I can honestly say that this Christmas was one of the best yet. My family came from San Antonio, TX and Monroe, LA to celebrate Christmas with us at our new house. It was a great holiday full of laughter, joy, and love <3
If you follow my blog, you know I love making home videos. I decided to make one for this year's Christmas, since it is rare that all my family is together for Christmas. :)
Here it is...
I decided on the song from the new Apple iphone commerical, which is a great commercial if you haven't seen it. Warning: you may need tissues; it's a tear jerker.
The song is Cat Power's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", but I thought the Christina Perri's version was a much better so that's the version I used.
I wanted to do a brief post on all the Christmas decor I have scattered around the house. I summed it up with pictures and two YouTube videos I have created.
|Stairs and Texas Christmas Tree|
{View of the house from the front door}
{Stair Details- Ornaments from Dollar Tree + Garland from Hobby Lobby + Burlap Fabric from Paul Michael's}
{Our Texas Tree Topper- "I Heart Texas" License Plate from Downtown Mercado Market in San Antonio + Brown Ribbon and Burlap Piece made by me}
{Texas Tree Detail- Mini Mariachi Hat from Downtown Mercado Market in San Antonio + Saddle Ornament from Hobby Lobby}
{Texas Tree Details- Metal Barn Ornament from Garden Ridge + Texas Shaped Ornament from souvenir store in Austin, TX}
{Texas Tree Details- Rooster from Garden Ridge + Welcome To Texas Plate Ornament from Kohl's}
|Kitchen Decor and Foodie Christmas Tree|
{View from Family Room}
{Kitchen Details- Snowflakes from Dollar Tree + Tabletop Christmas Tree from Kohl's}
{Foodie Tree Details- Chef Hat Tree Topper made by me}
{Foodie Tree Details- Red Chili Pepper Ornament from Garden Ridge + Sushi Ornament from Hobby Lobby + French Macaron Ornament from Sur la Table}
{Foodie Tree Details- Pizza Ornament from Kohl's + Colander Ornament from Sur la Table + Beer Ornament from Kohl's}
{Foodie Tree Details- Bacon and Egg Ornament from Michael's + Popcorn Ornament from Kohl's}
{Foodie Tree Details- Asian Hot Sauce Bottle Ornament from Sur la Table + Frying Pan Ornament from Sur la Table}
{Foodie Tree Details- Eggs on Toast Ornament from Sur la Table + Salami Ornament from Sur la Table}
{Foodie Tree Details- Cow Anatomy Ornament from Sur la Table + Pomegranate Ornament from Sur la Table}
{Foodie Tree Details- Chinese Take Out Box Ornament from Kohl's + Pretzel Ornament from Garden Ridge}
|Breakfast Nook|
{View from side of kitchen}
{Breakfast Nook Centerpiece- Made by me...All I did was fill a glass cylinder vase with leftover ornaments and wrapped it with leftover garland.}
{Ornament Wreath on Back Door- Made by me...bought all the gold ornaments from Dollar Tree}
|Kitchen Counter|
{Tall Santa Figure from Fry Electronics}
{Christmas House from Home Goods given to my by my mother in law}
|Family Room|
{View of Family Room}
{Star Centerpiece on Coffee Table...actually an extra tree topper I had lying around}
{Christmas Cheer Pillow from the Houston Nutcracker Market}
|Fireplace Mantel|
{Fireplace Mantel Details- Prelit Garland from Bed, Bath & Beyond + Red Beaded Garland from Hobby Lobby + Wood Grain Ribbon from Michael's}
{Rudolph Word Sign from the Houston Nutcracker Market}
{Fireplace Mantel Details- Mariachi Nutcracker from Macy's}
{Fireplace Mantel Details- Santa Statue from Fry's Electronics + Metal Christmas Tree Decoration from Home Goods}
{Fireplace Mantel Details- Green Vase from Ross + Red Holly Floral from Hobby Lobby + Cowboy Nutcracker from Texas souvenir store + Twig Reindeer from Home Goods}
|Master Bathroom|
{Tabletop Christmas Tree from Michael's}
|Guest Bathroom|
{Christmas Tree from Michael's}
{Christmas Welcome Sign from Hobby Lobby}
{Sign made by me + Frame from Ikea}
|Formal Dining|
{Formal Dining Lighting Decoration- Garland from Dollar Tree + Ribbon from Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree + Ornaments from Bed, Bath & Beyond}
As if I didn't have enough Christmas decorations, I took on another Christmas DIY craft! I wanted to decorate our back door that leads to our backyard. I figured a small wreath would be perfect there. Here's what I came up with...
|what you will need|
+ about 55 ornaments ranging in different sizes and textures (small, medium, and large) + 12" wreath frame + lots of hot glue + ribbon to hang your wreath on
|how to|
{1} Tie your ribbon to the wreath. I used about 12". I ended up using a white ribbon (not pictured below) as my ribbon.
{2} Starting from the inner part of the wreath, glue down ornaments around the inner circumference. Alternate the positions of the ornaments; this will give the wreath more dimension. I bought all my ornaments at dollar tree, so I saved a ton of money.
{3} Then do the outer circumference of the wreath frame.
{4} Lastly, fill in any missing gaps and holes with the smaller ornaments.
{I hung the wreath using a 3M Command Strip. Man I love those things}
I have been on a DIY Christmas frenzy! I just can't help myself! We went to the Houston Nutcracker Market this year and I was in Christmas heaven! One of the vendors there, Paul Michael Company, was doing a demonstration on how to make deco mesh wreaths. I said to myself, "I can do this!". From then on, I was determined to make our front door wreath. I picked up a Paul Michael's work wreath and some burlap and got to work.
Many use deco mesh to cover their work wreaths, but I don't like a lot of glitter and shine and wanted to go the more natural route so I used burlap.
|YouTube tutorial|
Here's a great tutorial on how to make a wreath using a work wreath. Some of my pictures do not explain the process really well, so I thought a video may help some of you.
|what you will need|
{1} Work Wreath (mine was 18") {2} Dollar Tree Decorative Items {3} Hobby Lobby pine cone picks and ribbon {4} Green Burlap (brown burlap not pictured) {5} Glue Gun with a lot of extra glue sticks (not pictured)
|how to|
{1} Start from the outside of the work wreath and wrap the greenery around the gathered section of green burlap and twist into place like so...
{2} Create a pouf with the burlap and tie down the gathered burlap again at the next greenery twist. I didn't want the wreath too poufy, so I only used about 10"-12" of burlap between greenery twist. Do this until you have went around the entire outer edge of the wreath and cut the excess burlap once completed. Then start on the inner portion of the wreath and wrap the brown burlap around using the same method as the outer portion. FYI: You do not have to make the wreath two colors, you can use all one color if you would like.
{3} You can pouf the wreath more or less and adjust it to your liking. This type of wreath is very forgiving and easy to alter.
{4} Next, take one of your ribbons and tie it to the greenery twist. Tie the ribbon down in a zig-zag fashion. Then do the same thing with your second ribbon.
{5} Now the fun part! Decorating! I started with the larger decorative elements first and used a glue gun to stick them onto the wreath. Use a large amount of glue when gluing these down. You want to make sure they stick! Once everything is glued down, wait at least an hour before hanging it.
