Day 40: Day The easiest Christmas felt garland to ever exist. step one. draw a christmas tree stencil (as big or as small as you’d like). pin on felt. 

step three. with embroidery needle and floss (or thin yarn, or even sewing thread) sew through the tops of all the trees. 

Of course, you can trim up the ties a bit too… or add other items. I added hearts, cause, you know… they are cute and of course: easy. Happy decorating! 

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Thank you SO much to Drea from Oh Dear Drea! What a LOVELY guest post. I LOVE that garland! Thank you for joining my 50 DIY Days of Christmas!

50 DIY Days:

Day 38: I’m Kelsey and my little blog is Roofresh. I love crafting, especially with paper! I decided to do a DIY pinwheel tree topper because I like how versatile it is. You can make your tree whatever color-scheme you want and make a ton of little baby-sized pinwheels to set on the tree branches (which is great for little kids that have a hard time hanging ornaments). My favorite is using book pages for pinwheels, but I’ve done an assortment today that have a bit of a retro feel, because, why not?!

Start by picking some scrapbook paper that is double sided. I use 12×12 paper to make a nice big pinwheel that makes a statement, but obviously, choose whatever size you want. The 12×12 is nice because you don’t have to trim it down and mess with making a perfect square

Use a ruler and X-acto knife to cut diagonally down each corner towards the center. I cut six inches down for the 12×12, but you might need to practice the right cuts on a piece of paper that you don’t care very much about. I like using a grafted pad underneath so that I can line my ruler up with it and make sure that I have a straight line. 

Using a paper-hole punch or a book drill like the one shown, punch holes in the top corner of all four opposing corners and one in the middle.

Pull together all four corners towards the center to create the shape of the pinwheel.

Use a grommet to secure the center.

Use some craft wire to thread a button of your choice and twist the wire to keep the button in place. String the rest of the wire through the center of the grommet and thread only one piece of the wire through a pea-sized bead on the other side of the pinwheel. Tie both ends of the wire together on the back side of the bead. This is to make sure that the wire does not slide back through the grommet what the pinwheel is waiting to be hung. Make sure that you have enough slack on the wire to tie around the top branch of the tree. 

There you have it! A fun crafty tree-topper that you can make to your liking!

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50 DIY Days:

Hey there! My name is Torie and you can usually find me hanging out at Twenty Five Design Blog talking about my crazy 2 year old, and sporting a baby bump all while trying to keep fashionable. That’s a hard thing to do when you are pregnant!

I originally saw these vases on Pinterest and thought they would be a pretty center piece for the holidays. They actually were really easy to do and look so pretty in the evening.

What you will need:

– A glass vase. (you can do as many as you’d like. These were left over from our wedding and just sitting in the garage.)

– Twine, string or yarn. The thickness depends on what type of look you are going for.

– Scotch tape.

– White spray paint.

– Scissors

Optional:

-Coffee beans for filler

-Tea lights (or any kind of candle will do)

The first thing you will do is make sure your glass is clean. After that you want to flip your vase over and tape down one end of your twine. The picture shows the tape in the middle, but I found that putting it closer to the edge works better (where the arrow is pointing).

Now you want to wrap your vase very tightly with the twine/string. Trust me, keep it tight other wise it will fall off. You don’t have to make it perfect either. Play around with it until you get your desired look and then tape the other end to the bottom.

Next, take you vase outside and place it on an old newspaper.

This next step will depend on what type of look you are going for with your paint. You can spray it very sheer or apply it heavy. I would suggest heavier but not to where you can’t see through the glass at all–just enough to wear you will see a bit of the candle light peaking through.

Let that dry completely. Then you will take the tape off of the bottom and remove your twine.

You can either put a candle inside or follow the next couple of steps for something different.

It was hard to find at the store, but I got a pack of whole (not ground) coffee beans and filled my vases about 1/4 of the way each.

Then I placed a tea light inside.

Make sure you use a long match or lighter to light your candles. They are hard to get to other wise.

And now you have a beautiful new center piece for very little cost. You can add garland, stones or any other embellishment to go around the outside of your vases. I will be spray painting some more coffee beans and scattering them around the plate that the vases are on.

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Thank you SO much to Torie from Twenty Five Designs! Those are perfect for a sweet Christmas table centerpiece! 😀 Thank you for joining my 50 DIY Days of Christmas!

50 DIY Days:

Day 32: Hello Paper Mama readers! I’m Liz from Yellow Finch Designs Blog and I’m SO excited to share some decorating tips with you today. There are so many amazing crafters out there so I thought I could talk a bit about decorating on a budget.Every year I like to switch things up and decorate a little differently from the previous year. The easiest way to stick to your budget is to turn to nature, make a quick stop at the craft store and gather some thrifted items. Here in Ohio we have an abundance of evergreens so I decided to use this as my main piece for decorating. I also gathered pine cones and dug out an old box of sand dollars. To jazz up some of these pieces I decided a little spray paint would do the trick. I like to stick with just a couple colors so I choose red and silver. 

You’ll notice on my blog that I have a passion for words so I wanted to add some holiday cheer with simple words. I thought JOY and PEACE would do the trick. 

Once the items are dry it’s time to get to work. I gathered old clear vases, vintage milk glass and clear bottles and arranged them throughout the house. I always like to focus on my living room because we have a large mantel that is the focal point of the room. Once my containers were set up I added my evergreens and pine cones. To get some color involved I used an inexpensive garland of berries that I cut and placed here and there. I wrapped the remaining garland around the iron banister on the stairs. 

More tips for Holiday decorating:1. Choose two or three colors for your holiday palette. If you incorporate too many colors it may seem busy. This year I choose very neutral colors, but it would be fun to add some bold turquoise or lime green with silver, white or gold.2. When arranging items group them into odd numbers. For example, three candle holders or five small vintage vases.3. Use this time to rearrange for a fresh feel in your home. In order to set up our tree I have to move some furniture. I always love the new look and tend to appreciate my home even more during the holidays.4. Get creative. Use branches, leaves, pine cones, shells, ribbon, paper, garland, candles, material and anything else you can think of. And remember, you can change the look of anything with a little spray paint.5. Express yourself and have fun! I love decorating for the holidays because it’s fun and it’s a great way to involve my family. I like to add a little something to each room and I let the kids use their imagination when it comes to their rooms and their tree. 

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Thank you SO much to Elizabeth from Yellow Finch Designs! What a LOVELY guest post. I love your DIY decor! 😀 Thank you for joining my 50 DIY Days of Christmas!

50 DIY Days: