Super Simple Winter Yarn Wreath

Christmas might be over, but winter is still here. And, from the looks of it, it will be here for a long time. While the Christmas tree is gone and the decorations have long been taken down, I can still enjoy some aspects of the festivities.



All you need for this is a styrofoam circle, pins, yarn, and a bow. I took full advantage of the winter clearance items and grabbed this bow for maybe 75 cents including the sale.



It's as simple (and as tedious) as pinning one end of the yarn onto the back of the styrofoam and wrapping the yarn around the wreath. This is the perfect product to do while watching TV. Lots and lots of TV. I would systematically push a pin into the most recent strand of yarn, just to keep everything in place (and prevent a catastrophic unraveling).



I love ombre yarn. They make the coolest scarfs and, when you wrap it around a styrofoam tube, it gives an awesome multi-tonal accent. I simply stopped wrapping the white yarn at roughly the 5/6th mark, pushed a pin through the end of the white yarn, and started the process all over again with with blue yarn. You can read all about pins and styrofoam wreaths on my other wreath post.



The bow came with two wire strands, which made fastening it to the wreath super easy. I put a few pins into the wire strands (or, technically speaking, I pushed the pins through the fabric weaving around the wire strands) to keep everything in place.



While no one is naïve enough to say that January can be considered a Winter Wonderland (Whiner Wonderland, definitely; we're all sick of the cold by now), it is still nice to have something to make the rest of the season bright.

Try it Tuesday: Antique Centerpieces

One of my favorite Christmas traditions with my in-laws is the Box of Treasures during Christmas. My grandma-in-law (Ababa, which originated from my husband's way of saying, "abuela" when he was a baby) gives all her daughters and granddaughters-in-law boxes filled with gorgeous antiques that she finds in her travels. One of those items was a beautiful candy dish on a silver stand. Add a few clear marbles and tea candles and víola, perfect little centerpiece.


The beauty is that you can find these antiques anywhere. From secondhand stores to eBay, you can find some really great deals that add that wonderful touch to your dining room table.

Photo Friday: Ornaments

I remember one of the first things I did when I got my DSLR was take photos of my family's Christmas tree ornaments -- to which my dad remarked, "You look like a professional photographer."


The camera was a Christmas present from my now-husband, and I was shooting in "portrait" mode (and, really, all those fancy modes are just Auto for the picky) and using my in-camera flash. I might not be a professional photographer now, but I certainly was no where near that back then.


While I couldn't find those old photos, I decided to just snap a few of my husband's and my Christmas ornaments.

Wrap Up Your Table like a Christmas Present

As I mentioned in my mega post, I got a table runner and a matching table cloth for a combined total of $8 at the Christmas Tree Shop. The table cloth was the perfect size for our old TV stand/upcycled dining room shelf. It looked a little funny with the edges sticking out, so I decided to wrap up the table like a Christmas present.


This is fairly simple: on one side, flatten the center portion of the table cloth and smooth out the edge folded portions. You'll begin to see a bit of a "wrapped present" look already. Attach a clip to one of those edge pieces, just under the fold.


Attach the bottom center portion of the table cloth to the clip, under the first folded edge.


Bring the second folded edge over and clip it into place as well, in front of the folded edge.


This does take some finagling, but once you get the handling down, you'll get nice, neat look. Perfect for a cat to jump on and mess up.

Ribbon Wreath

Even though we're still renting an apartment, I wanted to adorn my front door with a Christmas wreath. And I decided that I wanted to make my own.


For this project, I needed:
- ribbon
- pins
- thimble
- scissors
- styrofoam wreath (which can be found at any crafts store)
- adhesive hook (again, any crafts store, hardware store, grocery store…)


I first wrapped the wreath in ribbon. This is as simple as pinning the beginning of the ribbon on one side of the styrofoam, angle the ribbon, and wrap.


Wrap all the way around, and, while holding the beginning portion in place, remove the pin, place the ending of the ribbon on top of the starting ribbon, and pin both in place.


For the "leaves", I cut small portions of ribbons and wrapped them in a half-figure 8 position (so that they look like the top part of a support ribbon). And pinned them directly onto the wreath.


I arranged these leaves in circles of 3 or 4 leaves and accented the center of each with a circle of ribbon. This is where the thimble kicks in. The more ribbon on your wreath, the harder it gets to put the pins in, leaving you with blisters on your index finger and thumb if you don't incorporate a thimble.


I kept going around the wreath, making these little ribbon flowers. I'd make tinier versions of the half figure-8 and circle to fill in any of the gaps, or add to any areas that needed a little extra flourish.


After figuring out how the wreath would hang, I pinned a loop of ribbon to the back of the wreath. I played it save and put in a good 10 or so pins. Better have fewer pins than a wreath that crashes.


