ornaments.

ogee ornament | betz white

i had such grand plans. diy gifts, ornaments and gift toppers. pretty things, made by me. unfortunately, i only got around to a few diy gifts and no gift toppers. mass-produced wrapping all the way, baby.

anyway, i thought i would post some fun diy ornaments i've found recently to get your gears turning. you could always throw a few together this weekend or keep them in the back of your mind until next year.

modern paper ornament | how about orange

swirled crayon ornament | say yes to hoboken

felt ogee ornament | betz white

fabric ball ornament | the red thread

twisted felt garland | the purl bee

pottery barn knock-offs | crafterhours

simple monogram ornaments | MADE

cute birdie download | that's happy

these would be cute to print onto fabric and stuff!

there's always next year, right? i should probably make these now to get ahead of the game. i'll try to share my diy gift here pretty soon. even though it will probably be too late for christmas, it would still make a great new year's gift :)

almost here...

it's almost that time! i am so excited to be having friends and family in town soon... now i just need to get the house in order. i would love to be living in that room above right now... found via the someday blog and house to home. i hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday!!

diy ornaments.

after seeing this on design*sponge awhile back, i decided to try my hand at some terrarium ornaments. i even bought the little butterflies and tiny birds... but they were too big to fit in the whole at the top. with only a day before i wanted to hand them out to my friends, i didn't have a whole lot of options. so, i stuffed the glass orbs with two colors of moss, sticks and bark from our backyard, and some floral filler balls (for vases).

i really love the way they turned out. simple. (and green. i love green.) if you are wanting to try your hand at putting butterflies in ornaments though, i would suggest getting the largest ornaments you can find, or the plastic ones that come apart. these are really great for small, personalized gifts... tons of stuff you could put in them. small toys, glitter, bits of colored paper or fabric, candy...

christmas inspiration.

design*sponge

so much christmas inspiration and diy projects all around the internet. have i mentioned that we haven't put up a tree yet? right now one of my thrift store lamps is acting as a stand-in. i've even considered hanging ornaments off of it...

i guess i need to pull out one of our now 3 trees and get it decorated. we inherited a huge one that i don't think will even fit in our house right now. so... it will probably be living in the garage until we get a house with higher ceilings. we have another small one that i've been putting up the last couple of years, i think it's around 4 feet tall? i also have a goldish/silverish tinsel tree that's even smaller that i got on sale at the hodgepodge last year. it would be cute sitting on an old trunk or side table.

i thought i would post some of the projects i've found online that i'd really like to try out. it probably won't happen until next summer though! i don't have the extra time right now to be making wreaths and ornaments...

ruffly wreath from domestifluff

pompom wreath from bleubirdvintage

no-sew tree skirt from thepaperpony

ribbon garland from marthastewart

glittery candles from marthastewart

doily ornaments from marthastewart

for those with tiny spaces.

for those with tiny spaces, and large imaginations. merry almost christmas!

by Jane of All the Luck in the World out of the Netherlands

image from poppytalk

love me some popups...

like many designers, i am having a hard time deciding on a design for our christmas card. of course, doug is asking why do we even need to send one out??? but i think it's a nice way to say 'just thinking of you' during the holidays. i have just about decided to skip the computer graphics this year and go with something simple and handcrafted. i have plenty of leftover decorative paper from my books, so why not? this card above is my first choice... the trees are so simple and don't require large bits of paper. (all photos/projects from martha)

this ribbon card is next in line. i also have tons of leftover ribbon that would be perfect for this project. hmm, reminds me of some other stationary that's sewn together... katie? perhaps you could use some of your leftover invitation material for some awesome xmas cards...

this is probably not something i would make more than a few of, but just had to throw it in the mix. but how awesome would it be to open up a card and see this? reminds me of the good ole college packaging days. am i the only one that misses playing with paper in class?

oh christmas tree

putting up our tiny christmas tree last week made me think of past christmases before i got all grown up... my family always purchased a live tree from a local store and i remember the fresh smell of pine needles that filled our home after we brought it inside. my family stopped putting up live trees not long after i moved out of the house, and it kind of makes me sad. i know that's not quite as eco-friendly as i would like with cutting down the trees and all... however, i would love to keep that tradition, but the man i married is allergic to many things, including evergreens. plus if i really wanted to, i could just decorate one of the many we have around our current house. 

so here is our little christmas tree, ready for the holidays. i bought it when i moved into a small efficiency apartment and haven't had the heart (or the room really) to get a bigger one. it doesn't hold nearly as many ornaments as i would like... but hey, it works! (and yes, that orange madness is our living room...)