. You need the ends to twist back together to form your circle and create a hook for hanging.

It actually took me longer to cut all the little strings from the ornaments than it did to put  the ornaments on the hanger.  Total time for this project about 30 minutes.  Definitely one of the easier ones I've done.

And definitely worth it. This wreath is full and glamorous. It looks great from both sides so its perfect for hanging in a window or door where it will be viewed from both sides.

Fast , simple and beautiful. 

Mini Rustic Wreaths

What do you do when you have an empty space and it needs a little Christmas cheer.  Well I leaned a couple of small shutters against the wall and stood an Angel in front of them.  But that didn't look very merry so I made these little wreaths and they were perfect.

 

Rustic wreaths
 

These are rustic with a tiny bit of bling.  What a great combo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

twine and mason jar ring

All you need for these mini wreaths is some jute twine, and a mason jar ring for the frame. That's it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Jut tie a knot and start wrapping

Just tie a knot around the ring, and start wrapping. If you leave a bit of twine at the beginning you have something to tie the end with when you have it wrapped all the way around.

 

 

 

 

 

Now you have these little twine wreaths that are ready for some attention. I got out the hot glue gun and added a cedar tree sprig, and tiny red Styrofoam balls.  I have a box of bling and I picked out these little crystals that are still on their little hooks. They were left over from an old chandelier I repurposed.  A little tip: when you are hanging things from a shutter, just twist the end of a paper clip around,  then hook the other end over a slat. It works great and is barely noticeable.

 

 

 

 

 



A pretty wreath.



 

 

 

If one is pretty, two is better.

 

 

And three is perfect.

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Now this is a bight and merry corner, ready for Christmas day.



 

 

A Christmas Tree or Two

DIY Christmas tree from clothes hangars
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this little tree. I made it two years ago and it's just perfect to add a little green to my kitchen. 

 

 

 

 

Coffee Station ready for Christmas morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year I have it on my coffee station.  The little twinkling lights greet me in the morning when I go for that first important cup. 

This little fella is made out of coat hangars and dollar store garland.  To make it you need six hangars, some tape, a string of lights some decorations and I used 3 lengths of dollar store garland.  When you tie the six hangars together  you get the three shape and then you wrap that with lights and then garland.  You can find a really good tutorial here.  http://onelittleproject.com/diy-wire-hanger-christmas-tree-tutorial/






Little tree and little star

I chose to leave off the extra decorations because I liked the way the white tipped garland looked without them.   The star is from the dollar store too, and made a great tree top.  I hot glued mine together and it has lasted for 2 years in storage. I just put the whole thing into a big box to keep it nice  and clean.    The littlest led lights you can buy are perfect for this project.

 


 

I decided to use this holly garland at the bottom. I love how it looks like the tree is nested in it.

 

 

There are so many different tree ideas out there , so this year I decided to try a tomato cage tree.  It doesn't take a lot of skill to put this one together. Just invert a tomato cage and tie the prongs, (the ones that you would normally stick in the ground), together with some wire.  Wrap a bunch of lights around it and voila. You have a tree ready to decorate. Easy peasy right?  At this point you could just put it outside in an urn by your entry.  I decided to keep mine inside as a place to display  my DIY ornaments this year.

 

tomato cage tree

I'm having fun adding decorations to it but here's a picture of it so far to date.   The snowflake on top is made from clothes pins. I've added the alphabet block ornaments  and the  salt dough ornaments  that I made this year. 

How many trees do you have.  I think if I could I'd have one in every room.

I love the view from this window.

I love the cow bell hanging in this window.  It was a gift many years past, from the mom of a few of my daycare kids. And I say a few because I had the pleasure of caring for all three of her boys, who are quite big now.  She hand painted it with a different snowman on all three sides.  It is one of my treasured Christmas items and  I get fond memories each year when I unwrap it again for the season.

A Perfect Pair, Cabinet makeover.

Sometimes things  just come together, even when there isn't a plan.  That's what happened with these two pieces.

