Thursday, December 4, 2008

christmas decor bailout

here is some stuff i've been working on for my christmas decor. in these times of overly rich people profitting from hardworking middle class taxes, it's time to take the spendy out of decking the halls. i'll admit it, i like to make stuff anyway, tough times or not, okay i like to.....craft. ick. i said the word, let's get a new word, "crafts" reminds me of old mustard colored, toll painted, chunky words with little dots around the edges. let's call it "extreme diy decorating for very talented and motivated people." that makes it sound more productive. so before you start feeling bad that i made all this stuff, and thinking about how much you need and want to do, i am not self-promoting, i am sharing. so take these ideas and run with 'em people. switch it up, change the color, whatever just get........ew... craftin'.


Homemade stockings. just felt, ribbon, and some stichin'




Christmas banner, pinking sheers, fabric ribbon and painted letters. i used the punch out part of a lettering scrapbooking kit. does that make sense? anyway you could use anyfont you wanted, just print it out, cut it out, voila a stencil!




the ornaments. i made the white snow flakes and aged 'em with gold paint. those berries are just a pick from the....ahem.. "craft" store. I made the stars out of brown paper bags and gold paint and glitter, when we were in dental school, i still love 'em. and my fave ornaments are the olive wood nativities. you can only get them in Israel supposedly but i'm sure they abound on ebay.

the scrawny and skirtless alaskan tree. this is as beautiful as they get.
can't find a good star topper, i've looked for years and have yet to see one that grabs me. any ideas?

got this gold garland last year on clearance, painted some wooden tags gold (paper ones'd work too) and then used rub ons for the letters, tied it with some cheapo ribbon.


now i'm not pretending to be fancy and fabulous, some of you are probably thinking, "quick get me to the nearest potterybarn.com." i think that a lot too when i'm done with making stuff. but maybe just maybe i've got your wheels turning and maybe just maybe you'll share your wonderful ideas. next time: homemade christmas gifts! (oh stop cringing)

23 comments:

Jenny said...

Thanks for sharing your ideas, Mags! I'm glad that I've benefited from your craftiness. I love our Merry Christmas banner! I think I'd be a little more crafty if I lived closer to a craft store. You've almost motivated me to make a trip to Santa Fe to get crafty!

Kritta22 said...

What great ideas! You are so crafty!!
Target has some cute tree toppers. We bought ours for 10 bucks. Love that!
Your tree is wonderful!

annelisa said...

You are so creative Maggie! Wvery thing you do turns out great!

Strupp Family said...

Wow, that's really impressive. So creative. I'm sorry though, I have no creative bone in my body. So why don't you just make some of these things for the both of us?

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Melinda said...

Looks great Mags, I like what you've done! I think your tree is pretty. It must be fun to go tree hunting in Alaska.

Shannon said...

Wow, what talent Mags! Check out my blog for a chocolate giveaway contest!

Adri said...

So fun, Mags. I'm with you on the word 'craft.' Especially after visiting the home of one of Chad's assistants. She lives WAY in the country, so you can guess what kind of crafting she's up to this time of year. Imagine silk ball ornaments with crocheted overlays, crocheted angels on turquoise painted horse shoes, and those foamy ornament balls covered in quilted/plaid fabrics. I'm all for your more modern name for the 'other' kind of crafters...

Amanda said...

Way cute! I'm telling you, I'll just visit you or your blog each holiday and I'll have all the ideas I need!

So, today Meishe said she wants to go live with Avery and be part of her family. That's a compliment to you, right? As for me, I'm just thinking, "What did I do wrong?!?" Oh well, I'll just chalk it up to the fact that y'all are just great!

Jessie said...

Awesome stuff Mags! I may just have to take some of your ideas and run! I still have the live laugh love blocks that you made and sold back in Louisville and love them! My question is where in the world do you find the time???

Story Family said...

Way to go, Mags! I'm super impressed with all of the sewing and "crafting" that goes on at your house.

Wanna know how I 'craft'/decorate for the holidays?? I wait three weeks until it's all 50-75% off and stock up. Can't beat that for economical!

Mary Monster Mary said...

I'm definitely not cringing. I think it looks great. I've got to show you my little banner I made for thanks giving. I love it and planned making them for all the holidays but . . well you know I'm a starter not a finisher. :) you'll see my craftiness in the primary gifts your children bring home. The plumber tape star is my favorite. I love them. It killed my hands to make them. I really shoudl wear gloves but I just don't like them. You could make about 50 of them for about 12 bucks. That's a deal.

Emilee said...

You are amazing! Look at your fun ideas. I love that garland. And the banner. And the stockings. Well. . . everything, of course.
However, I think we ought to just own the word "craft." Just make it ours and it will lose all those crazy ugly connotations.

Nicole said...

Cute stuff! Especially the garland!

Nicole said...

My personal favorite are the cinnamon stick carolers. We hang our carolers on our tree every year and think of our dear friends! Love your style and extreme DIY home improvement projects. Move over crafters!!! :)

Seth said...

why come you are so good at crafts?...i was not blessed with the talent in this area....

ps this is angie, too lazy to log out seth.

Jamie said...

look at you! a new crafter coming out of the closet!! :) it looks great!

Lisa said...

So cute, Maggie. You should sell on Etsy. I would buy.

Kim Gail said...

Got nice Christmas decoration ideas through your post, thanks for sharing.

Emilee said...

And Mags, they have these great birchwood stars at Target in the home decor section (not the holiday section). They are all rustic, yet chic, and I love them. I think they are supposed to be wall hangings, but they would make an awesome topper. (I think my plurals/singulars got mixed up somewhere in that sentence.)

n8, Shannon, Allie, Janessa & Tommy said...

Maggie I am so happy that you guys have a blog! Nate and I were just talking this week and wondering where you guys had ended up! Honestly, Alaska never crossed my mind! Your kids are so cute! The last I had heard (from your sister I ran into at Subway in Beaver a few years ago) you had just had Avery. I can't believe how time flies!

McDonald Army Brats*** said...

okay i am coming over to see! I love your stockings. I need to make one for kleigh. I absolutely love your garland, i love all of it! I got some awesome berries on clearance today that were 39cents for each bunch. they are blueish silver. you were totally loving my hairdo today weren't ya! :) so glad the Christmas party is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scott and Haley said...

http://tjbrowns.blogspot.com/ Mags I just ran into Janell (Randall) and Trent's Blog and thought You might like it.

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