Dare to DIY: Christmas craft and decor

Ahhhh- my favorite decorating time of the year is here!!  I typically don't do a lot of seasonal decor, except for Christmas (and a little bit for fall).  Christmas I go all out- we have 4 giant Rubbermaid tubs devoted to Christmas decor.  This year we've been a little behind on the decorating because I was out of town and then sick.  But this past weekend I got a good start!  And I'm linking up a couple of crafts to Kim's Dare to DIY party as well as Centsational Girl's craft party- unfortunately these decorations were done last year, not this year.  But I haven't blogged about them before, so that counts, right?

We haven't put up our tree yet, but here's our mantle:

I start with a simple lighted garland and then add a ton of other stuff- in the garland are Christmas ornaments, pine cones and decorated floral picks. The 4 stuffed creatures above each stocking (the stockings are mine, my husband's, one for the dogs and one for the cats) were made by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law- they are (from left to right) a santa holding a snowman, a skiing snowman, a large snowman holding a "Merry Christmas" wreath and a penguin holding an "I love snow days" sign.  Everything else was made by me.  Let's take a closer look:

These trees were pretty simple- I bought styrofoam cones at Hobby Lobby** and then wrapped them with twine and yarn (hot gluing the ends down as I went).  The white yarn at the top has sequins in it, which kind of makes it look like snow- right?  Then I got cardboard stars and painted them with gold craft paint, hot glued a straight pin to the back and stuck them into the styrofoam.  Easy!  A secret- the trees are sitting on soup cans which makes them appear to be floating above the garland- there wasn't enough room on the mantle otherwise!

This wreath was another easy craft- I just wrapped a styrofoam wreath form with some red ribbon I already had on hand, hot glued some ornaments on and hung it with another ribbon from the mirror.

Finally, the Noel sign.  I saw this on Frugal with a Flourish's blog last year (see link here) and had to re-create it.  It's a Pottery Barn knock-off (original cost $149!  I did it for less than $10).  I bought press-board letters at Hobby Lobby and stapled/hot glued them together (seriously, the back is a hot mess- you don't want to see it).  Then I painted them with a combination of gold, burgundy and brown craft paint.  It's propped up on a piece of wood so that it doesn't disappear behind the garland- garland is great, it hides everything!!

There you have it- my Christmas decor so far.  What do you think?  Stay tuned for a peak at our outside decor!!

**Disclosure:  I was not paid or compensated in any way by this company for this post.