Friday, December 09, 2011

A crafty Christmas project

Do y'all remember that great fortune I got last week when we had our annual look at Christmas lights and buy a tree night? Well, it was a keeper. And I'm already making good on it. I'm really proud of this project because I feel like it really fits me but is something I probably never would have done in years past.

Last month, I entered a contest for a room redo idea board and I won. Not only did that light a huge fire under my rear to make things the way I want them in my house, but it also introduced me to a great blog I hadn't known about. Ashley from The Handmade Home has a great design eye and she's always coming up with something fresh and fun for her house. The other day, she shared a project she did in her dining room that I knew I had to try. I was needing something for the space above my mantle and I could see this filling it.


I'll spare you all the details of my project as she has a perfectly good post on the whole thing over at her site. But I will share some of the process and some creative problem solving I had to do in order to get things just right.

Here we have a "u-g-l-y you-ain't-got-no-alibi" wreath I got from Goodwill for $1.99. Come to think of it, I probably paid too much for it. ;) It had decent bones, though, so I snatched it up. And I am so sorry for the orangey-ness of this photo. I hope I didn't burn your eyes. I couldn't find a good place to take a picture where that stupid wreath didn't camouflage itself into the background. After stripping it down of all it's gaudy fall glory, I had a plain old straw wreath to start my project.


I didn't get pictures of this next step because I was on a mission and when I'm on a mission, I can't be bothered by taking pictures of every tedious step. I hope to change that this next year. I know people like a good visual.

Basically, I took an old vintage Christmas tablecloth that I got at a thrift store for $2, took a deep breath  and started ripping it into strips. It was actually quite liberating. I tend to hold on to things when I find a good deal, but that often turns into a hoarding mentality and I never end up using all the good stuff I find. I knew those kinds of tablecloths were a dime a dozen if you know where to look so even if my project didn't work out, I still wouldn't be out much. I took those strips and wrapped them around my wreath, hot-gluing until the wreath was covered, then I set out to find some little trinket/ornament type stuff to dress it up. I was liking the direction it was going but I couldn't see where it was going to end up and I needed more supplies to make the letters that would go on either side of the wreath, so I went to town and figured it would all just come to me.

After a crazy day in town, with my three girls, I felt like it was close to a wasted trip. I had some silver glitter and white satin ribbon and some spray adhesive. I forgot to take an extra strip of my material so I could make sure I got the right shade of red or green so I ended up just going with silver glitter and white ribbon which made for a very blah arrangement. Here's how things looked after I finished cutting out and glittering the letters.

 Ummm, I'm not feelin' it.


I was determined not to scrap the whole idea because I loved it so much. I went digging through my craft stash looking for something that would work with those silver glittered letters when I spotted a tablecloth I had picked up at Goodwill during the summer for $1.89. But it was a blue plaid. Hmmm, blue plaid. I started looking at that blue and remembered how much I like houses with blue lights on them, especially when there's snow on the ground. Something sentimental about it, I guess. I decided I would go with an icy blue theme and switch the location to my kitchen window where I have a line of vintage blue Ball jars. Perfect.


I covered the wreath in strips of the blue plaid, found an old plastic ornament, glittered it up and added a couple of glittery white plastic leaves that fell off of one of my centerpieces. I hung it in the window with a thumb tack and hot glued the letters to the metal frame of the window. Viola!



I'm loving the blue in my kitchen. I couldn't get myself to think outside of the red/green box until I encountered a roadblock, but once I did, it opened up something different that I love. I seriously can't stop looking at it! Which is convenient because that sink is where I spend a good 60% of my day and that window is what I look at the whole time I'm standing there.


Linking to The Nester and
these blogs:



 


Sumo's Sweet Stuff

5 comments:

Sharon Hermens said...

Honey, I love it!! I hope when we get to spend more time in Clyde (in our cottage) we can do some crafty stuff together. You did a great job!!

ashley @ the handmade home said...

hey girl! meant to write you a million times before now, and things got insane for us, but LOVE this. great job! Also, LOVE your husband's CD! Seriously fabulous stuff! you were so sweet to send that. Thanks so much again!!!

pamelotta said...

Mom - Thanks, can't wait for you to get here. Maybe we can do some thrifting for that cottage of yours!

Ashley - You're welcome. I didn't know if you got it but didn't want to bug you. So glad you're enjoying it!

Anonymous said...

Me likey!
I feel joy when I look at this wreath.
-Leilani

pamelotta said...

Leilani - Yeah! I'm so glad!

Laura - Thanks for stopping by, Laura! I'm headed over to your place now. I'm in a crafty mood and can't wait to see some new ideas for gifts!