How to Celebrate the Holidays on a Budget

I know, I know, it feels a little early to start writing about the holidays. But friends, it's the perfect time to start thinking about the holidays. Especially if you want to celebrate without falling into the trap of overspending. I'm here to show you that you don't need to break the bank to have a memorable holiday season with your loved ones. You can be generous and frugal all at the same time! I'll be sharing creative tips and ideas on how to celebrate the holidays in a budget-friendly way without compromising the holiday cheer! The secret is to start planning now!

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DIY Pampas Grass Christmas Tree on a Budget

I have a love/hate relationship with Pampas Grass {more like pompous grass as my husband likes to say!}. Heck, a few years ago I didn't even know what it was called. I just knew I had to stop on the side of the road and cut some for a fall wreath I created. It created a heck of a mess, which is why it hung outside. Who knows, maybe I started the boho pampas trend and I didn't even know it. Only kidding. 
About this time last year, I started dreaming up the plans for a Pampas Grass Christmas tree. Most of my plans start early because I like to do things as thrifty as possible. I think I succeeded because while I recently saw Pampas Grass at a local flower shop selling for $9 a stem, I ended up creating this whole tree for a quarter. Yep. How's that for a budget DIY. I'm sharing with you all my tips and tricks so you can start planning now to make a DIY Pampas Grass Christmas tree of your own!

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5 Ways to Cozy Up Your Living Room for the Holidays

This post is brought to you by the Carpet and Rug Institute. All opinions are 100% my own. I am no home decorator. Not even close, but I don't think most of us are. I see images on Pinterest on Instagram or in magazines and I'm drawn to them, but sometimes I'm not sure why. My husband tells me often, especially when I'm being precious about how things look in our home, that we live here in this space. And I think that's what is most important about our homes. We aren't designing them to be sold, we aren't putting them out there to be perfect for a magazine, we are living in them and creating memories. So how can you cozy up your home for the holidays? I've got a few toasty, cozy updates you can easily do in your own home.

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10 Items to Stock Up on at After Christmas Sales

I love a good sale. After holiday sales are sometimes my most favorite sales all year long. I can get a head start on saving for the coming year. I honestly think that by shopping sales AFTER Christmas, it usually prepares me better for the next Christmas season. It makes my to-do list a little shorter and I save some money doing it too. I usually stock up the day after a holiday {and in the weeks after as the markdowns keep coming!} and wanted to make sure you didn't miss out on a few of my favorite things that I stock up on. Here's a list of the 10 items that you should stock up on at those after Christmas sales.

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How to Simplify the Holidays

Now that I'm 40, I'm happy to pull out the old "with age, comes wisdom card." I've been around the block a few times and I'm learning a thing or two about the things that are really important. I think some of that knowledge has come with time and some of it has come with experience, either way, there is one word that I'm embracing as I age and it's the word simplify. This time of year we can get overwhelmed with our schedules and our long list of to-do's, but it's so important to simplify as much as we can so that we can have more joy and less stress this time of year. I'm sharing 5 tips on how you can simplify the holidays. 

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DIY Flocked Christmas Tree Using Supplies from the Dollar Store

Being from the midwest I am a fan of a white Christmas. It doesn't happen often around here, but I love it when it does. Couple that with childhood memories of a sweet flocked Christmas tree that was deemed "the kid tree" and I decided to try my hand at flocking my own tree this year. I walked into the local Dollar Tree {you all know how much I love that store!} and picked up all the supplies I needed for under $5. I think the end result is pretty spectacular! Keep reading to get the full tutorial on how to flock an artificial Christmas tree using supplies from the dollar store.

Don't miss my whole series on What Not to Buy at the Dollar Store

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Easy DIY Christmas Tree Basket Stand

Growing up my uncle had a Christmas tree farm. One of my favorite childhood memories was going up to the farm to pick out two live Christmas trees every year. While my parents were setting up the trees in their various locations around the house, the kids had an artificial flocked Christmas tree we used to set up in the hallway upstairs. We would surround it with our stuffed animals and it was something we could easily decorate on our own, unlike the 12-foot-tall trees we got for the other parts of the house. I loved that we had a tree that was all our own. 

