Christmas Decorations 2008 (Part Two)

I am wild about burlap, and grapevine, and all things natural & neutral...so I hung this wreath from the curtain rod in the window in the Dining Room.
I had to sneak in a white pencil starfish, of course. :-)
I plan to switch out the bamboo blind with one that's a dark chocolate color. I need more contrast here.



As for the rest of the Dining Room, well, Mom gave me a pretty Poinsettia to use as a centerpiece:



The huge red petals are so gorgeous...



And over in the Living Room, I used more burlap on the tree and the wreath above the mantle:





I plan to use this six foot tree in our Master Bedroom next year, and purchase a seven and a half footer when they go on sale after Christmas. But for now, it'll have to do in the Living Room. We are on an extreeeeeemely tight budget this Christmas. I limited myself to only purchasing 2 rolls of burlap, and 2 boxes of silver ornaments for this tree. Next year, I want to incorporate some bunches of light green hydrangea, some birds nests and some grapevine.



I had a strand of grapevine star lights already, so I used it on the tree as well...



Above the mantle, I used a 36" wreath that I got for $4.99 at Michaels the day after Thanksgiving. Some leftover burlap and grapevine, a few silver ornaments and the pencil starfish my Mom sent, and voila!
I scattered cinnamon-scented pine cones across the entire mantel. They were only $2.50/bag, so I got two bags. The look is simple, but effective, and more importantly, COST-effective.







Next year, I'd love to have two tall, and two medium height mercury glass candle stands flanking the wreath. Sort of like these, but different:



I saw some at TJ Maxx that were PERFECT. But they were like 20 bucks piece, so I wrote a letter to Santa about those. :-)

I drove little finishing nails into the top of the mantle, to hold the stockings in place. Not super attractive, so to cover them, I stuck a pine cone down on top of each nail:



On top of the TV Unit, I used some evergreen garland I already had. In the unit, I sprinkled more left over pine cones and one more pencil starfish...





This basket used to be light-colored, natural wicker. I painted it brown, then dry-brushed light green paint on it...



In the Guest Bedroom I used one small tree. Which is actually two small trees, wired together. They were $5.00 each at Target. The little silver glittery mini ornaments were 79 cents (for a box of ten) at Michaels, so I bought four boxes.



When I bought the trees, they came bundled in a ball of burlap at the bottom. I removed the burlap, and the plastic dish they were "planted" in, and stuck the metal "trunks" down into some floral foam. I cut a piece to fit perfectly into this basket I got at Michaels. It was on sale for $3.99...



I got two strands of 10-count battery-operated clear lights to put on the tree. While searching for the perfect basket, I looked for one that would accomodate the battery packs, in a way that I could have easy access to the on/off switch. When I saw this basket, with it open handles on the sides, I knew it would be perfect.
Hopefully Santa will also bring me four "C" batteries too. :-)

Layla