Pretty-fied Christmas Tree Stand

Hey gang! In honor of my New Year’s resolution to blog more often, here is a quickie post for you! I know it’s a little late to be useful this year, but hopefully you will flag it as a great idea for NEXT year!

This ended up being a perfect solution for us and our lack of a tree skirt since our male cat insists on… ahem… “owning” any scrap of fabric within his reach. That same problem also inspired the Roman shades seen in this post since our floor-length curtains had to go bye-bye. More on that later. 😉

That’s a $6 apple basket from the craft store (I had to ask for it… they were using it on top of the aisle dividers to hold extra inventory).

I cut the bottom out with a jigsaw and then zipped the saw up the back to cut it open. I used a cedar shim to splay the basket open wide enough to cover the tree stand base. You can see it’s just propped in there somewhat precariously. I’ll probably staple or glue it in place when I take the tree down.

Next year I plan to use a skirt in addition to the basket… but I think it looks great either way!

I have to give full credit to pinterest and the pin / blog post that gave me the initial idea. Check out the link for more great Christmas decorating tips!

http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/christmas/christmas-decorating-tips-and-tricks.html

Happy New Year!!

Winter Wreath DIY

Are you experiencing withdrawals after putting away your Christmas decorations?

You, my friend, are not alone.

Now that the new year has come, my sparkle quotient is running seriously low. Luckily, I have a most brilliant husband who recommended I make some “winter” decorations that weren’t specific to any particular holiday. (Yes, we talk about how I feel about putting away Christmas decorations, and he listens sincerely and makes helpful suggestions.) I hit the ever-craft-loving jackpot with him, folks.

At his suggestion, I began setting aside blue, gold, and silver ornaments and accessories from my Christmas tree when I was putting it away. (I had a blue themed tree a few years in a row so there was plenty of wintery swag to spare.)

I also broke out my giant box o’ glue. Adam says I should join “hot gluers anonymous.”

Lastly, I had a straw wreath on hand from a Christmas wreath I never got around to making. Optional: The watchful cat who’s just mad he got kicked out of “his circle straw bed.”

By now you know I’m terrible at taking “in progress” pictures… (sorry!) but basically, I laid out all my materials around the outside edge to see how it all needed to be arranged to get the best coverage. Thank goodness for the poinsettias! Those made for a great flexible filler.

I just went one piece at a time, placing a mound of hot glue where I wanted each trinket, until I had the front of the wreath all covered. (I left the plastic wrap on the wreath and used a screw driver to dig “pilot holes” for certain sprigs as needed.)

Lastly, I found a little peacock guy that needed a home, and popped him into the bottom left of the finished wreath.

Here’s how it turned out:

It feels like this cost next to nothing since I had the supplies on hand, but realistically it’s probably a $15 or $20 project. The straw wreaths are $4-$5, clearance ornaments are maybe $10, then a few bucks for glue sticks. Total project time was maybe an hour, but I was also watching Jimmy Fallon Late Night so I was doing some serious multitasking. It probably wouldn’t take a more dedicated crafter more than 30 minutes or so. 😀

Anyway, hope this inspires a little “winter decorating” and decor recycling of your own! XOXO

Chic of the Week – Home Style

After moving in almost exactly 3 months ago, I’m amazed at both how much and how little we have gotten done! It turns out – and everyone told me as much – that the things I thought I would be focused on took a back seat to the things that actually DEMANDED our attention.

In 12 weeks we have managed to:
• Install a brand new and very color-coordinated roof
• Have a gas leak fixed and plumb our stove for gas (goodbye glass cooktop!)
• Install a new (amazing) gas range and over the range microwave
• Install a new dishwasher a few weeks later (despite having sworn two new appliances were enough) when we finally got over the sound, smell, and size of the old one
• Replace the original 1960s Sears garage door openers with newer, quieter ones that don’t make the whole house shake when they open
• Paint the kitchen cabinets and install cabinet and drawer pulls. What. A. Job!

So, with that in mind, decorating and furnishing has been the last thing on our minds.

But now that those biggies are out of the way, I’ve become recommitted to decorating little bits at a time. I mean REALLY little bits. It was major news when I bought pillows last week! (And I was super excited to find them in a 2 pack for $20 at TJ Maxx!)

They go perfectly with our red couch and give me some great color ideas for the rest of the room… Hello, blue! By the way, this photo looked much better on my iPhone screen. Sorry about that!

I also found this adorable x-side table and metal and glass lamp at goodwill. So snazzy!

I seem to have such great luck at Goodwill, but really it’s just a statistical probability that if I go to three different stores every weekend I’m pretty much going to find SOMEthing awesome. 🙂

Let’s hear it for baby steps!!

Little Ellie Originals

A site for all things pretty and practical

Decor

Pretty-fied Christmas Tree Stand

Winter Wreath DIY

Chic of the Week – Home Style