Christmas Ornaments Archives

Design Guide: Tips for Trimming Your Christmas Tree

November 17, 2016

When to put up your Christmas tree has become a big debate these days. Some people (like me) put their tree up early to savor every single bit of the holiday season. And on the other side of the fence there are people (like my brother) that wait until Thanksgiving to put up their tree. I can appreciate both viewpoints but the one thing I do know is that anyone that puts up a Christmas tree wants it to look great.

I’ve been decorating trees professionally for years, first at my home decor store and then as part of my design business for clients. Over the years I’ve learned a lot about the art of decorating Christmas trees. My latest Design Guide, Tips for Decorating Your Christmas Tree shares my tree decorating secrets so you can decorate your Christmas tree like a pro.

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Handcrafted Home–A Creative DIY Blog Hop

October 27, 2016

Today I’m joining a few bloggers for the Handcrafted Home DIY Blog Hop hosted by Jamala from Viva LaVintage For Your Home. And because this is a creative + diy themed blog hop, Jamala tasked each of us to transform an item using gold leaf.

Well, what’s a girl to do when the only craft projects on my mind are holiday related? Transform Christmas ornaments of course.

I dove into my holiday stash and found these two unfinished wood ornaments that I purchased from Hobby Lobby last year. They were the perfect candidates for a little DIY UpStyle.

After applying my gold leaf and adding a few vintage ornaments to the top of each wood piece, my ornaments went from plain to pizzazz!

This was a quick an easy DIY project and I love the way my ornaments turned out.

Tips for working with Gold Leaf:

Gold Leaf is easier to work with on surfaced that don’t have a lot of nooks and crannies. If you’re working with ornaments similar to mine, you’ll have to spend a little time smoothing the gold leaf on all the edges.
Wear latex gloves or put a few drops of talcum powder on your hands to make handling the gold leaf easier. This stuff is really clingy.
Use a soft bristle brush to smooth the gold leaf down. Smooth bristle will ensure you don’t tear the gold leaf.
Buy a high quality gold leaf paper and adhesive. I used the Gold Leaf Kit below (affiliate link) and think its one of the best out there.

Now it’s time to see the other fabulous DIY projects. Hop over and see how creative they got with their Gold Leaf.

Viva LaVintage For Your Home

M. Jones Style

Linda G. Loving Home

Fox and Finch Antiques

TWO Easy DIY Christmas Ornaments

December 1, 2015

When I haven’t been decorating for clients I’ve been busy getting crafty and decking the halls at my home. This year I made a few handmade ornaments from things I already had stashed away. These ornaments were so simple they should be in the Holiday Decor for Dummies Book.

First up are tinsel filled ornaments. I bought these clear ornaments two years ago I think and had plans to paint them. While unpacking my decor this year I came across them and decided to turn them into tinsel ornaments.

All is took was some tinsel garland (mine purchased at Ikea), scissors and something long to push the tinsel into the ornament. I removed the ornament cap, cut my garland into 4 inch long pieces and used a chop stick to push it into the ornament.

Next I decided to take a stash of holiday coasters I purchased at a Crate and Barrel after Christmas sale and turn them into ornaments. I punched a hole in one corner so the coaster would hang on the diagonal and easy peasy, I had ornaments.

Both of these ornaments add something different to my tree–the tinsel ornaments add sparkle and shine and the coaster ornaments layer in a different shape and dimension. I’ll be back tomorrow to share my fully decorated Christmas tree in part one of Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour.

Have you crafted any of your Christmas decor this year?

#merryandbrightholidayhome