I attached a split ring to the ribbon, a hook to the front door, and a poinsettia to the lower left side. And I love it, even though the only people who are going to see it are my apartment neighbors and my house guests -- er, apartment guests.

Try it Tuesday: Ornaments as Gift Tags

I get into a bad habit of taping a small piece of gift wrap onto the gift, writing who the gift is to, and calling that a gift tag. My mom ever-so-subtly let me know that I should be using tags or stickers by…handing me a packet of gift tag stickers and telling me that I should, "use these if I can't afford tags."


This year, I decided to go in the opposite direction and use ornaments as gift tags.


These are honestly everywhere: from Michael's to Five Below to the Christmas Tree Shop. You honestly can't throw a rock in around Christmas time without hitting personalized ornaments.


I have a few people I give gifts to that have rather unique names. The solution? Find ornaments that showcase said person's first initial.


Now, they have a pretty accent on their gift -- and something to put on the tree next year!

Christmas Decoration Mega-Post!

After hinting at us since after Labor Day, the holidays are finally on us. Like a good girl, I waited until after Thanksgiving before I removed the last of my fall/harvest decorations and went into Christmas mode.


The first is the obvious: the tree. Someday we'll have a real tree but, our fake one works perfectly fine for now. We'll celebrate our first house with a real tree. And, as we see it, this metal frame can handle the cats climbing up it. A real tree in a stand? Not so much.


For the first time, ever, we have a tree topper. I found this little snowflake at Marshall's (again, one of the best places to go to when it comes to finding cheap decorations) for $14.


And of course I needed to decorate our dining room table. I replaced the table runner with a red spiral runner from the Christmas Tree Shop for a ridiculous $3. I got a small table cloth to match, which I'll get into later.


I tied some ribbon around our candlesticks, and ran another ribbon under our centerpiece. This time, I simply braided the free strands and anchored the edges with the candlesticks.


I placed some fake poinsettias in a vase and placed it at the edge of the table facing the wall.


I have a few ribbons from my wedding favors leftover. I tied one of those ribbons around the vase for a bit of an accent.


The matching table cloth was the perfect size for our old TV stand/dining room shelf. In the spirit of the Christmas tradition, I decided to "wrap" the table as well -- but more on that later.


I've always wanted my own porcelain village. And the Christmas Tree Shop had these for $2-3 a piece. I hadn't been in a Christmas Tree Shop since I was a kid (even though one of my friends works there), and I'm kicking myself for not going sooner. They are just a buffet of awesome and cheap decorations.


Another something I got from the Christmas Tree Shops was a set of small bowls for our coffee table, perfect for green and red M&Ms.


I adorned one of our DVD stands with a snowman cookie jar. I don't have any cookies to put in it, per se, but who said decorations have to be functional?


The front of our TV stand is now home to some ivy garlands with mini mason jars of poinsettias. I love these little corner pieces, if only because they keep the garland in place.


Extra ornaments? No problem, put them in a vase, like I did for our subwoofer.


Or in a glass pedestal bowl. like I did in our bedroom.


Can't keep those window candles from staying still? If your windows slide open, wrap a plastic zip tie around the candle and wedge it in the opening.


I might use LED lights now instead of the large incandescent bulbs like my parents do, but that didn't stop me from hanging a large fake one from the window.


I found this at a Goodwill store. It's a fake lantern -- instead of oil, it holds candles -- but I love the feel of it.


Our first song frame now has two small green vases to keep it company.


Our little kitchen window needed some garland as well. I got this up by hammering two nails in each corner and tying the garland to the nail. I wrapped a red ribbon around it and tied a little bow in one of the corner -- although the ribbon is more to hide the nail than anything else. You can see off to the left that I replaced the intricate vines with a simple mistletoe.


And what bit of decoration is complete without a kitchen mat?


Or kitchen towels?


I actually got these two years ago after the Christmas season, when they were on sale for $2 a piece at CVS. I'm a patient person -- I'm okay with putting something away for a year before I can fully use it.


Have some extra tree trimming? Why not hang it from a doorframe?


I got this from JoAnne Fabrics before I even had a use for it, if only because I'm a sucker for anything pearl-like.


This little piece is part Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, part Ice Witch. I found some twigs, spray painted them grey, and hung some cheap ornaments that I got from Five Below on it. I used some of my clear marbles (which I have way too many of, anyway), to keep the twigs in place.


The view from where I actually have the tree, which is on top of Isaac's mini fridge and microwave -- both things that were once in his office before his company banned mini fridges and microwaves.


Our front door needed a wreath, so I made these little beauty with ribbon, pins and a styrofoam wreath, but more on that later.


I feel like, the more years I spend in the real world, the more into Christmas I get. Really, you're only old if you give up on the Christmas spirit. Or holiday spirit. Whatever.