More Budget Decorating

I got this idea from  Emily Rose at http://www.simplyvintagegirl.com/blog/index.php/2010/11/27/the-thankful-tree/

It's almost time to take down those Christmas decorations!  Thinking back on the course of the year, I was pondering that controversial posts about what holidays Christians choose to celebrate.   One of my friends who chooses not to celebrate Christmas made a good point.  Why not celebrate Jesus every day? I agree.

So, off to the Thankful Tree~

This was great Thanksgiving idea!  I have friends who have made a whole Thankful Wall in their house.  I love that.  So we are going to leave this little tree up for most of the year and see haw many thankful tags we can add. 

Look at this one:

I know you can't read it.  But it says MOM!  Emma made that.  I am thankful for her too.  More than she knows.

The best thing about this is that it didn't cost me a dime.  My hedge row not only has evergreen, it has deciduous bushed too.  I used scrapbooking paper and the same ribbon that was in my bathroom for Christmas.  I had a heart paper punch that was a pretty good size for my tree.

Bring on Valentines Day!

Decorating for Christmas on a Tight Budget of $0 Part 2

I finally finished it.  But I cheated.  Okay-okay, I spent $5.  That's it though.  No more.  I couldn't get my commissioned artists to work fast enough--so no homemade snowflakes.  Instead I went to Walgreens and bought 2 packages of glitter flakes, for $5. 

I find that little cheap greenery garlands can be spruced up with ornaments, figurines, etc.  I have had this garland for many years.  I made it sparkle a bit with the glitter flakes.  I suppose, if you were determined to spend nothing, you could make paper snowflakes and glitter em up.  I used sticky-tack to put some up on the mirror.  Not sure if they will stay through all of the humidity, I'll let you know.

When I first redecorated my bathroom, I decided to give my wedding bouquet a makeover.  Otherwise, it would have sat in a closet all of these years......So I replaced them into a pretty little urn.  Pretty easy to just tuck a few snowflakes in.

What a cute little boy :)

BEFORE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so I had fun.  Now onto the rest of the house.

Decorating for Christmas on a Tight Budget of $0

I have startling news for you:  we are in a recession.  Ha!  Well, unless you have been hiding in a cave for the last few years, that is not new news.  This year promises to be extra hard for us as my husband's work has dropped off early.  I am fortunate to have a job to fall back on, but we will once again be scrimping for the holidays.

I love decorating my house for Christmas.  My fondest memories of childhood include sitting in front of the Christmas tree listening to Elvis belt out "Blue Christmas" from our record player speakers.  I used to just sit and bask in the beauty of the lights and sparkling decorations.  The tradition of decorating is important to me.  I hope to pass on those traditions to my children, along with some new customized DEVINE family traditions.

A couple of years back, I bought a shabby chic shower curtain that I was in love with and redecorated my bathroom around it.  Unfortunately, I do not have to many Christmas decorations that fit in that color scheme.  I really wanted to go out and buy a few pretty decorations this year, but......    I decided to get creative!  I want to show you what I did and I would love for you to share any ideas you have with me :)

This is my undecorated bathroom shelf.  I pushed everything around to dust.  I found a white tin on top of it from Christmas last year that had some pretty pine cones in it.  That gave me an idea!  I headed out to the evergreen bush in the yard and cut some greens.....

Here is what I came up with.  Everything (except the Hallmark ornament) was on the shelf already, I just spruced it up with greenery.  As for the little tin with the pine cones.....

The pine cones had been spray painted white and tipped in gold glitter.  I bought them that way a couple of years ago, but they would be easy to make.   Next was this area......

My pretty little towel shelf.  See the picture frame with my petite little sweets in it?  I decided to download a Victorian picture from the internet and replace the pic for the holidays....

The flowers were ones I have had since I was first married.  I used to decorate my tree with them, but they have been sitting in a bowl in my bedroom for years...  If you are a mom, you most likely have art supplies lying around the house.  I took a cue from my pine cones and got out the glitter and the Elmer's glue.  (that Egyptian death mask project has paid off once again! )

Then, I was back out to the evergreen bush....

Here's the finished product.  Admittedly, I had the tree already.  Funny thing, it sat out in my kitchen all year and never got put away after Christmas last year.  :)  I have not pulled my Christmas decorations out this year yet!  I am just using things that I find around the house. 

Next I need to tackle this....

 I have commissioned my family artists (my husband and kids) to make me some paper snowflakes.  I guess I need to get my decorations out and see if there is anything packed away that I could use.  If you have any suggestions let me know!  I will be plugging right along, cleaning and decorating....cleaning and decorating...