Wednesday, December 10, 2008

need a few ideas?

Okay so this Christmas Logan and I are on a tight budget, as most people are. we both work part time, and for the month of December i'm not working.. so we are really tight this Christmas. Thats why i have been searching for ideas for inexpensive or no-cost decorations. We have some from past years, but not a whole lot. so i thought i would share here some of my findings :)
have a great day!
So this is a candy cane vase. Its candy canes with the tops cut off hot glued to a can, large soup can, cheap vase etc. etc. the directions are below. I think i will be doing this as soon as i can make my way to the store to get candy canes!
THE CANDY CANE VASE
1. Cut the top of candy canes to remove the hooked portion. (An angled cut will give you a more finished look.) Hot glue approximately 25–50 one-ounce candy canes around the outside of an inexpensive cylinder (like a coffee can) or square-shaped container until the outside is completely covered.
2. Tie a wide satin ribbon around the decorated container. Secure with a dot of glue if needed.
3. Soak blocks of floral foam in water until they are completely saturated. Place the blocks in the container, trimming them to fit.
4. Starting at the center, insert stems of carnations, roses, or tulips, keeping the flower heads at the same level to create a tightly packed mound. Enjoy your festive centerpiece!

Planning a dinner party? Look how festive those small branches look underneath the mug? this is way easy and cheap, especially if you live in the northwest and those type of trees are right outside!
Super fun and easy center piece!! You can get candle sticks at the local second hand store and just put those simple ornaments on top!

here are some more i found- no pictures though-
  • Make simple bows from Christmas print ribbon and pin them to your curtains.
  • Hang a collection of Christmas stockings on your mantle, a shelf or the wall (even if you don't stuff them). The more the merrier when it comes to nice christmas decorations.
  • Revisit your childhood. Cut snowflakes from white paper and hang them in all of your windows. ( i want to do this but from my ceiling with fishing line)
  • Buy a clear plastic shower curtain. Use a hot glue gun to attach Christmas decorations to the outside of the curtain. Don't use breakable ornaments - instead, try small wooden or plastic ornaments (remove any hooks), bows, garland, etc.
  • Use red and green 3-dimensional fabric paints to trace simple Christmas patterns (like stars, bells, Santas, stockings, etc.) on a white tablecloth.
  • Tie a red ribbon around a tall, slim drinking glass. Fill the glass with candy canes and display on a shelf or side table.
  • Purchase plain green or red place mats and attach Christmas ribbons, bows or small wooden ornaments with a hot glue gun.
  • For quick ornaments, hang Christmas cookie cutters with ribbon. Hang them on your tree or in a window so other people can enjoy your christmas decorations.
  • Decorate plain red, white, green or gold candles with 3-dimensional fabric paint. Draw stars, bells, angels, snowmen, etc. If you make a mistake, let the paint dry and peal it off, then start again.
  • Wrap indoor Christmas lights around a railing or banister. Secure periodically with tape. Be careful to tape down the electrical cord so that no one trips over it. (i think i will be doing this too..tonight!)
  • Wrap an assortment of medium to large sized boxes with Christmas wrap. Attach ribbons and/or bows. Pile the boxes in a corner from floor to ceiling. (how cool would that be? too bad Kason would distroy in minutes)
  • Sew scraps of Christmas print fabric into a patchwork tablecloth. Simply cut your fabric into square pieces and stitch together. Hem the entire cloth. Sew ribbon the edges, if you like. Make smaller cloths to cover end tables, night tables, TV trays, shelving, etc.
  • Cover an end table or a shelf with white paper. Arrange cut evergreen boughs on to cover the table top. Place tall tapered candles in glass candleholders here and there on the table top. Before lighting candles, be sure that the greenery is not close enough to catch fire.
  • Use pliers to bend coat hangers into a simple wire-frame tree shape. Wrap a string of outdoor Christmas light around the frame, attaching with electrical tape or duct tape. Stick the decoration in a flower bed or on your front lawn
  • Wrap your doors in Christmas wrapping paper and attach large bows make from fabric or purchased at your local craft store. ( i wanna do this too)
  • String a ribbon from one end of a wall to another. Attach the ribbon to the wall (at each corner) with thumbtacks. Clip Christmas cards to the ribbon with clothes pins. If the ribbon is too long, the weight of the cards will pull it off the wall, so tack it here and there with more thumbtacks.
  • Make basic sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies. Before baking, make a hole toward the top of each cookie using a straw. Bake and cool. String a ribbon through each cookie and hang them on your Christmas tree. ( you could even dye the cookie dough)
  • Purchase a large glass plate. Paint the underside of the plate with gold craft paint. Dry. Place the plate on a table and fill with several white or off-white pillar candles of varying sizes.
  • String popcorn, cranberries, cereal, beads, etc. and hang the garlands everywhere. ( we do popcorn and i need to again... in Utah a mouse got ours!)
  • Add a few drops of food coloring to white glue. Put the glue into a squeeze bottle or icing piping bag. Draw simple Christmas star outlines on waxed paper. Pipe glue onto the paper, following your drawn outlines. Dry. Peel glue ornaments off of the waxed paper and hang in windows with thread or ribbon.
  • Twist garland or popcorn strings around railings or banisters and secure here and there with tape.
  • Replace your fish tank background mural with a piece of Christmas wrapping paper or a collage made out of pictures cut from Christmas cards.
  • Using a glue gun, glue candy canes, side-by-side (standing on end with their hooks at the top) to the outside of a terra cotta pot. Tie a red ribbon around the pot. Place a small poinsettia inside the pot or fill the pot with wrapped candy.
for more ideas you can google or go to this link http://www.allthingschristmas.com/decoration-ideas.php
there are 101 ideas!
hope this helps. Im off to create something before Kason wakes up and we go to my moms to do Laundry... i think we have old candy canes from last year somewhere... off to find!

4 comments:

Nadeau Family said...

I know how to make 3-D snoflakes out of paper....so easy and really pretty...let me know if you're interested, I can show you how to make them!

BTW-We had fun last night! Thanks for inviting us!

Nadeau Family said...

Google is amazing! The snoflake on the left is exactly the one I could have shown you to make. They are so pretty! I need to make some for my house...I've never used colored paper, but the pink looked really pretty. Let me know how they turn out.

Clara said...

Great ideas!! If I wasn't sick this weekend I might get on it.

Anonymous said...

cute ideas Laura!!!