Friday, December 9, 2011

4 diy projects and 3 thrifty finds

so i told myself i wasn't going to buy any new christmas decor this year. it can be hard right? i mean with all the new cute stuff they come out with every year... i've been very good, we are still using the ornaments and decor that we bought our first christmas four years ago. not that it's a huge accomplishment or anything... anyway i've added a few things here and there, i thought i'd post up some of our recent diy's and thrifty finds.

we recently made this reindeer head mount. i saw the idea somewhere around the web and i feel bad i didn't save the link because it is a sweet idea and deserves some credit. so to start out, we bought this paper mache reindeer at michael's. it was 50% off so that was cool. we were dumb and didn't take a picture of the whole thing but you get the idea. first step was to chop off the head.
Photobucketwe knew that we were going to be attaching the head to a plaque and 
so we hot glued some picture hanging wire inside the head in three different spots.
Photobucketthen i painted the plaque gold to match the reindeer. since just gluing the head to the wood would be too hard, we drilled a three holes in the center to pull the three wires through and tie in the back. that was obviously grant's idea and it was genius. 
here he is!
i really like the woodland feel he gives to my collection of trees
and the "merry christmas" art that i painted below.

here is our christmas shelf! i think i'd like to add a tree to my collection every year. this year i added a diy tree and it's the one all the way to the right. just a simple styrofoam cone that i wrapped with some cool ribbon-y stuff (a martha stewart product). 



speaking of martha stewart, i tried her diy glitter deer project. 
it was so fun, except that now there is glitter everywhere!
Photobucket

my last project was this christmas ikat painting, i really love the ikat pattern.




moving on to some thrifty finds...last summer i found these three gold balls at goodwill for $2. they help break up all my silver stuff (along with the deer mount) to create a mixed silver and gold christmas. i like to keep them out year round.


$3 at goodwill = my favorite little elves! aren't they just ADOOORRAABBLLEE???
and a good old flea market find.

17 sweet thoughts:

emily+brett said...

really?! this has to be the cutest christmas spread ever! that deer plaque is genius.

brittany - moccasin run said...

i love all your decorations! we literally did no decorating this year, since we will be out of town for christmas. next year i am making sure we decorate tho!

love the deer mount and the glitter deer!

brittany

prettylittlevintage

kate said...

you.are.amazing.

love this all.

Keriann said...

My outdoors man of a husband would just LOVE the mounted reindeer!

abby said...

i love it all so much. you guys are so creative!

Kelly said...

ok, so funny, I had the same idea for wood shelves. I have had the wood in my garage for 6 months and havent gotten around to getting the hardware for it. What did you use? PS LOVE the spread. SO adorable.

Kelly said...

I have two spots I want to put them. Do you think they would be strong enough to hold some dishes in the kitchen?

Decor To Adore said...

Wow! You are a Christmas crafting genius! So glad I found your project via Centsational Girl.

Please stop by for a visit to my blog. I am currently in the midst of a Gifts to Make series.

Be Merry and Bright!

Casa De Luna said...

The mounted reindeer is such a good idea! I have wanted some sort of mounted antlers in our living room and have yet to find one that was reasonably priced. Now I can make my own! Thanks for sharing and I am pinning for future reference.

angela hardison said...

loving all these projects, especially that ikat painting.

trudy...{and jamo} said...

wow. i love everything. super cute, britt!

Tamsyn said...

I love this!! I am definitely adding this to my list for next year :) Thanks for the inspiration!

jenn said...

You're so creative. Super cute!!

Tablescapes By Diane said...

Hi lovely lady.
Your Christmas projects are Beautiful!! You did a lovely job putting this all together for the Holidays. Thanks so much for your sweet comments on my new Blue Christmas Tablescape. I hope you and your family have a Wonderful week.
XXOO Diane

Chris said...

Hi there, thank you for sharing your lovely Christmas ideas. I think the one with the deer was so clever. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
http://chelencarter-retiredandlovingit.blogspot.com/

Heather @ we.are.the.holdens said...

Eek, I love your little elves...so cute. And your deer is what first brought me here..love him too. :) Found you from life made lovely, and so happy that I did. you guys' are a beautiful family.

Unknown said...

Very Cute! I love the Gold & Silver combo. I would love for you to share at my Shades of the Season party.

www.onewomenshaven.blogspot.com