Christmas Craft Ideas 2009 - Part One

Over the past couple of weeks I've become a firm believer that decorating for the holidays doesn't have to cost a fortune. There are plenty of free and inexpensive materials out there to play with, and adding even the simplest of holiday touches can take your home from ho-hum to ho-ho-ho in no time!

Here are a few frugal-yet-festive ideas:

Earlier this year our friends at Sweetwater sent us the cute little tote pictured above. I love their line of fabrics...



So using our tote and the log-filled copper bucket in the photos below as inspiration...





...I filled our Sweetwater surprise with a bunch of pine cones I bought last year at Michaels...



I think I paid around $3.00 for a big bag of them.

Do you have a textural bag, bucket, box, basket or tray of some sort that you can fill with pine cones? If you do, and it's small enough, you could use it on a bookshelf, on the kitchen counter or even on the counter in your bathroom. If your container is large, use it as a centerpiece on your dining room table, or on the coffee table in your living room. Sprinkle a few extra pine cones on the table around the container to create a more casual look. If you use a tray, you might consider using a bed of fluffy, faux snow for your pine cones first, to create a contrasting layer of color and texture.

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Another thrifty Christmas decorating idea came about last week while my Mom was house sitting for us. She drove out to the edge of town and clipped us some fresh evergreen branches. She put them in a tall vase hidden inside the galvanized mop bucket inside our fireplace. She sprayed faux snow on them to give them a more wintery look...



I took the look one step further by sprinkling in some of my pine cones. I also used the two giant ones we got from White Flower Farmhouse last month. I love the way it all came together, and I'm crazy about the bottom line of this one! ($0)

(If you're lucky enough to live somewhere you can find pine cones for free- bundle up buttercup! Then get out there and grab 'em!)

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My next project was inspired by these napkin rings made by Abigail of Gloaming Designs:

(click on the photo to see Abigail's tutorial)

They were featured on Gabreial Wyatt's "Vintage Indie" blog in 2008 and I've been in love with them ever since!

My idea involved creating "cozies" for some glass cylinders I had in my office...



I got a yard of jute webbing for 89 cents at my local fabric store...



(I've heard you can get it at Walmart too)

And I also picked up some rusty little snowflake embellishments at Hobby Lobby that I found for 50% off...



A little hot glue, and voila!



A candle holder cozy!



It reminds me of a warm, winter sweater around an big, chunky icicle!



Do you have any glass vases or containers that you could cozy up for the holidays?

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I've got a few more ideas to post tomorrow so if you're in the mood for more merry motivation, stop by for another visit! I guess you could call this decorating in the "saint" nick of time!

Layla :-)