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Easy Christmas Ornament Wreath DIY Project

Easy Christmas Ornament Wreath DIY Project
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Easy Christmas Ornament Wreath DIY Project

This Christmas ornament wreath has been featured on Pinterest. I always admired the look of it, and decided I would give it a try myself.

I did have a few leftover non breakable balls  so I started with a color scheme that would match my decor.

To make this Christmas Ornament Wreath you only need three items:

  1. a 14 inch Straw Wreath Form
  2. about 80 Ornament Balls (See below for online bulk buying options in a variety of colors if you plan to make more than one wreath)
  3. Hot Glue and a Hot Glue Gun

Directions for Making Christmas Ornament Wreath:

You do not need to remove the plastic covering on the straw wreath. You can choose to make a wreath using only one size ornament balls, or make one with variable sizes like the one I made. There are many examples of Ornament Wreaths on Pinterest, if you’d like ideas.

The hardest part is color mixing and spacing of the assorted sized balls.  I wanted to add some smaller fill-in ornaments that I could not find at the dollar store, but Wal-Mart did have just what I wanted in multi shades of my theme.  The completed project including  six tubes of ornaments from the dollar store and the wreath base and smaller ornaments from Wal-Mart, excluding the hot glue sticks I had on hand. This Christmas ornament wreath DIY cost me about $16.00.   Not too bad for the look, and it does not weigh much, so it hangs easily on mirrors.  I am now thinking about trying it on a cone shape to see if I can make something with that.  If it is a success, I will post the finished result.

Finished Christmas Ornament Wreath DIY Project:

wreath
wreath


Follow Chris Roman’s board “Christmas” on Pinterest.

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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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DIY Door Swag: a Refreshed Swag with a Southern Flare

Recreate and refresh an old swag.
Recreate and refresh an old swag.

This week I created a DIY door swag on a dime. My neighbor called and ask if I wanted to give her old faded door swag a little facelift. She didn’t want to spend a lot on the refurbish so I took on the challenge.

This is a king size door swag, measuring longer then 36 inches and bit sun faded and needing some help. I removed all the old faded fruit and green ribbons that cascaded down the length of it along with some willow sticks.

Unfortunately nothing could be salvaged but the basic door swag. In its day it was quite handsome. I definitely like the challenge and told her I would see what I could come up with for the fall. I basically wanted to do this with things I already had on hand and parts and pieces of other decor I might come across in my bag of crafts. This was a great way to keep the cost down.

It took me about one hour to redo the swag once I gathered all the goodies and ribbon.

I found a “Welcome” sign in the garage and the rest is history.

DIY Door Swag Result:

This is the final result, I think it worked out well.

swag

See more ideas on my Pinterest  wreath board.

https://www.pinterest.com/chrisjroman/wreaths/

 

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Fall Craft Wreath Project

burlap wreath           Last fall I saw a “how to” make a burlap wreath on Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/chrisjroman/burlap/). The instructions were fairly straight forward and I gave it a try and was happy with the way this one turned out. The best part of it is I can remove the decoration and change it up for the season. I have also used it laying flat on my dining room table with a candle in the center for a centerpiece. When using it outdoors, I have a covered porch and would not recommend hanging the burlap where it would be exposed to the weather. It might get very wilty looking if it gets wet. It took 2 rolls of 4 inch burlap I bought at the Walmart and wire wreath base and your choice of floral decor. I have a variety of wreath ideas on my Pinterest page if you would like to get  ideas from the crafters who submit some terrific creations.

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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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Tomato Cage Ghost : Halloween Decor for Your Front Porch

Make a jack-o-lantern ghost tomato cage craft for Halloween home decor.
Make a jack-o-lantern ghost tomato cage craft for Halloween home decor.
Make a jack-o-lantern ghost tomato cage craft for Halloween home decor.

 

Making a Jack O’ Lantern Ghost Tomato Cage Craft

Tomato cage ghost crafting is easy and cute. The decorating urge has overtaken me this Halloween season along with the fun and creativity it gives  you when it is completed. I am not a scary decorator, because they have always frightened me, but I love the cutesy whimsical themes.

Continue reading “Tomato Cage Ghost : Halloween Decor for Your Front Porch”

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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!

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Southern Living with Chris: Meet our New Pup, Riley

My dog Riley, a miniature schnauzer uses Thundershirt for dog anxiety issues

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Welcome to Southern Living with Chris. I’m a retiree from up north who recently relocated to Henry County, Tennessee in 2010. My Southern Living with Chris website offers a glimpse into my life in retirement. I’m a retired medical records coder and spent many years working in the health care industry. I’m also an avid crafter for many years. Since retirement I’ve become very interested in thrift store shopping and DIY projects that can be made with materials found at the dollar store. You’ll find articles about my favorite craft projects, reviews, thrift store tips and finds, and sometimes just fun little musings along the way. If you are newly retired, a crafter, into thrift store shopping, or a northerner who’s recently moved to the south, consider following Southern Living with Chris. I’d love to hear from you!

I recently adopted a puppy. Meet my 9 month old schnauzer, Riley. She’s an energetic puppy but also makes a wonderful lap dog. She’s also becoming a fairly regular topic on Southern Living with Chris, too.

Somewhere in Riley’s short life she has acquired a tremendous hate of the vacuum cleaner, upright or canister, she takes no prisoners.  I have never had a dog in my life with such a determination to destroy a vacuum.  If you just open the door to the closet where it is kept, causes the alarm to go up and the barking and attacking starts.  We are working on solutions to have a treaty made between the vacuum and the warrior.  So far it is not working well, but we will keep on it and report back later any improvements.

New to Southern Living with Chris? View some of our favorite posts:

Southern Living with Chris on Gardening:

MiracleGro your garden for high yields and best results.
MiracleGro in my garden this season is yielding great results.

Southern Living with Chris on Home Decor:

fall table arrangement, a favorite on Southern Living with Chris
A fall table arrangement inside white pitcher.