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November 28, 2012

DIY Christmas Ornaments Ideas

As I mentioned yesterday when I revealed this year's Christmas tree, I decorated the entire thing for $15. Most of the ornaments I either made myself or found while thrifting, and although it took some extra effort, it's a great feeling to know I saved money and created a beautiful tree for us to enjoy all season long. So, as promised, today I'll share how I made all of my different ornaments. 



Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year, and I can't help but be inspired to decorate our house. However, since being thrifty is always forefront in my mind, I decided to save money this year by creating or thrifting most of the decorations myself. 

I decided my tree theme for this year would be lots of metallic ornaments mixed in with some natural elements. I also used some of the white ribbon (found during the same thrift store trip as when I found my tree) to wind throughout the entire tree. 
And I tied a bow on the top. And I'm sticking by my decision. :)



All in all, I ended up with about 200 things in my tree. Here are a few of my favorite creations.




All of the above ornaments were ones that I found at the thrift store and updated. Here's what they looked like before:



I used some basic craft supplies, and completely transformed those ol' thrift store ornaments into something a little more sparkly.



I used silver Rub n Buff (affiliate link) to turn the gold ornaments into looking like mercury glass. All you have do do is use just a tiny little bit and rub it on the ornament. That one little tube of rub n buff goes a long way. I probably used 10% of it on 50 ornaments.



I put tons of the silver ornaments in my tree, and I love the way they look.



I also added jumbo sequins to a few of the silver ornaments, and made them into mini disco balls, just by using some hotglue.




After making my little disco balls, I moved on to an old box of colorful ornaments I had from last year's tree that I wanted to make into glossy white ornaments.
To get a great shiny finish, simply use the top half of the ornament box and set the ornaments upright. I spray painted my ornaments with this white spray paint (affiliate link) and just turned them after they were dry to coat all sides.


They turned out super shiny and awesome, and were a great addition to the tree. 
And yes, a leaf will ruin atleast one of your ornaments. The universe demands it.


I also totally sassed up my thrift store pinecones...


...by standing in my kitchen for hours shaking pinecones in a box full of glitter. 
There also appears to be a giant green ribbon in the mix. I don't know. Too much crafting, too little time.


Anyways, after tons of glue, glitter, sequins, and some spray varnish to hold it all together, they look great in the tree!


I also just dipped a few pinecones in silver paint and glued a pearl to the end (as you can see in the corner of the below pic). In retrospect, I much prefer that method over the glitter. 




Along with the rub n buffed, disco balls, spray painted, and glittery pinecones, I also made some ornaments out of glass beads I found at the dollar store (just glued together over some ribbon) and some mirrored ornaments (using small mirrors I found at the craft store). Basically, I've realized that you can hotglue all sorts of stuff, attach it to a hook or some fishing line, and VOILA. ORNAMENT. 



And that, my friends is just a small portion of the handmade ornaments that ended up on this year's tree!



Thanks so much for stopping by today!

For the rest of my holiday posts, check out the following:



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November 27, 2012

DIY Christmas Tree Decor

I am so incredibly excited to share this year's tree with you!





I've been working for the past week on the tree, and it's so nice to finally have it done. I wanted my Christmas tree to be a mix of sparkly stuff and natural elements, and since I had a small budget, I had to make most of the decor myself.


Rather than a traditional tree topper, I decided to use some of the white satin ribbon (I got 50 yards of it for a dollar at the thrift store, remember?) and make a giant bow for the top of the tree. It turned out to be my favorite part of the tree.


I also wove the ribbon throughout the entire tree to fill in between the branches. I love the way it turned out.

The cats also love the ribbon, as they've decided it's their sole mission to remove it from the tree. :)

Here's Tootie showing off her excitement.



If you missed this post, let me tell you a little secret about this tree: I found it for $40 at a thrift store. It was a 6.5 ft. pre-lit tree, still new in a box. I charged over to it at the the store like a stampeding bull, and laid my body across it until I called someone over to help me cram it in my car. 
My previous tree was 4 feet tall, rivaled Charlie Brown's tree, and I was in desperate need of an upgrade. One day I'll upgrade to a live tree, but for now, the $40 thrift store tree seemed like the perfect solution.

 I'll be sharing all the juicy details tomorrow about how I made many of my DIY ornaments, but for now here's a few close ups of the tree decor.





And that's the Christmas Tree for this year! 

For all of the other Christmas posts, check out the following:

'Til then!



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November 22, 2012

How To Shop at a Thrift Store for Christmas Decor

When it comes to Christmas and holiday decor, thrift stores are really great places to find really cool stuff for a fraction of the price you would pay for retail holiday decor.

And we all know I love to save some dollars.


So, today I thought I would show you just how much cool stuff you can find at the thrift store for your holiday decorating. I'll show you what to look for and how you can incorporate it into your current decor. Enjoy!





How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!


When it comes to thrift stores and holidays, you really can find some great stuff. You have to spend some time searching, but it's totally worth the extra effort when you find great stuff for pennies on the dollar. 

For example, on my last thrift store trip, I found this pre-lit giant tree for $40. We didn't have a tree yet, so this was a total score.

How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

After looking at store-bought fake trees all morning and discovering that I would have to take out another mortgage on my house to get one, this $40 tree was a pretty cool find.

Case in point:
Hobby Lobby tree = $600. My tree (that looks almost the same) = $40.
How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

For a savings of $550, I'll create snow and flock my own tree. 

Who's with me?

 I was also able to find tons of awesome ornaments just ready to be re-purposed.
Well, I'll admit, they didn't look too awesome when I found them, but you have to see beyond what's there.

For example, you may see brassy gold 1980's ornaments. But I saw something totally different....keep reading.

How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!


From that little store, I snagged two boxes of gold ornaments for $2 and a bag of pinecones for $1. 

How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

And from that brassy mess, I created these:


How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor! Great ideas for saving money & creating a stylish home during the holidays!

and these:


How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

You can see the full tutorial for all of those ornaments here.

I also used a bunch of thrift store ornaments to make my ornament wreath (full tutorial can be found here). All of those big silver ornaments were once brassy thrift store ornaments that I covered with silver rub & buff.

How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

While I was at the thrift store, I also found a bunch of different things that I used to decorate my tree with, like these napkin rings.




They ended up looking great in the tree, tied with just a simple piece of ribbon.


How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

 I also found a spool of white ribbon for 99 cents. 50 yards of wide, satin white ribbon for less than a dollar. I totally did a little dance on that one. 

There are about a million things I can do with white ribbon this holiday season, and with 50 yards, I can do all million.


I ended up using tons of it to wrap around my tree and to make a bow for a tree topper.

How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!


How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

 I also scored 2 silver platters for $1 each and used them during a party. Can you guess which ones I got?


Nearby was also an aisle with tons of white ceramics and porcelain dishes. That would be a great way to stock up on inexpensive mugs and such if you are hosting holiday dinners and parties.

How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

The very last thing I found and brought home was a little silver beaded ornament for 99 cents. 


How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

I absolutely love it. It's become my favorite ornament this Christmas, and it adds a little bit of bling to my tree!


How to shop at a thrift store for Christmas decor: what to look for, what to buy, & what to do with it!! Cool ideas!

You can see more of our Christmas tree here.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my thrift store decor tips! Just remember, it doesn't have to be expensive to be beautiful!







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