I can't seem to shake the feeling that it isn't Christmas if I don't have more than one tree decorating the house. I picked up a small artificial tree this past summer at a garage sale for $2 and I decided that it was the perfect tree to work some magic on. I loved the idea of our old flocked Christmas tree, so I did a little DIY flocking. {more on that tomorrow! You aren't going to want to miss that tutorial.} All of the supplies were from the dollar store and it was so fun and easy.

Another recent trend that I'm loving is using baskets as a base. I saw a few Christmas tree collars lining the shelves at the store, but I was pretty sure that I could DIY a basket for a similar look. And I did. I just love how it turned out. Read along for the full tutorial on how to create your own Christmas tree stand basket.

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DIY Coordinating Christmas Ornaments and Wrapping Paper the Easy way!

I love the look of coordinating decorations at Christmas time, don't you? Unfortunately, this look can get expensive and require you to replace what you have. I found a way to work with what I had and create coordinating Christmas tree ornaments and wrapping paper and you can too! I'm sharing how you can do this with the purchase of just a few items and a few minutes of your time.

 

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Mixed Metal Mirror Duck Tape Wreath

Remember how gold anything made us gag like 10 years ago? Now I can't get enough. Especially around the holidays. My absolute favorite part about Christmas {besides the cards} is the twinkly shiny everything. Twinkling lights on the tree, shiny ornaments and now, my new favorite Christmas decoration is this mixed metal mirror Duck Tape wreath. What's that you say? This is Duck Tape??? Stop it!!! Yep, it doesn't look like it because it's too busy looking like a million bucks that's why. 

I'm sharing the tutorial with you so that you can add some beautiful sparkle in your home. Plus, this stuff will have your mind running a million miles an hour thinking off all the amazing things you can cover with Duck Mirror

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Sheet music wreath

Easy to Make Sheet Music Wreath Tutorial

On Monday, I shared with you how I made my sheet music Christmas trees.

Today, I will be sharing with you how I made my rolled sheet music wreath.

Isn't it beautiful?!

I started with a large piece of sheet music.

Roll the sheet music lengthwise.

I always knew I had a good roll when I would end up with a triangle in the middle of my cone.

Glue the end of the paper in place with your glue gun.

I used a Styrofoam circle from the Dollar Store.

You all know how much I love the Dollar Store!

I marked the center with a dot, but I don't think it really matters one way or another.

Once I rolled a fair amount of cones, I was ready to start gluing them on to the Styrofoam circle.

I made a large cone pattern to start off with,

then slowly starting to fill in the spaces as equally as possible.

Once I finished gluing the cones on as full as I could, this is what it looks like from the front.

I did the same thing to the front of the wreath filling in the Styrofoam with cones until I was pleased with the fullness of it.  The center needed to be finished off with something, so I decided to attempt to make a sheet music fan for the center.

I took 3 sheets of 2 inch wide paper for the big fan

and one sheet of one inch wide paper for the small fan

Small fan tutorial

1. fold the small paper accordion style

2. glue one end to the other end and place on it's side

3. carefully gather and pinch the end pushing down in the center to make a flower.  Place a small piece of glue in the center to hold it together.

Large fan tutorial 

1. fold the three sheets accordion style

2. glue each end to one another

3. form a circle with the paper

4. pinch and glue the inside together 

 I glued the big fan and the small fan together, and then glued it to the center of the wreath.

You could also glitter the edges of the fan if you wanted to.

 That's it!

Glue a ribbon to the back and hang your wreath in your favorite spot!

As you can see, I really love sheet music. Have you made anything beautiful with sheet music?

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How to Style a HolidayTool Box

I do love a good challenge, so when Wayfair contacted me about participating in a tool box challenge, I was excited to jump on board. I had an idea in mind before I even selected the toolbox I was going to use in this challenge. I like to purchase pieces that can be used in a variety of ways and I can see being able to use this tool box during all the seasons. I styled it for the upcoming Christmas season and I want to show you how and included some other ideas so that you can start getting your creative juices flowing!