A few years ago my hubby was given this great cabinet from someone remodeling a cottage.  They really asked him to take it to land fill, but he knows better.
I used it for toy storage in the playroom for quite a while, but for a long time it was just collecting dust.  It's really solid so I knew it was going to get a new life eventually.



















It was pretty beat up but would make a fabulous liquor  cabinet  change table   games storage  well you get the idea.  
See the  beautiful grey plush lining on the inside walls , and cubbies at the bottom would be a great place for baskets.  I finally decided to just go ahead and paint it.  


















I  cleaned it up with some water and vinegar, and gave it two coats of my home made chalky paint, a nice grey/blue that I think goes well with the fabric lining.  Then we used it for a  liquor cabinet for a bit, but it never really felt right to me.























  
Then in steps this book case I got at a yard sale. Another item lost in my stash, covered in dust. It had both its shelves intact, and a really great shape. I cleaned it up,  patched a few missing bits with wood filler and painted it the same blue chalky paint as the cabinet.  I think these  pieces knew they belonged together. 






















In a bedroom, office or even a kitchen for extra storage  the uses for a set like this are endless. I think they look perfect together. 

3D Paper Snowflakes

Keeping to the DIY Christmas ornament theme I seem to be on this week I thought I'd show you these 3D snowflakes I have been making. 

You can see how I make them using this tutorial by "One Good Thing by Jillee" found here.  It is one of my favorite blogs and her tutorials are very easy to follow.

These amazing snowflakes can be made any size you choose. The only limitation is the size of your paper.

3D paper snowflakes




 

They  are really fun hanging from the ceiling in a craft area like this.  Or from any ceiling.  They would be fantastic over your dining table during your Christmas dinner.





3D paper snowflakes
 

Or in a window. I used two sizes together here. This window is 36" wide, and these can be made big enough to really make a statement.





Extra large paper snowflake
 

And they work great as an alternative to a wreath on an interior door. 

Or you could use them as part of a mantel display like this one at One Good Thing by Jullee.
 Be sure to visit here so see how 

Salt Dough Ornaments

Salt dough ornaments are so easy to make that if you are a crafter at all you've probably made them at one time or another over the years.  Whenever I made them in the past I've used regular cookie cutters to cut out your standard Christmas shapes. Stars, bells, trees, and of course the ginger bread man. 

This year I wanted to do something different and found this little idea on pinterest. I typed in salt dough ornaments and there are tons of ideas and this idea came form mixing a variety of them together.  If you don't use pinterest I really think you should give it a browse.  The ideas are endless. You can follow my boards here where I keep the ones I really want to try some day. I might have to live to the age of 110 to get them all done though.

What started this project was a visit to the local Thrift Store where I found a variety of cut glass pieces very cheap. I got the lot $2.  Yep, only 25 cents each.  That's my kind of shopping.






































They all have cut glass bottoms and every one had a different pattern.  They kind of reminded me of snowflakes. Perfect to decorate traditional round ornaments.

I mixed up a batch of salt dough using a standard recipe of 
1 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup of water
and mixed it to a nice kneadable dough.  I rolled it out and cut rounds using a regular size mason jar ring.

Then I stamped each round ornament using the patterns on the bottoms of the cut glass pieces. They really give these little ornaments their character. I put a little hole in each one using a regular drinking straw and dried them in a warm over about 175 deg. for about 3 hours.

Then using this original chrome paint from Krylon I gave them all several coats of silver spray.  I like this paint because it doesn't smell as bad a some of the other metallic paints I have used and each light coat dries in about 15 minutes.

Once they were shiny enough for me, about 3 or 4 light coats, I let them dry really well.  Then using some red and green yarn I tied each one with a little bow leaving a loop to hang.

I 'm loving my little tomato cage tree and it is a perfect spot to display all my little DIY ornaments this year.

My favorite pattern was this tree shape with its little star at the top. 

I'll definitely be watching for other cut glass patterns at yard sales and thrift stores from now on, How about you?