Using some of my favorite crafting media (book pages, branches), I set about making decorations that incorporated materials that I had on hand, or could obtain for cheap. One of my favorites turned out to be the little trees you see lining the window sills above. I got the idea from my bestie, Martha Stewart - the original craft is for place cards, but they made the cutest accents as well. And after the party, I sent them home with guests as mini favors.
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| The sprigs I snipped from greenery in surrounding areas (like my apt. complex, outside my office, on the way home...lol) |
Continuing with the natural theme, I looked for ways to incorporate branches and fresh greenery into the décor.
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| Always have to have the red and green M&Ms! |
Evergreen sprigs, bits of holly, pinecones, and magnolia leaves worked as well to bring a bit of the outdoors inside. Going with the whimsical, I framed out illustrations from a copy of Alice in Wonderland to hang from the branches of my arrangements. The largest one I adorned with popcorn garlands and mini wreaths in addition to a few paper ball ornaments I made with leftover pieces of patterned paper.
I also used a few of the pages to line the backs of cookie-cutters, turning them into ornaments. Another Martha-inspired craft, although the original craft used wrapping paper instead of book pages.
You might have noticed the little paper trees peeking in the background of different pictures - they were really simple to make, instructions here!
I also used book pages to make a banner (I drew on the letters with Sharpies)...
... and these really sweet wreaths! They were a little time-consuming, but not very difficult. I used some German playing cards that I had on hand to cover the center portion where it tends to get messy (where all the cones come together). You can find the tutorial I used here.
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| The icicles are just tissue paper! |
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| Cheery fire |
A few other fun accents were paper chains, paper medallions, and cheery luminaries lining the front walk. The paper medallions were made using seventeenth-century newspaper articles I had printed out for one of my grad classes (recycle, right?) and old Christmas cards for centers. The luminaries consisted of red paper bags layered over white ones - I used an Exacto knife to cut out a simple design on each of the red bags, then placed Mason jars with tea lights inside (it was a windy/rainy night, if I recall).
We had a full potluck dinner, complete with an impressive variety of desserts, and a white elephant gift exchange, where I'm pretty sure this was the top steal. :) A fun time was had by all who attended!