I bought a cardboard cone from Michael’s in November with plans to make some kind of tree out of it. I determined late in the game that I wanted to make an ornament tree, and am slightly ashamed to say that I didn’t finish this process until Saturday. At least it’s done and sitting beautifully on my coffee table in time for Christmas. After waiting too long to determine that I wanted to cover the cone in glass ball ornaments, I ended up going to multiple places looking for mini glass ball ornaments to make the tree. I ended up snagging some small ornaments from Michael’s, some from Target, and some from Merrifield Garden Center, a local nursery that has a beautiful Christmas shop in season. At first, I was just going to do red, silver, green, and white. After purchasing ornaments in these colors, I called an audible and […]

Looking for a few last minute decorating ideas of before Christmas? I’ve seen a number of really cute wreaths this year made of all sorts of different materials.  Via Apartment Therapy  Via Design*Sponge Via Design*Sponge Via Apartment Therapy While I would’ve loved to attempt some of these more complex wreaths, based on my limited time and budget, I had to go for two cheap and easy options. Below are two very easy examples of wreaths you can make to add some quick Christmas cheer to your humble abode. Tinsel Wreath I chose to make a tinsel wreath because I love the vintage look of tinsel garland, and I already had a bunch of tinsel garland on hand. If you don’t have any, it’s available super cheap at the dollar store.  Our large pile of tinsel garland that came from Roomie 1’s dad’s house Making a tinsel wreath […]

Using bows and ribbons in your home is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to add some Christmas to every room. You’ve probably seen bows in stores before, and you may have even noticed that Michael’s charges quite a bit for them. But, as I am about to show you, bows are actually quite easy to make yourself. And with all of the Christmas ribbon at Michael’s 60% off this week (at least in NoVA), now is a great time to add a little last minute cheer to your home and your presents. Bow on my wreath For this type of bow, you will need some wired ribbon. Wired ribbon is good because it lets you form the bow so that it keeps its shape. Home Goods and Michaels are great places to look for ribbon right now because most holiday ribbons come in longer rolls than the regular ribbon, and […]

As I mentioned in my previous post, my little sister lives in NYC. She’s a student in NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and shares a tiny apartment with two fellow NYU students on the Lower East Side. Being from such a Christmassy family, she wanted to decorate her digs. If you’ve ever seen a New York apartment, adding ANYTHING else for the holidays is difficult. Solution? Tiny tree and wall décor. My sis bought this 3’ pre-lit Alberta Tree for about $20 ($26 w/tax and shipping) from Target and placed it on an end table (actually a nightstand) next to her TV. The lighting on the tree was a little sparse, so she added a strand of 100 lights to it. She bought an assortment of ornaments of different sizes, colors, and textures from Kmart and hung them on the tree. Finally, she used a star that she had […]

Partly because I was on a budget and party because the selection of large tree-toppers was totally picked-over, I decided to make my own tree-topper using materials from Michael’s. I bought four of the same glittered branches for $1 each (they were 50% off) at Michael’s and wired them around the tallest branch on the tree. The branch had a light on it, allowing the light to reflect off the glitter on the branches. Glittery branches from Michael’s — $1 each Branches wired to “trunk” of the tree At the base of the branches, I used to floral wire to attach clusters of silver glass ball ornaments. This gave the tree topper more interest and hid the white plastic base of the branches. Finally, I took smaller silver bead ornaments that I bought in Michael’s mini tree section, wired them into clusters of five, and places them among the larger […]

Our grown-up Christmas Tree. Pay no mind to the hand-me down, work-in-progress backround decor. I love Christmas trees, and I am so excited to have my own full sized tree in my house this year. Christmas trees make a room feel warm and cozy, and they’re a wonderful opportunity to really personalize your holiday décor. When decorating your tree, keep in mind that the Christmas season is a very personal time of year, and your holiday decorations should reflect that as much as possible. Your Christmas tree should never look like it could be picked up and dropped in a department store or someone else’s house; it should look yours to the max. So how do you decorate a tree that looks beautiful but still incorporates personal elements? It’s actually quite easy. Figure out where you want to put the tree This step is important because it will determine what […]