I’m a simple gal at heart, and I enjoy things that are natural, handmade, whimsical. Here is a little tour of some of the decorations around my home that fall into one or more of those categories.
Orange slices are easy to dry. I put the slices onto parchment and then slid them into the oven as it I pulled out supper, allowing the heat to slowly dry them out as the oven cooled. The next morning I forgot they were in there and preheated the oven! Oops! They got a tinge crispy on the edges, but I got them out in time.
Here they are, strung up with thread and on the tree. They really catch the light.
I never could find a topper I liked so my husband created one out of a piece of copper pipe scrap from a plumbing job. The idea was to look like a giant tinkertoy. Mission accomplished! As an added bonus, the rays all pull out of the center circle and store within the center pipe.
I didn’t add much to the mantle, just some cedar from the woods outside, a string of lights and some carved wooden reindeer.
I found this wooden nativity set years ago in a local artists co-op. I can’t remember where the wire trees came from (Pier One??) and I made the little angel hanging on the clock out of wool. My sweet neighbor made the Noel banner for me as a gift. The quilt in the background is one that I made.
This banner is so cute! I love the simplicity of it. I bet a lot of you crafty gals could figure it out and make similar ones.
What’s winter without snowflakes? Some years the only ones we see are the ones we make and tape upon the windows. We’re snobby snowflake purists: they *must* have six sides. I very much like this birdcage. Only quiet and clean (read: fake) birdies currently live in it, but I’m not opposed to putting in some real ones someday.
However, I don’t think real birdies would don on mini Santa hats.
A month ago I managed to drag a cabinet in from the basement and give it a good paint job. It’s not made of real wood (too bad!) but it still does the job. You can see my scrappy candy canes up top, and the top two shelves hold my collection of children’s Christmas books.
For our Advent calendar, I traced a free mitten pattern from the internet and cut out 24 mittens. On the back of each is an activity for the day, such as creating Christmas cards or enjoying hot cocoa or playing music downtown.
For our dining chandelier, we draped more cedars and then added paper chains and a little touch of gold garland.
Our Christmas cards are hung on a string with mini clothespins.
A friend made these snowflakes for me. Aren’t they gorgeous? I’m still amazed by them; they’re glass!
Here’s another birdcage with the birdie escaped! We decorated the cage with vintage (read: thrift shop) Christmas ornaments.
Some projects are ongoing, here a little, there a little. Like some wool felt gingerbread men. Just three of them.
I still need to sew on the binding to a table runner I made from my scrap collection. Maybe I’ll finish it in time for next year 🙂
And why not decorate with sticks? I want to hot glue them into star shapes.
These ornaments-to-be are from clothespins cut short. They’re awaiting some paint and personality.
I hope you are enjoying some quiet time this Advent, creating some lovely things for your home and family. None of it really needs to be complicated or expensive. You can see how I decorated my kitchen here.
Blessings,
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