Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

3 Ways to Easily Update Your Home for the Holidays

Want to spruce up your home for the holidays without breaking the bank? Decorating doesn't have to be expensive or over the top, it just needs to be YOU! 


It's hard to scroll through Pinterest and Instagram after Halloween without being bombarded with photos of beautiful Christmas trees perfectly adorned with ribbons, ornaments, and lights. Open Pinterest and your screen is instantly flooded with holiday recipes, crafts, and ornately decorated tables and mantels. As much as I want to have a Pinterest and Insta worthy home for Christmas, I tend to stick to a few simply basics to give my home a holiday feel. Here are my top 3 ways to get your home ready for the holidays.



1. Trees. While I am dreaming of the day when I can afford a King of Christmas or Balsam Hill Christmas tree, I have settled on a simple  6.5 ft tree that I bought on Black Friday 10 years ago from Michaels. It makes me itch when I connect the pieces, and half the lights don't work... but I just love the way that added a tree (any tree) to a space instantly makes it feel more cozy! Over the years I have added some mini trees in varying sizes to my Christmas decor. Smaller trees are great for shelves, bookcases, table tops, and centerpieces. Green and flocked trees are my favorite, but there are also trees made of yarn, wood, cork, glitter, brushes, and more. 

When we lived in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment, we didn't have space for a regular sized Christmas tree. Instead we had three small trees that I would place on the back of our upright piano and decorate them with teeny tiny ornaments and lights. It was all we could do, but it made a huge difference in the way our small apartment felt. 



2. Lights. The yearly debate over colored vs white vs warm white lights happens every year. Personally, I love the simple look of white and warm white lights both inside and outside of our home. It allows me to change up the other decor without having to buy new lights to fit my color scheme. With the right lights, you don't have to add much else to create a wintry look and feel in your home. There is something magical about snuggling on the couch with a soft blanket, and your family to watch a Christmas movie, that is made even more fun by only have a few strands of Christmas lights to add a warm glow to your home. 



3. Textiles. Not only can they add texture to any space, but it's a way to have fun with patterns, styles, and colors. You can add bold, colorful throw blankets and pillows to bring in a cheery design palette. If you like to keep things neutral, consider the look above by my friend Tammy Kate on Instagram @paisleypearhome She used a simple worded pillow along with a fun ticking stripe (from my Etsy shop) to create a cozy corner in her home using simple neutral colors. 

The thing I love most about adding textiles to a space, is that you can instantly change the entire look and feel of your home by adding a few simple items. Pillow covers are an easy way to get a whole new look for less than buying an entirely new set of pillows. Neutral throw blankets can be used year round too! 


You can always do more, but these easy 3 updates will get your home ready for the holidays in a flash!

DIY Fabric and Twine Ball Decor

 

If you are like me, you have lots of extra craft supplies laying around your home. I will admit, I am a bit of a craft hoarder... especially when it comes to fabric. So, I decided to use up some of those materials I have taking up space in my office and create something fun for the holidays! 


Merry Christmas Tag - Primary Presidency

I put together this little tag for our Primary Christmas gifts to the children this year. I used a 2.5" circle punch to cut mine out. I will update this post with a picture of our finished gifts once they are all put together. For now, you can download your copy and start punching out your circles.


Download your here and attach it to your gift! 


FREE Happy Holidays Banner Download


It's that time of year to start decorating for the holidays... if you haven't already. I put together this fun country style holiday banner that's free for you guys to download and use.

I punched holes on the top corners of each letter and put a ribbon through it to hang mine up. You can get as creative as you want with yours!



If you download and use your banner, please post on social media with the hashtag #mamasholidaybanner so we can see all the fun ideas you have for using it! Watch my social media for how I used mine as well as tips and ideas for what you can do with yours!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Burlap Christmas Tree Tutorial


I created a super easy tutorial on how to make one of the cute burlap Christmas tree decorations that you see all over the blogosphere this time of year. When I say easy.... I mean... like way, super, easy-peasy!! 


Here is what you need: 
• a craft cone (from a local craft store)
• a stack of burlap paper 6" square (mine is from Joann's)
• hot glue gun and glue
• scissors


That's it! You don't even have to have much in the way of crafting skills to make this one! 

This burlap paper is fairly new (at least in my neck of the woods) but it's totally awesome!! It is burlap on one side and paper coated on the back. This means that you can cut the burlap into whatever shape you want and it won't fray!!! 


I made this banner for the dessert table at a church Christmas party. See how you can cut through the burlap paper!??! I even used a hole punch to string my twine!! 


Okay... enough drooling over this cool paper... start by tearing out a few pages of your burlap paper. 


Then cut those into strips. Mine are 1-3/4" wide and I cut them across the width of the paper so I didn't have a piece with the hole in it. ☺


Now that your strips are cut, you are going to "fringe" it. Use your scissors and cut 3/4 of the way through the width of your strip. I made 4 cuts in my first couple of strips. 


