Christmas 2010

Hopefully everyone had an amazing Christmas! I don't think I've ever been more excited about Christmas decorating than this year, now that we finally have a fireplace and semi-finished living room! *insert happy dance!*  Of course, we weren't about to go crazy with decorating this year, or spend too much money on said decorations. I mean, we just renovated the great room, sans kitchen for now, and even though we got killer deals on just about everything we bought for the renovation AND did all the work ourselves, it was still a HUGE undertaking and cost quite a pretty penny. (you'd be amazed how quickly all the little things add up! I can't imagine spending full price for everything and/or hiring all the work out! yikes!!) So with my limited budget in mind I was all gung-ho to get my craft on and make a bunch of Christmas decorations this year! I brainstormed a bunch of my own decorating ideas, as well as got some nifty ideas from other blogs on the web. However, before I really got going on making any of them I ended up getting called for full time work all through September-December (which was a complete blessing!) but didn't allow me any extra time to finish many of the DIY ideas I wanted to try, plus do all my Christmas gift shopping, baking, wrapping, card sending, etc. Oh well, here's looking at next year, I'll have to remember to start early, like maybe now, so it will all be done in time for Christmas NEXT year! haha.
Anyways, if you have a crafty bone like me and like DIY decorating projects, here are some ideas I found that I really wanted to try my hand at making for next year!

Christmas Tree Ornament Advent Calendar

(you count down the days by putting a new ornament on the tree every night! how cute is that?! A new Unger household tradition in the making me thinks)

Christmas Card Holder

Christmas "Tree" Centerpiece

Christmas Cloth Wreath

Decorative Mini Christmas Trees

Artwork

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Pretty neat huh?! I can't wait to start making some of them!

The extent of my craftiness this year was a glass bowl full of cinnamon scented pinecones mixed with a variety of gold and red ornaments, and the wrapping job we did on all the gifts we handed out. In all honestly, we're pretty thrilled with the creativity and thriftiness we exercised wrapping our gifts this year, so of course I need to share it with you. ;)

Now by itself it may not look so great to you, but I tell ya, underneath our tree all piled together with brown and cream ribbons, they looked pretty awesome. AND you can actually RECYCLE this wrapping paper! (your welcome earth!) I've always hated the fact that conventional wrapping paper is non-recyclable...take a minute to think of how many garbage bags FULL of it make their way into our landfills every year! I'm no tree hugger, (we made pretty short work of cutting down the one on display in our house...:S) but hey, I was up to the task of saving at least some landfill room! (Don't worry, we plan on using our live Christmas tree as firewood so it won't go to the dump!) So after I scrounged up enough old newspapers throughout the week, I tied them up in some brown and cream ribbons I bought on clearance at Walmart, made some cute scrapbook nametags, and busted out the sharpie to add the personal touches! Brad and I have always LOVED drawing faces on the pictures in newpapers and magazines, so this made for quite the entertaining evening of wrapping gifts and laughing away at all the random pictures and comic strips we made. (Let's just say Mindy McPherson never looked so good!) And wrapping presents never was SO fun!

As for the rest of our Christmas decor, since we were so incredibly busy this season the decorating we did was pretty minimal, and simple, but hey, I think it worked! Here are a few pictures of our blinged out crib. ;)

The garland and lights were all left over from Christmas' past, as was the star on top of the tree and a few of the opaque ivory ornaments. I went with a new color scheme of soft opaque gold, ivory, red and browns. I got all the ornaments at Superstore for $10 bucks (a container of about 120!) as well as the stockings for $10 each. I had thought of sewing my own stockings, or crocheting my own, but the cost of fabric or yarn would have come close if not been right up there, so to save time this year, I went with the easy buy.

The wreath on the mantel I bought on clearance at Michaels for $3, fully intending to add my own greenery and decorations and hang it on the front door. But as I was prepping for Brad's surprise birthday party at the end of November I needed it moved off my table, so I stuck it up on the mantel to get it out of the way. Later, while in the midst of cleaning and cooking, I took a look over at the fireplace and rather liked the look of the "naked" wreath, sitting there in all it's nude glory...and it kinda reminded me of the real reason for Christmas, the reason Jesus was born in the first place...I'm not sure if it reminds you of a crown of thorns at first glance...but it did to me at that moment, and still does. So there it stayed, up on the mantel, bare, providing me with a constant reminder of Christ's sacrifice for us. A reminder that this baby Jesus was not only born for me, but that He was born to die for me. It made me cry almost every time I looked at it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!