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Easy chalkboard art secret for those of us that aren't hand lettering artists

I'm a huge fan of chalkboards. I love the chalk art trend and wish that I could say that I was an expert chalk art hand letterer {I'm sure that's an actual thing...maybe} but alas, I am not. However, I have learned how to fake it.  I shared with you a tutorial several years ago and then got slapped with a lovely copyright infringement notice and well, in the end, I took my tutorial down. Earlier this year, I redid the tutorial {with images that I am pretty sure are safe} and what better time to revisit chalk art than right before the holidays.

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Snow and Christmas trees to make a fun holiday decoration

Last year, one of my favorite Christmas crafts that I made were these die cast cars with snow and mini Christmas trees. They were huge hits at my local craft bazaar last year, so I kept my eyes peeled this year as I did garage sale and thrift store shopping for more things that I could add faux snow and trees to.

I found a few things, and this time, they were even bigger than the little die-cast cars I used last year!

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Vintage tablecloth turned into Christmas tree skirt

I love Christmas! I love decorating for Christmas and I love unpacking my Christmas boxes every single year. Every year I add to the boxes with handmade ornaments like I featured all last week in my six days of handmade. Sometimes, I add big items, sometimes I add small items.

This year, one of the new items I added to my Christmas decor was a new tree skirt. But not just any tree skirt. It's a tree skirt that I made out of a pretty amazing vintage round tablecloth that we got from my husband's grandmother's estate just after she passed away this summer.

I actually see round tablecloths like this at garage sales and estate sales quite often, so in case you are like me, you can pin this or tuck this away and remember when garage sale season starts back up again to keep your eyes peeled for a round tablecloth to make a no sew Christmas tree skirt.

It took me under 5 minutes and I promise, there is really no sewing to make this tablecloth into a Christmas tree skirt. Want to see how?

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World globe vintage map ornament

Welcome back to the sixth and final day of six days of handmade ornaments. I don't normally post on Saturday's but I wanted to make sure I finished out this fun week of handmade with a bang!
In case you missed it, check out the scrabble tile ornaments, typewriter keys, Christmas tree in a jar, woodland diorama ornament and yesterday's clay antler ornament. 

Today, on our last day, I am sharing with you a vintage world map globe ornament. You are going to love it!

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Handmade clay antler ornament

Welcome back to day five of the six days of handmade ornaments.
In case you missed it, check out the scrabble tile ornaments, typewriter keys, Christmas tree in a jar and woodland diorama ornament. 

Today, I will be sharing with you a handmade clay antler ornament.

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Deer and Christmas tree ornament

Welcome back to day four of six days of handmade ornaments. I hope you have enjoyed seeing all of the fun homemade ornaments so far. In case you missed it, check out the scrabble tile ornaments, typewriter keys and Christmas tree in a jar.

Today, I will be sharing with you these snow globe diorama ornaments. I had a half a dozen of these adorable little deer that I bought for a quarter a piece. They were floating around in the bottom of my purse just waiting for glitter, when my purse got stolen from a Starbucks parking lot. So some bad guy probably has some deer they are making diorama ornaments from too.

These were really easy and fun and the possibilities for them are endless! Let's get started!

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Christmas tree with Mica snow in a jar

Welcome back to day three of six days of handmade ornaments. I've been showing you easy and inexpensive ornaments that I have made this holiday season.  

Today's ornament is more about show and tell, and less about full tutorial. Mostly because nearly everything for this ornament was bought at a garage sale. Though hopefully it will inspire you.

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Handmade typewriter key ornament

Welcome to day two of six of Holy Craft's six days of handmade ornaments. Yesterday I shared with you the handmade Scrabble tile ornament.  Today, I will be sharing with you a round typewriter key ornament. 

There are so many ways to personalize these ornaments for your family and friends. I picked this 5 since there are five people in our family. They are super easy to create. Let me show you!

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Six days of handmade ornaments. Scrabble tile ornaments on a vintage ruler

Welcome to day one of six days of handmade ornaments. I can have a boxes full of ornaments, and yet every year, I end up making a few more to hang on the tree.  This whole week, I will be sharing with you easy and inexpensive ways to create your own handmade ornaments this year.

The first one I'm excited to show you is my scrabble tile ornaments mounted on a vintage yardstick and hung with plaid ribbon.

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