Christmas Archives - Page 3 of 3

December 10, 2013

Making It a Christmasy Christmas

2013 Christmas Decorating | redleafstyle.com

Every year I get the urge to make it really Christmasy Christmas. By that I mean a fully decked out house with lots of Christmas cheer. I’m talking festive decorations in every room, Christmas cookies, fudge and baked goods out on display and a big real Christmas tree. As I start decking the halls though, it seems like there’s always more to do than there are days in December. Living in apartments or rental houses never helped either. Before, I didn’t have the space or the décor (picture lots of college furniture) to make my home look as merry as I envisioned. But this year I did it. Even though I live in a rental house, I managed to give my home some holiday style—and it didn’t take a lot of effort or money. The only Christmas decoration I actually purchased was my tree. By simply reusing what I already had or crafting decorations myself, I made my home quite festive for Christmas. Now, it’s time to just enjoy it. I hope you enjoy it too! Here’s a little taste of what my Christmas mantle looks like. I’ll write a full blog post on my mantle soon! My Christmas tree...

December 9, 2013

DIY Homemade Christmas Ornaments with Cinnamon Sticks

These easy-to-make cinnamon stick Christmas ornaments will fill your home with the enticing scent of cinnamon spice. You can construct these simple Christmas ornaments using just cinnamon sticks, cardboard and a hot glue gun. It’s a great way to use up any extra cinnamon sticks in your cupboard. I put together this crafty Christmas project for Organic Authority, a food, home and lifestyle website dedicated to living organic. Head on over to Organic Authority to find out how to make these homemade cinnamon stick Christmas ornaments for your Christmas tree. Get more decorating inspiration when you sign up for my e-newsletter!...

December 3, 2013

DIY Christmas Tree Cones

If you want to decorate your home for Christmas but don’t want to spend a bunch of money, these easy-to-make Christmas tree cones are for you. This simple craft project cost me next to nothing to make and now I have three cute Christmas trees to decorate my mantle. Making these Christmas tree cones doesn’t require a lot of supplies or effort. This project is so easy even the not-particularly-crafty folks can do it. Follow my step-by-step instructions to make your own crafty Christmas tree cones using yarn and fabric. Supplies for yarn cones: Styrofoam cones (I purchased three at Dollar Tree for $3.) Yarn (I already had some green yarn on hand.) Hot glue gun/glue sticks Thick paper Supplies for fabric cones: Styrofoam cones Fabric (I had some on hand that I purchased from an estate sale for $1.) Hot glue gun/glue sticks Thick paper Straight pins The steps for making yarn and fabric cones are similar, so I’m just going to go through them at the same time. Start with your styrofoam cones. The cones I purchased didn’t have pointy tips. I wanted them to actually resemble Christmas trees, so I had to create my own tips. To...

November 29, 2013

DIY Ornament Wreath For $10 or Less

Wreaths made with ornaments have a Christmasy look all their own. An ornament wreath just feels a bit more fun—and festive—than a traditional garland wreath. It’s something about the shiny baubles reflecting Christmas lights that I love so much. I’ve wanted an ornament wreath to add a little sparkle to my front door for a while. But after seeing the prices of store-bought ornament wreaths, I knew I wanted to make my own. ($40 for a wreath!?) Besides saving money when you make your own ornament wreath, you can also customize it any way you want. You get to choose the exact color combination and size. I crafted mine with a mixture of gold hues. I also chose to make a medium-sized wreath, but now I really want to make a mini version too. Putting together an ornament wreath couldn’t be easier. Here’s how you can make your own homemade ornament wreath for $10 or less. Supplies: Ornaments, $5 (I bought five tubes of 12 ornaments at Dollar Tree. I would recommend buying a few more if you’re making a large wreath. I supplemented with a few ornaments I already had.) Wire hanger, Free (You could use any wire...

December 22, 2012

How to Wrap Gifts Without Buying Wrapping Paper

Buying new wrapping paper, bows, ribbon and tissue paper every Christmas can get expensive—and wasteful. With a little creative thinking and a bit of scavenging around the house, you can find everything you need to wrap gifts with recycled or reused materials. Here are some ideas that I used this year. Newspaper This versatile classic never gets old. Newspaper makes the perfect reuse wrapping paper. It even has the same fun ripping sound and sensation as traditional wrapping paper. And, you can even wrap the gift in the section of the newspaper that best fits the recipient. Funnies for the kiddos. Home and Garden for mom. Sports for dad. Style for sis. I’m being stereotypical here. Please be more creative than I am. Greenery Head out to the backyard and trim some pieces off that pine tree and whatever those other trees are called that are green all winter (Are they just evergreens?). Whatever they’re called, snip off a few boughs and incorporate them into your gift wrapping. A simple twig or two tucked into some ribbon or string will make a package look rustic. For the package above, I made a mini wreath out of snippets of greenery. The...

December 20, 2012

Do-It-Yourself Fabric Wreath

For some reason I don’t (well, didn’t) own a Christmas wreath. Too many moves in too few years, and too tight a hold on my wallet, are likely the causes. This year though, it was time for a wreath. My door looked all sad and lonely and “bah hum bug-y” without one. As you’ll see if you stick around here at Red Leaf Style, I’m kind of a crazy person about making my own décor. Or, at least finding it for cheap at secondhand shops and thrift stores. So, of course I wasn’t just going to buy a wreath. Gosh. I was going to make one. Preferably in the least expensive way possible. After a little thinking (Pinterest searching), I decided to make my own fabric wreath. (Copy this wreath.) It seemed relatively easy and didn’t require a lot of supplies. I assembled everything I needed through trips to secondhand stores. Budget Breakdown: Straw wreath form: $1, D.A.V. Green and red checkered fabric & red corduroy: $7, Re-Runs Vintage Apparel, Kansas City (I dug these pieces of fabric out of a huge box.) Green fabric (Was originally an Old Navy shirt.): $2.09, Goodwill Ribbon: $0.50, Goodwill Total: About $11 Could I just buy...

December 10, 2012

DIY Hanging Collage: Christmas Style

When I decorate for Christmas, I like to use items I already own and just Christmas-ify them. Take this hanging collage. This project actually started quite a while ago as a way to fill the empty wall space between two windows in my living room. I was having a hard time arranging the random bits of paper and other items on the collage in a look that I liked. Nothing was working. Luckily, Christmas time came along. So, everything else came down, and Christmas décor went up. I shuffled through drawers and photo boxes and ended up with quite the pile of sort-of-related-to-Christmas items to hang on the collage. Magazine clippings. A book. Last year’s Christmas cards. (I plan to replace these as new ones come in.) Random snowflake ornaments. A piece of felt. Overall, I think it works. This hanging collage couldn’t be easier to create. Even for the not so handy do-it-yourselfers out there. Here’s how. What you need: Picture hanging wire Nails Hammer Tape measure Small binder clips Cute items to hang Directions: Using a tape measure, determine how long you want your hanging collage to be. Also, decide how many rows you want. (I went...

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