If you've known me very long, you know that having worked in the craft industry for years and years that we pretty much live Christmas every month of the year. But, I have to admit, I haven't decorated for the holidays in a few years and haven't had the home to entertain. Things have changed - I moved into a larger home a few months ago, so this year I pulled out all the stops and started from scratch since I'd given most of my decorations to Goodwill a few years ago.
All of my eleven family members will be at my home this Christmas, so what better decorating 'theme' than Family. I knew I had to do it inexpensively so my crafty brain went into full gear and let me show you what I came up with - AND there's a special gift just for you at the end, so be sure to check out all of the ideas...
I started with my love of the color burgundy and added gold for a touch of elegance. I came up with the idea of little frames as ornaments and when everyone leaves they can take the photo home with them. You can find the mini frames at your local craft store or thrift store - don't worry if you can't find them all to match, that's half the fun and they can easily all 'match' with the same coat of spray paint.
I searched my photo archives from this last year and came up with photos of all of my family members - this was a unique shot from last month - it's my dad sitting in the driver's seat of one of his proud possessions - his Model T - I took the shot through the back window.
I tried to find 'activity' photos of each family member - this one is my nephew, Steven, who will be joining us from Washington, DC - he competed in his first triathlon this year. Oh, yes...Facebook is a great place to find 'activity' photos of your family and friends - just cut and paste them into a photo altering program or even a word processing program and print away.
I ran across these beautiful ANTIQUE postcards when I was at my parent's house. They belonged to my great aunt and are over 100 years old. I scanned them into my computer, printed them off on sturdy paper, cut them out, punched some holes near the top then tied them to the tree with burgundy ribbon - another way to bring family into your decorating. All I was out was the cost of the printer ink, the paper and ribbon.
My tree wouldn't be complete without the angel my mom made for me 25 years ago. She's in great shape (the angel and my mom!).
Once the tree was decorated, I moved on to the fireplace. Once again, I wanted to bring in family. I purchased the gigantic wreath at my local craft store for only $10, got some 60% off poinsettias and I had some gold ribbon. I printed off photos of my family members, mounted them on red foam sheets (I could have used burgundy paper but I didn't have any), then glued them on some printed scrapbook paper. I tucked the photos into the branches of the wreath and it's another take-away gift for my family.
Dollar Store Find!!! I have beautiful cathedral ceilings in the living room and kitchen and wanted something eye-catching. I purchased the bells and bows at the dollar store, tied them all together and used a push pin to hang them from the beam. Nope, no family here...I just like them.
I almost forgot...here's my gift to you (you'll see you get a bonus, one's for Thanksgiving). These are the same postcards I have on my tree. Print them to the desired size and use them for decorations, nametags on gifts wherever you want some vintage love - have fun and have a Merry Christmas.
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