This year is the first year I've had a real Christmas tree (not as in a live tree, but a tree that sits on the floor) because in the past I've always had a small half-tree that hung on the wall, and I was quite attached to it. But not this year, as it was destroyed in the fire, along with the majority of of my Wizard of Oz ornaments. This was really hard for me to accept, as I have had this tree for as long as I could remember, and I would get a new ornament every year as a present (We found some of the non-main characters but Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, etc... are gone, but I am on the look-out for them!). Thankfully, my mom snagged a cute, perfect apartment-sized tree from my neighbors as they were getting ready to move. I really love the way it looks, it kind of has a Charlie Brown look to it as is not very full and you can see the fake wood trunk all the way to the top...it gives it a very country chic feel!
I stuck with a simple antique/gold theme this year, with accents of red at the top and bottom. I got the star atop the tree at Michael's for $1.29 (on sale AND a coupon!) and jimmy-rigged it to the top branch with some string as it originally is supposed to hang on the wall and not on top of a tree. So far, so good!
These are the three main ornaments that I used to decorate the tree, pretty simple. I for sure wanted to use old skeleton keys and then built around that idea. I found some at an antique store in Virginia when I visited Dan but they were expensive so Dan treated me and bought (but I only let him buy a couple!), and then I began talking to my mom and she donated a bunch to me that she collected after my great aunt passed away. I love that I have some from my family and some from a trip I took with Dan :) My mom also gave me the idea to keep the tags with the keys...it really adds to the antique feel I think!
The bulb ornaments I made myself...and I must say I'm pretty proud of myself! I got the idea originally from Pinterest here. I cut up a bunch of newspapers in tiny strips and then used a special ink to make them looked antiqued. I then modge-podged them onto the bulb and sprinkled some iridescent glitter over the whole ornament. Let me tell you...the first few looked HORRIBLE!!!! There were gaps everywhere that you could see through and it generally looked like I let a four year old make my ornaments. Once I figured out a good way to apply the strips evenly, things went more smoothly. I really love these ornaments and I am glad they turned out so well after a few hiccups!
Lastly, the gold covered pine cones are from Target :)
My mom was cleaning out her Christmas decorations one weekend when I was home and I scored the mother load of decorations...at least for a freshly out of college twenty something. She pretty much gave me free reign and I got to pick and choose lots of cute Christmas/winter items (as long as they weren't the ones she was using) for my new place since I no longer had anything to adorn my apartment!
Cute little snowmen and snowmen candle that will never be burned!
This is a actually a garland for the tree but I decided to not put it on so I put it in the glass apothecary jar, which adds nicely to my red accents! To the right is an ornament that I made when I was in kindergarten.
My mom also gave a few Longaberger Christmas themed baskets! This one will hopefully be filled with Christmas cards (hint,hint: send me Christmas cards).
Another basket, but I think I am going to keep this one up all year long because it is such a nice little place to hold my mail. Also one of my all time favorite signs...so much so I bought another one after the first got destroyed in the fire!
I have a few other snowmen and Christmas items from mom, but my Instragram was being dumb and kept quitting on me as I was taking pictures...so I gave up.
I also made a wreath for my door....I'm becoming so domesticated these days! I bought a regular tangled branch wreath from Michael's (also with a coupon!) and used some leftover spray paint to give it a white winter coat. I bought some festive ribbon and had mom make me a bow (I had attempted to make one myself but it look like I let the dog use it as a toy after I had sat on it...NOT PRETTY)...it is best to leave these type of things to the professionals!
I thought it turned out pretty well until...
...the neighbors across the hall had to show me up. Jerks.
Another project I made while at home last month was this:
It was originally inspired by this Pinterest project but I knew I wanted to use sticks. I was going to put those sticks on a canvas and hang it on the wall, until I found some bead board up in dad's shed that he said I could use. So while he cut up the board to the right size, the dog and I were walking around the timber finding the perfect mixture of sticks for the project (and playing fetch, of course). I hot-glued the sticks onto the board but it didn't look quite right just yet. Dad then found some cool mahogany colored trim that he attached to the edges and it was totally perfect! (Side note: literally none of the Pinterest projects I do could not be completed without my parents it seems... they always take my ideas and make them 10x better!) I love that all the materials came from Campfire Rd.!
That should be all my Christmas decorations for this year! But here is one more picture for your viewing pleasure:
Ruby slippers and presents under the tree.
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