Deck the Halls

I wanted to share some of my Christmas decorating, and some tips for low/no cost projects.

As I said before, twinkle lights- so cheap, easy, and instantly make everything more festive. I even used them in the kitchen.

This little tree was something new I tried this year. I simply got some branches from the backyard, spray-painted them white, stuck them in a vase, and decorated.

Wrap stuff up- I'm sure I am not the first to do this, but seriously, this is probably the easiest thing you can do. I used scraps of fabric for this little bundle of packages. It is 2 empty boxes and a book. haha- Rob was concerned about what book, but I assured him he won't be needing it between now and Christmas. And of course, frames on the wall. I tried something a little different this year- brown paper packages...

I took this card display idea from an old Domino issue....ooooh Domino! How I miss you!!

It is an easy, creative way to display Christmas cards. And it is great because every day you can add to it and change it if you need to. This large bulletin board cost under $10 at Target and then you can either use wrapping paper or fabric to cover. I used paper.

Still LOVE this Christmas banner, an Etsy purchase from last year.

Oh Christmas tree...

Sparkle on the dining room buffet

Of course, festive, new pillow covers

Also, don't hesitate to change/put away furniture if you need to accommodate a tree or whatever, especially if you have a small space. Our living room chair is up in the closet (soon to be office) for the time being and we had to move the small dresser from next to the sofa.

Hope you are enjoying this Christmas season and able to take some time to slow down from all the hustle!

An Etsy Holiday

You may or may not know that I love Etsy. Unfortunately my Etsy Fridays have fallen by the wayside, but maybe I will get back into doing them after things quiet down from the holidays.

Anyway, I didn't take the complete "buy only handmade" pledge this Christmas, but I have been really trying to find gifts on Etsy before looking other places. In fact, my goal is to not do a lot of in-store shopping at all. Between Etsy and Amazon, I've been doing pretty well. Although, you do have to weed through things since there is just so much on Etsy. I would much rather be sitting in my warm house in my pjs doing that than out at a store in the freezing cold.

The one thing that I decided to do this year was purchase our Christmas cards on Etsy. I've never been a huge fan of the photo cards (only because they feel impersonal), but they do make mailing out a ton of cards so much easier. Etsy has a lot of great options, but a lot of them are to purchase the design, but you print out. Well, I am not savvy enough for that, so I was able to find a great seller with great designs at a GREAT price. They arrived yesterday and I am so pleased with how they turned out. They are also on a heavier cardstock (instead of photo paper), which I makes them much nicer.

Here are a few of the designs you can choose from- I won't post a picture of ours, only because I don't want those receiving one to see it before it arrives in the mail.

Consider Lillies

I suppose I can't really blog about any gifts that we have bought incase the recipient happens to read this. So, just one more shop to mention....

The great thing about Etsy is that you can find things that you can't find anywhwere else. One of my favorite things to look at is stationary items. I went a little crazy in this shop. She has SOOO much in her shop, and it's not more than you would spend on cute tags at Target. That's what is so great about buying handmade- it makes you feel like a better person! The money goes directly to the seller, not some huge corporation. Some people are even raising money like things for adoption (like the above store where we got our cards). So, I don't feel guilty even if I do spend a little more money on something (like gift tags!) because it just feels like the right thing to do.

Lazy Day Cottage

Anyway, love this store, and love that she literally has thousands of tags. I bought a bunch to use on gifts, and to hopefully use in some decor around the house.

Speaking of decor around the house, hopefully I will have a post about what I've done around here soon. I have a couple more things I am working on. But, here is my biggest piece of holiday decor advice- use twinkle lights inside. They make everything more festive. And use the ones on white wires- Target has them seriosuly cheap. Here's a little preview for you...

So, are you buying handmade this year? Let me know if you've found something fabulous.