Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Christmas Tree Garland - Crazy Awesome

I've finished our Christmas tree garland! My finger tips are ripped to shreds and completely sore, and I was working on completing it while Mr. Owl was assembling our artificial tree, but it's done. I'm so happy with how it came out, and I've decided it was totally worth the hours and hours of work I put into it.

We always put up our tree and decorate for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving, so we're ready to go for the holiday season, minus one more DIY project I'm still working on.

And, here's how the garland came out:

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Once I finished over 100 puffs, I strung them together with twine, and voila! I'm loving our Christmas tree this year. Yay! What DIY projects are you taking on for the holiday season?

Friday, November 12, 2010

Handmade Christmas Tree Garland: Crazy Awesome, or Just Crazy?

Mr. Owl and I have lived together for a long time. Almost six years, I think (is it bad I don't really remember?). It's taken us (read: me) a long time to figure out our holiday style. We started off our first Christmas living together with reds and golds, and that was too traditional for us. Then we moved to bright colors everywhere, which stuck for a few years, but then realized it was too much. The past two years, we've done bright colors mixed with natural elements (pine cones, greenery, etc.) that seems to work perfectly for us (read: me).

Recently, I saw this Christmas garland at Anthropologie, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I loved the homemade feel, the materials and the overall look. I was not, however, ready to spend 40 bucks per strand on it. So I decided, in a moment of insanity, to learn to knit teeny, tiny little mittens, and make it myself.

About five seconds later, I decided that wasn't a good idea. Maybe next year? Umm, yeah, we'll see.

So then I saw on OnceWed:

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... and decided that this was doable, if not still slightly crazy.

I went out and bought some fabric in the main colors we use around Christmastime:

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... and I got to work.

And realized that this was going to take a lot longer than I thought. It's been about a week, and I only have 23 poms finished:

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But I've decided it totally worth it, and part of a new personal challenge. If it's reasonably possible to make something for our home myself, I'm going to do it. Part of me is excited that some day, our kids will put this garland on our Christmas tree, and I can tell them the story about how one year, Mommy went temporarily insane and decided to make over 100 fabric pom poms for this garland. It's the little things like this that make Christmas memorable, right? I mean, it wouldn't be Christmas at my mom's house if she didn't still hang the ornaments me and Sister Owl made for her in elementary school (clothespin reindeer, anyone?). It's all about memories - and handmade ones are pretty awesome.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Mix and Match Dining Room Chairs

My latest home decor obsession is the look of mismatched dining chairs. I know that someday, when Mr. Owl and I have a house, one of my "must haves" is an eat-in kitchen, separate from the dining room (partially because I'm lazy and don't like traveling far with my daily bowl of cereal). But mostly, this is important to me because I feel like the kitchen is a great hub for the house - especially during holidays. If we ever host a holiday dinner, I'd like friends and family to be able to sit in the kitchen and catch up while we prepare the meal. If we have kids someday, I want them to be able to decorate cookies for Santa while I whip up another batch of dough. You get my drift, yeah?

I absolutely LOVE the look of mix and match chairs for our future, not-yet-in-existance kitchen table.


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The amazing power couple, Chelsea and Tec Petaja's home, featured on design*sponge


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