Now you are going to create the base for your tree. Using your hot glue gun, glue sections of the paper onto the cone about 1 inch at a time. Be sure to put the glue near the bottom of the cone because you ONLY want to GLUE THE BOTTOM of the paper (with the fringed edge on the TOP) to the cone. 

Once you have glued the bottom of the paper to the cone, go back and glue the fringed top down. You will need to slightly overlap the fringed pieces so that your paper lays relatively flat. Repeat with another strip of paper until the bottom of your cone is covered. You will need to trim off any excess paper but be sure to overlap just a tiny bit when you add a new strip so there is no gap in your paper for you to see the cone. 


Once the bottom of your cone is covered you can being to build your tree! Using a new strip of fringed paper, glue the TOP onto your cone. Your new paper should overlap the bottom layer about half way. Only glue the top part of your paper so that your fringed pieces can move. As you glue you will need to stretch or compress the paper so you can "mold" it to the rounded shape of the cone. This lifts the fringe pieces slightly as you glue. 


When you add the next strip be sure to overlap slightly so that your fringed pieces keep a consistent look.


Do the same thing for the next 2 rows. As your cone gets narrower, you will find that it is easier to work with smaller pieces of paper. They are less likely to bunch up as you glue. On my fourth row, I cut my strip in half so that I had smaller pieces to work with. 


When you get to the end of a strip and there is still some space left, cut a piece to fit and glue it down. Trust me... it's gonna happen more than once.... but you can't really screw this one up. If the space is too big for just one piece.. then use two! 


The higher up on the cone you go, the smaller the piece you want to use. When I got to my 5th row, I cut smaller fringe pieces. I cut them in half, and then fringed each half into quarters instead of thirds. I even used pieces that only had two fringe pieces on them. 


Closer to the top, I made my strips skinnier. So instead of being 1-3/4" wide, they were 1 inch wide. The last row on my tree I simple glued single fringe pieces. The cut a very small triangle piece to cover the point of the tree that the fringe didn't cover. 


When you are done, your tree will look like the left side of this cone. To curl the pages gently fold the bottom of the fringe piece. You don't want to crease it... just bend it a little so that it flares out. 

When you are done you should probably pull off the glue gun strings.... I obviously haven't done that yet... but I'm trying to get this up during nap time... and didn't have any time to spare! {you mom's know how that goes...}


Ta-da! You just made a very expensive looking burlap Christmas tree! Now, go and impress your friends with your mad glue gun skills! 


Month Long of Christmas Day 2

Have you ever noticed how you can smell Christmas?!?! Starting after Thanksgiving the air is thick with the aroma of baking cookies, pine trees, snow, cinnamon... and nothing says Christmas more than a gingerbread house!



You know you made them as kids... and I'm sure yours all turned out like these.....
Well... here is how mine usually turned out...

...made with graham crackers.. usually on a plate covered with tin foil. By the time I was finished my house would be practically collapsing because of the weight of all the frosting and candy I had covered the sides and roof with. BUT... I had so much fun and it still tasted delicious... even if it was falling apart. The best part about it was that I could save it and eat candy off my house for days!

I have tried making my own gingerbread house pieces from a mix. If you can do it... you are superwoman!! I couldn't do it at all. I tried making template pieces out of parchment paper and they always came out deformed. So, for anyone like me - I am a total advocate of buying a kit!!! You can still buy your own candies (the ones in the kits are good - but I like chocolate on mine!) The kits are reasonably priced too which makes it a really sweet deal!

We made one with my daughter last year for the first time and, yes, she was covered in frosting in the first 2 minutes - and, yes, she probably ate more candy than ended up on the house - but it's the experience that counts!! SHE LOVED IT, and it was a great way to spend some quality time together as a family!

If you make yours close to Christmas, use it as a centerpiece for your table! Then you can munch on it after dinner!

A Month Long of Christmas!!!

[Before I explain... please enter my Seventh Generation giveaway... only a few more hours left... enter here!]

So, everyone does Christmas in July - but I figured... why not do it in September?!?! Now that the kids are all back in school [or headed back in a couple weeks] we all finally have all that spare time to get these craft done! [like we really ever have spare time...]




So, during the month of September I will be posting [hopefully everyday (but Sunday)] various tutorials, craft projects, decorating ideas, party tips, recipes, etc.. Please feel free to share any thoughts and/or comments you have. Or if you have a super great Christmas idea... PLEASE e-mail me [kdbuggieboutique [!at]yahoo.com] I would love to share your ideas!!




To kick off my Christmas month... what better way to do it then with a FREE Christmas Planner courtesy of The Executive Homemaker.




To download your copy visit The Executive Homemaker's website here. It will help you to:



  • keep track of all your Christmas Party needs

  • keep track of gift ideas for family members [and extended family members]

  • keep track of gifts for friends, teachers, goody plates you will make, etc.

  • keep a record of your Christmas memories this year.


If you are one of those people who likes to be super organized, use this printable to create your own Christmas Binder to keep all your recipes, party ideas, craft ideas, decorating tips, gift suggestions, and family functions all in one place!!