A Simple Holiday Garland

Wanting to sprinkle some wintry delight around my entire house, I opted to make a garland to swag on the full length mirror in my bedroom. Most of the garlands I have seen this season were too stiff and perfect looking. I wanted something craftier!

For this garland, I purchased 1/4 yards of three colors of fleece from my favorite local fabric shop, FM on Sunshine and Freemont. I actually needed less, but 1/4 of a yard is the smallest quantity you can purchase. I chose fleece because it is warm and cozy and the edges won't fray.

I cut the width of the fleece into leaf shapes using pinking shears. I tried regular scissors and found them to be slow and cumbersome. (Maybe it's because my scissors are crap?) Anywho, you can leave a "tab" of fabric at the stem of the leaf or not. After completing my garland I think I would have preferred all the leaves without tabs. Use some yarn or kitchen twine and hot glue the leaves starting from a center point and working your way to the ends. Alternate colors and angles to give your garland a natural look. After I hung my garland I found I needed to cut a few more leaves and hot glue them in place to fill spaces. I also added a few floral stems of red berries by twisting them around the garland. Total cost = about $3 This garland would look lovely on a fireplace, shelf, or swagged above a doorway.

One lonely estate sale this weekend at 1358 W. Paradise in Nixa. Looks like a good selection of furniture, fur coats, and dishes.

Holiday Accessory

An easy way to add some Holiday Cheer to your outfit is with these jingle bell bobby pins. Thanks for the inspiration, Kate, but I just don't have $45 to splurge on something I can make myself in about a minute. Just slide a pair of jingle bells onto your pins. A dab of hot glue will hold them in place. If you don't care for the jingle, pour in a bit of white glue and let dry overnight. You can also use this same idea with buttons. Slide the bobby pin through the shank (that little loop on the back of the button). You can secure with hot glue or leave free to change whenever you like.

Just two estate sales this weekend.

One in Branson at 221 Country Bluff Drive Friday and Saturday

and another at 2761 East Grand in Springfield Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

Both with seemingly loads of items. Estate sales are a great place to pick up Christmas decorations. It seems like every one I've been to has a room full of Christmas items all priced below retail. Remember, if you head out on Saturday they will be more flexible with pricing. Most sales usually go half price early Saturday morning. Although it is more personal than a garage sale, don't be timid in asking for a better price, especially if you're buying several items.

Cheery Holiday Card

I saw this during my morning blog read over at Apartment Therapy. I literally laughed out loud at my computer. If I were the cardbuying type, this is the one I'd pick up to send out this year. Get them from Paper Source $16.95 for eight.

Bedroom Makeover

Over the Christmas holiday (mine is longer as a full time student) I will be swapping the craft room and master bedroom. When we first moved into our three bedroom house, it didn't occur to me that we should pick any room other than the largest for our master bedroom. After about six months, I'm realizing how much extra space there is around my bed and how squinched our combo craft room-guest bedroom has become. In our new master bedroom I'm going for a vintage-cozy-chic-farmhouse in the mountains-worn quilt sort of vibe. This gray and yellow pallet fits well. It also takes advantage of the gray coverlet we already have. I'll be making my own version of the West Elm duvet but in negative. I have some large white sheets that I'll be printing with an antiqued gold in a similar pattern then sewing up into a quick duvet cover (Hint: future post). Our old nightstands (from Wesley's parents) will get a fresh coat of paint on the bottom and a dark stained top similar in style to the table above from the Miss Mustard Seed blog. The walls need to be painted, but other than that, the room will mostly be things I already have just in a different room. I made sure to take a "before" picture and will be excited to post the before and after photos in a few weeks.

Chalkboard Paint in the Kitchen

My husband Wes recently built a cabinet that provides extra storage and counter top space for our kitchen. The side that faces our open-to-the-kitchen living room and dining room needed a little something. Since we entertain frequently, I decided to use chalkboard paint to make it fun yet utilitarian. I bought Folk Art chalkboard paint in Slate Gray from Amazon. An 8 ounce jar cost about $10. I had to use three coats instead of the two recommended to get a really good coating on my cabinet. Be sure and sand your surface well before painting. I use my chalkboard to keep an updated list of all of the soda we have in house. We literally buy 15 cases of soda when it's on sale, so we have a lot of variety to offer to all of our guests. This list makes it well known what we have to offer instead of having to ramble off ten different sodas each time someone asks what we have to drink. Write the evening menu, grocery list, or the daily chores on your kitchen chalkboard or use it as a drawing station for your kids or guests.