Thursday, December 4, 2014

Christmas Decor | DIY Wreath Tutorial

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I broke my own rule and broke out my Christmas tree before Thanksgiving. I know, I know... each holiday deserves its time to shine, and the tendency for Christmas stuff to show up in stores before Halloween is absurd. But, in my defense, it was only a few days before Thanksgiving. And the biggest reason... I have a toddler who is obsessed with all of the Christmas trees and holiday decorations she's been seeing around lately. Every time we passed a decorated tree or some lights she would yell "Christmas tree!" or "Christmas lights!" Then, she would proceed to tell me, "Mama, I love Christmas trees sooo much!" What was I supposed to do?

It also didn't help that I found my dream Christmas tree. I've always loved the look of a flocked tree, and this one spoke to me. Last year we went the real Christmas tree route. And, while I enjoyed the smell, I'm really loving the idea of not having to string lights on or water this one. The pang of guilt that I felt playing a part in the death of a tree is also eliminated by an artificial tree. Furthermore, the flocking makes for a fun story. My nephews were confused about it, asking if it was snow. I told them it was special snow from the North pole that never melts--that we had to special order it from the elves. My four year old nephew exclaimed "It's not even cold! That's so cool!" I like being cool. ...or, at least, having the cool tree.

Once we got the tree we had to immediately put it up because... well, Klair. We turned on some Christmas music, assembled it, and danced around the living room. I want to add some more decorations to it, and I'm on the hunt for the perfect star or tree topper... but I think it already looks quite nice considering how simple our ornaments are.

With the tree up, I had to get some of my other decorations out as well. I decided to go with a white, silver, gold, and blue theme. I feel like this is the first Christmas since we've been married that I'm really happy with my decorating efforts. Below are the details of each of our decorations:

The White Wreath

I saw the idea for this wreath on Lilluna.com, and it sounded simple enough. It was. I'll admit that the process was a bit lengthier than I had anticipated, but I think anyone could pull it off with enough patience.

Materials: 

A foam wreath. You can buy one from any craft store, I chose white because I figured it would blend better if any showed through. I also chose the 18" because it was the biggest one they sold and I needed something large for our big old mirror.

Coffee filters. We used about 200 (2 100 count packages) on this wreath.

A glue gun with lots of glue sticks. I probably used 6 glue sticks or so on my little gun. Oh and a plate to set it on to help minimize the mess on your table.

A sharpie or other fat pen. This comes in handy to help prevent burning your fingers.

Directions:

Heat up your glue gun. Separate your coffee filters into singles. I enlisted the help of my very sweet and patient husband who separated the coffee filters while I glued them on. We popped in a movie and were done within a couple of hours.

Take one coffee filter,  push the pen into the center and shape the filter around the pen (don't puncture the paper). Then, place a dab of glue on the bottom of the coffee filter and press it against the foam wreath using the pen to push it down (if you use your fingers you can easily burn yourself because the filter paper is so thin). Continue to do this on the top and sides of the foam wreath until it is completely covered. (You don't need to do the back if it is going to lie flat against a surface like a wall or, in my case, a mirror.)

**note** to make it look even you may need to go back in and add a filter here and there--just push the others aside and fill in any gaps. You might also need to grab a pair of scissors and trim some a little to even things out.

The Blue Painted Bottles with Silver and Gold Sprigs

I actually made these vases awhile back as a spring/summer craft. But, the nice thing about the color I chose is that it also works well for a blue Christmas. I simply swapped out my reddish-orange flowers for some gold and silver sprigs and... voila! They became Christmas worthy. You can see my tutorial for how to make these painted beauties here-- painted bottle centerpiece tutorial.

Other Decor

Silver Ornaments (matte, sparkly, and shiny)- Target
Twig Cone-Shaped Sparkly Christmas Trees (on the mantel)- Target
Frosted Garland with Pinecones (on the mantel)- Michael's
Gold and Silver Sparkly Sprigs (in the vases)- Michael's
Gold Sparkly Deer (on the mantel)- Michael's (They were having a 50% off sale and I was able to use a 25% off coupon making my purchases 75% off! If you watch their sales you can get some killer deals).
Joy Pillow- Target. I was going to buy a bunch of Christmas themed pillows until I realized that all I needed was this pillow to add a little Christmas flair to the neutral nature of our couch. To my husband this just sounds like "I spent less money" which he is very happy about.

I still have some work to do--some ideas to execute (thanks Pinterest) and some stockings to hang--but I'm really happy with how things are looking so far. I love dimming our lights, lighting up the fire place, switching the Christmas tree lights on, and cranking up the Christmas music--the classics of course. It seems all Klair wants to do these days is sing Christmas music, and I am more than okay with it.

7 comments:

  1. I love all the white. It's so simple and beautiful.

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  2. Autumn, you need to do a home tour on your blog sometime! Your taste is impeccable - seriously all of those neutrals and that puckered couch, (and that JOY pillow) I'm drooling!

    And that tree - I have always loved white trees, there is something about them that seems more, i don't know - pure and elegant. It looks like you have brought winter inside your home, too! It's stunning. Yay for Chrismtas!!

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    Replies
    1. Kayla, you are so sweet! You seriously made my day. Decorating this house has been such a work in progress, and I'm finally happy with it. (I can't take all the credit, Sam is actually really good at decorating so it's been a joint effort). I will be posting a little more of our house soon, we just finished our baby's nursery so that will be fun to show :)

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  3. You have such a beautiful home! I love how cozy it looks, and the neutral colors! Your Christmas decor was so pretty, too. I can't wait to have my own space to decorate!
    xo
    Kristina
    www.eccentricowl.com

    ReplyDelete
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