oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree

Well, the wreaths are done, the mantel is decorated, the trees (Yes trees!) are chopped down and sitting in stands... And the tree skirt is made for the living room tree.

I can't say they are decorated yet.. but that will come this weekend. The other night, I made the tree skirt.

After finding tons of ideas on Pinterest, I decided to combine a couple ideas for my own creation.
The first idea I saw was this one:

How fabulous is it?!? I am in love with some burlap!

The next idea came from Marian over at Miss Mustard Seed. A blog I simply adore! She occasionally writes for HGTV.com as well with tutorials.

No sew ruffly goodness! *Heaven*
So those were my inspiration images.
This was my take:

I made the simple circle skirt, from burlap. I then created the ruffles semi using Marian's method of no sew, and then some strips of fabric, I couldn't help but take the sewing machine to them. The burlap was bought on sale at Hancock fabrics, and the ruffle material is muslin bought out of the remnant baskets..

I created the stencil template on Word.. Sized to like 450pt Font for the initial... and 200pt something for the EST 2011.. Carefully cut it with an xacto knife.Using a sharpie, and other black marker I loosely got the letters transferred on. Sure I could of done a freezer paper method, but I didn't have freezer paper and didn't want to go to the store for any... When in doubt, wing it!

Once the stencil was semi transferred on, I took acrylic artist paint and went over the letters. 

Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself!! 

This past weekend I went and chopped down my trees. For the last few years I've been going out to a place called Brewers. It's a tradition that started one year with good friends, Frank and Hannah and their kids.. and I've upheld it since. This year I took my friends girls with me and they LOVED it.

Here I am chopping down the tree for the living room while the oldest holds it steady. I usually  get a Leyland Cypress... Never heard of it? Yea me neither until I moved to the South! It doesn't shed like most pine trees and is incredibly long lasting! It's a hybrid of a Monterey Cypress and Alaskan Cedar. It's beautiful! Not a bare spot to be seen, perfect tree shape. Divine. 

Here I am dragging the trees with my helper to the check out and netting area. Unfortunately it was about this time that my camera battery decided to die.. So I didn't get very many pictures after this point. Thankfully we ran into Frank and Hannah getting their tree! So Hannah took some pictures and I used her camera a bit. I'll have to get the other pictures from her.

Things are starting to look Christmasy around my place! What about yours?

2 Wreaths down....

...and it's beginning to look like Christmas!

I was so giddy with excitement as I made my Christmas wreaths last night!
I came home from work and stopped by a neighbors yard that was loaded with pine cones. I picked up a few... Surely they wouldn't mind.

Then I thought, "Gee what else can I find for the wreath?"

I had some eucalyptus from a few weeks ago from the Farmers Market, it's since dried out, but perfectly good for wreath making. Then I searched the backyard. Granted it was after 7pm and dark.. so around I went looking at my bushes. I took a few snips from some waxy leaf bush, some red berries off another shrub... Then searched the front yard.. I found some spiky balls, that I think are from a sugar gum tree? I thought they'd be pretty perfect to use.. Then I had a fan like palm sprouting out near the curb... So I sniped that too...A handful of spanish moss and I was good to go!

My supplies looked like this:

So then I went to town... The first thing I did was create a spray paint area and coated the spikey balls in a copper color. I though it'd be a nice contrast and tie in with the birds on the mantel. 

They dried quickly and I rotated them a few time to make sure they were covered.

Hangers became my missing supply. 

Bent like this and attached to the back of the wreath, it became the wreath hanger.

 My evergreens were leftover from the garland used on the mantel. It quickly made the wreath shape and I secured the bunch with green gardening twine I had laying around. 

 I did a test run of the wreath once the hanger was attached to see how the size worked.

So pretty already!! I love the rustic old window up there too. (Frankly I liked playing with my camera settings too)

After it was complete, it looked like this... Oh so gorgeous!!

Here is a close up of the details of the foliage. Then it was time to hang it in position.

 Isn't it stunning?!? Can I let you in on a secret?!.......It was 98% FREE to make. =)

(I hear bells ringing, and angels getting their wings)
*It's a Wonderful Life reference in case you missed that*

I also hung a wreath on the "new" front door... In case you missed it... before it had peeling paint and was just blah. Then life intercepted and I took some time away from any housey projects... 

Well finally the door is complete. Here's a picture to refresh your memory on how the door used to look:

From drab to fab!

The front door got a beautiful wreath too. Not as detailed as the mantel one, but beautiful nonetheless!

 This weekend I am going to chop down the tree(s) and will spend the weekend decorating them as well. Only 23 days to go!!

Ho ho ho!

Mantel sneak peek

This is a sneak peek of the mantel. I won't reveal the final until it's 100%, but I had to share just a little something something! Plus I was playing with camera functions/features experimenting with getting the best shots. Enjoy and stay tuned! (pssst and pin to Pinterest! *wink wink*)