2 Hours, 3 Projects

My excitement for Christmas is growing by the day, so I made a trip to Michael's today, looking to find the components that would enhance my newly-minted Old-World/woodland theme. I'm happy with my existing collection of ornaments and decor, but I do like to add new projects every year or so. This year I added a new piece of furniture to my dining area, a china cabinet that was my Grandmother's, and it screamed for crowning glory. Literally. My vision was to create a sparkly "crown" for the top of the cabinet, made from glittery beaded branches and twinkle lights. In my head I had this winter-in-Narnia look, something that would've made the White Queen proud.

While at Michael's I decided to create a garland for the window in my bedroom (why should all the decorating fun occur in the living room?!), as well as make a wreath for my apartment door. 

I started with the wreath, which took only about 15 minutes and less than $10 in supplies. I bought a plain evergreen wreath, and wove a frosted cranberry garland (I bought several more for the tree) through the branches. To get the garland to stay exactly where you want it on the wreath, all you need to do is wind an occasional branch around it to secure! I love monograms, so a jingle-bell "A" ornament was the perfect finishing touch. 

The next project I tackled was the hutch's crowning glory. I found a pretty beaded garland with shimmering holly leaves, and I bought two so they could be bound together to make the arrangement look fuller. I also bought 3 packs of LED battery-operated lights, so that I didn't have to run extension cords to the nearest outlet. All said and done, I spent about $18 on this project.

I used floral wire to twist the garlands together, and later used more floral wire to bind the lights to the garland. To ensure even spacing on the lights and branches, I staggered both the 2nd garland and the strings of lights so that they didn't overlap. 

The finished product

 My last project was a garland for my bedroom, and took only about 20 minutes and less than $20 to put together. I bought two 9-ft evergreen garlands, and wound them together to make them more full. I then wound pretty floral picks that coordinated with my bedroom colors in the garland, along with two gorgeous gold branches that had dangling crystals.

 The best thing about all of these projects is that it took little effort and not a lot of money to make a big impact. By doing these yourself, you never have to settle for something "close but not quite perfect", or an expensive version from a store. You also come away with the self-satisfaction that you've created something custom-made that you'll be able to enjoy for many years to come.