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Candy Cane Door Decor DIY

I love to craft and decorate for the holidays and I have found that making some of my own decorations is more fulfilling than just purchasing them.  Lets face it, somethings are out of my ability wheelhouse and I can recognize that fact, but sometimes just a little visual example and explanation can get you trying things you may have never thought to try before.

I have recently started watching some learning channel, You Tube “how to” channels and I find some amazing crafters and creators that are just phenomenal.  Their instructions are visual and understandable and totally enjoyable.  I recommend you take a look at something you may be interested in and give it a try.

I made this Candy cane door decoration  with five plastic candy cane sticks I purchased from Wal-mart, an evergreen pick, two ornaments, and three different kinds of ribbon.  The five candy cane sticks are zip tied together and before the final tightening are arranged in levels you find appealing and then tightened down.  Hot glue is used to attach the greens and ribbon bows, and then lastly the ornaments of your choice are glued down and it is done.  I used a pipe cleaner that I twisted to the back for hanging purposes. If you are bow challenged there are videos to take you step by step. Easy quick and results are better than expected.  These Candy cane door decorations also make great Christmas gifts.

If you would like to watch a video by Damon Oates of “Deco Exchange” www.decoexchange.com/ unfortunately  this project video is no longer posted at this time. But he has others you may be interested in.   Below are some of my recommendations.  Hope you find something that truly interests your creative energies and give it a try.  I like the feeling of accomplishment that I learned something new and I did it.  Happy Holidays and creating.

Deco Exchange

Southern Charm Wreaths

Kats creations777

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Christmas Lantern Decorations: Fresh Holly and Pine Swag DIY

Re-purposed lantern with Christmas holly and pine swag.

Christmas lantern decorations are a favorite of mine during the holiday season. With all the artificial trees and wreathes for Christmas decor, I really miss the smell of pine and cedar. Luckily our property does have a variety of holly, cedar, boxwood and pine. Since retiring to Henry County, Tennessee area, I’ve developed an annual tradition of creating Christmas lantern decorations for my home using my own materials growing in my yard.

live holly and pine swag with wire mesh ribbon for christmas lantern decorations
Live holly and pine swag with wire mesh ribbon on this first of two original Christmas lantern decorations diy projects.

DIY Christmas Lantern Decorations:

Materials Needed:

  • Collect a variety of greens, both holly and pine branches
  • 18-24 inches of wire ribbon
  • about 12 inches of craft / floral wire (The wire should be long enough to be able to wrap around the neck of the lantern.)
  • lantern with battery powered candle (I prefer Luminara battery powered candles with flickering flames).

Directions:

  • Lay out the cedar branches to form the base , left side and right, with the stems overlapping in the middle.
  • Add some holly with berries, on both the left side and right, overlapping in the center.
  • Add the boxwood leaves on top.
  • Wrap the wire (you can also use twist ties) around the middle and tie securely.
  • Add the bow and wire it in place around the neck of the lantern.

To keep it fresh and fragrant, mist the greens occasionally.

christmas lantern decorations with fresh holly and pine
Re-purposed lantern with Christmas holly and pine swag.

You can use a variety of household decor items to create this look. Here is another project I made using fresh live holly and pine using a distressed wood lantern. This lantern also has a Luminara candle with a flickering wick.

If you’d like to switch it up, use two colorful ribbons instead of one and overlap them. You can also add pine cones with a hot glue gun.

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Bathroom before and after

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Since we bought our home four years ago, I have always disliked the stock construction mirrors that were in my Master bath. The size of them was great for the bath but the unfinished quality kept eating away at me to do something.

So I did.

I went to the local Lowe’s and purchased the moldings to fit the size of the mirror. I also bought the square block corner moldings to make the corners easier to construct with mitering the corners. Because the light switches are so close to the mirror covering the ends was not an option unless I had a electrician do some major rerouting. I thought my best and cheapest option was for me to glue the moldings to the mirror itself.

First I cut and painted the moldings, making sure to paint the back side as well because the reflection off the mirror will show all the underside faults. Gluing up all the moldings was not difficult but getting them straight and taping them in place to keep them straight till they set, was almost comical.

Hopefully all the errors will not be greatly noticed and the more finished look to my bathroom is aesthetically pleasing for me. All in all I would say it was not that difficult, except for the cutting exactly to measurement, and with another person helping to hold moldings in place. I would say this is a fairly straight forward minor change and easily doable from anyone to try.

Check out More Before and After Design Ideas on Pinterest:



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Green Bedroom with Espresso Furniture Summer to Fall Looks

I have a green bedroom with espresso brown furniture. I love the color of the walls, my carpeting, and my beautiful espresso furniture. But when the seasons change I like to update the look.

This has been the first week since Labor Day that the weather has calmed down. We’ve had a lot of days in the 90’s, which is not uncommon in Henry County, Tennessee. But thankfully, this hot weather has taken a little break. Last night we turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows and you could feel fall in the air.

When I woke up this morning I thought that today would be a good day to redecorate and go from summer to fall looks in my bedroom. I had purchased a coverlet and shams on clearance a few months ago and have been waiting to put the whole thing together for a simple easy redecorating change.

Green Bedroom with Espresso Furniture Before Look

green bedroom with espresso furniture
Before look of my green bedroom espresso furniture that I love in spring and summer.

My room is painted a great green color that seems to blend harmoniously with a lot of different colors. I had previously made valances that had a forgiving pattern that can easily be mixed with other floral, plaid, and stripes.

Green Bedroom with Espresso Furniture After Look

green bedroom with espresso furniture
After look of my green bedroom with espresso furniture perfect for the fall season.

Because of the design of my bed, I do not require or can use a dust ruffle, so that does save me money and lot of mattress wrestling I can live without. This makes the whole change over easy and quick. I do like “the lots of pillow look” and I have been using as my base pillow the euro-shams with a brown cover that I have not had to replace due to color blending. Then I use the standard shams , two matching 16 inch square decorator pillows, one 15 inch decorator pillow and a 15×12 rectangular pillow finishes the group.

I am happy with the results and the ease in which it all came together. The only real new purchase was the coverlet, shams and two decorator pillows that came as a set and on clearance cost me under $80.00 delivered. The metal wall hanging over my bed is also fairly new along with my 5×7 wool carpet at the end of my bed.  I reused everything else and still get a pleasing fall/winter color change to rejuvenate the room.

I am glad to share this with you in hopes you will enjoy this and encourage you to get a fresh start on new season. Enjoy!