Thrifty Parsonage Living: LOW COST DIY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

Friday, December 2, 2011

LOW COST DIY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS - {JOY}

The past few days, I've been busy making the Parsonage look festive for the Christmas holidays. Wanting to add something new on top of my curio cabinet, got me thinking about what I could make using things I already had. (If you recall, I did a makeover to our living room this fall adding a lot of color changes to the room. If you missed that post, you can read it here.) My previous Christmas arrangement was in burgundy and gold. Those colors don't work well with the new colors in the room: tan, brown, and seascape blue/green.

Here is what I came up with.

Below are the DIY instructions for making your own.

I shopped the house for things to use that I already had.

- Cylinder vases left over from our daughters wedding (purchased at a garage sale.)

- Ribbon

- Dollar Store battery operated candles

- Transparency scrapbook paper

- Mirror (also leftover from the wedding)

- Mounting putty

- JOY letters - downloaded to my computer

Last December I was visiting a blog Crafty Ever After; and I came upon her JOY printable letters. She's so gracious to let you down load them for FREE for your own home use. I loved them, and put them away for a future project. Today I found a great use for them.

I began by printing the letters off on translucent paper, just like I did for my thanksgiving "place card" candles.

Taking the vases, I glued ribbon at the top and bottom and then attached the paper letters in the middle using glue. A candle was placed in each vase to give it the pretty flickering from the candle light.

To create the "O," I used a small wreath I had from other years, and placed it on the mirror using the mounting putty to hold it in place.

It gives me great "JOY" to have something on my curio cabinet that I didn't have to spend another dime to have. I could use this arrangement in my office when the holidays are done, since it spells out my name as well!