Christmas Box Project

Because I love to decorate all year round, and especially at Christmas. I decided to do a planter box. The beauty of this project, is that you can do it any size, shape or style. There are NO directions with this project. Just use your imagination and let your creative juices flow.

So, this Fall I was out at my Moms. I was in the looking at her pots and planters. She asked me if I wanted it, at the time, I was not sure. Buzzing around Pinterest, this idea hit me. My Husband was out at her house, and "borrowed" the box. If she needs it back, I will be happy to return it to her.

It was just a plain color. It took a couple of coats of green spray paint, to give it the color I wanted. I also did some wisps of gold paint. I am still not sure about the gold. I wanted it to pop.

Just a lightweight planter box

As we all know, I love to spray paint. 

I so could have been a tagger. Maybe it is the defacing of property 

and getting in trouble that has stopped me..

OK, you can use any color. Something that works with 

your color scheme. Or just a favorite color

Two or three coats and some wisps of Gold. 

You see it from the street, and that is why I want some pop

Plain old greenery. 

It was stuffed into the box.

Shatterproof ornaments. 

I used curling ribbon to attach everything together

Different ribbon and decorations are what added to the colors in this box

Because of where this box was going, I added color lights

White or any color would also work.

We are using all LED lights. We feel that they are

more energy efficient. My meter is not spinning out of control.

Just a simple planter box filled with greenery and ornaments. 

I really like this on my porch

I updated my Christmas tree to match the box

Two years ago, I made the garland.
With the front door swag from last year
and everything else, my front porch is very inviting

AND this is my tree...
It is so beautiful this year.
The jewel tones look just beautiful

Christmas Projects

MERRY Almost CHRISTMAS
The weeks just keep flying away.... Where has the time gone? Every year, I always want to be better organized and not freak out. NEXT Tuesday is Christmas. My Christmas shopping is close to being done. A few gift certificates to complete some presents.

There has been no holiday baking. Not really sure when that will happen... At least I am off on Christmas eve. I have a whole day to finish up.

For almost twenty years, I have been sending out my own handmade stamped and embossed Christmas cards. It is a huge project, but I really like doing it. It takes a tremendous amount of time, and no matter how early I start, it always takes longer than I anticipate. And this year was no different.

A Snowman with Cardinals is the theme of this years' card. Very special people in my life receive cards.

This card started with Plain white card stock. A layer of Green, a layer of Red and then the actual Stamped card. Then all of the coloring. I also used some glitter glue for the Snowman's buttons. The layering of paper gives the card some weight. 

This inside of this card was very simple. There was also layering of different size paper. Some coloring of the cardinals. Just a signature and I was done. TIMES 75 cards. Yikes...

This was another project that I tackled this year. All over Pinterest  there were tomato cages with lights and some green garland. I started out that way, and realized that was just not enough for me. So off to the Dollar store  I went and found two $10.00 four foot trees. Shoved them up the middle of the tomato cages and I was in business. Shatterproof ornaments were inexpensive and some pics and I was done. I had a few pieces of burlap left over from my place mats, covered the base, viola. Done.

We drilled small holes into the container, used zip ties and attached the cages to the container.

They look great from the street. We put some sand in the bottom of the container for weight.

For many years, I have purchased real evergreen wreaths. They smell fabulous and look great. But in January the wreaths were dead and all the decorations need to be removed. So this year I purchased plain artificial wreaths and decorated them. I used some of my existing decorations and added a few more to match with all of my new stuff. And when January comes, they will go into a bag and into the attic.

We used different colored light bulbs to reflect differently off of the wreaths.

The Christmas Trees sit right below the wreaths. Together they add a color punch to my driveway.

Also on Pinterest, I saw all of these beautiful garlands for front entry ways. I had to do it. I was not sure how it would hang, but in my mind, that would be solved. That was my Husbands job....

Several years ago, I made a lighted garland for staircase near my front door. Very pretty and made such a grand entrance when you walked into my house. The first Christmas we had Apple Jax (CAT), she was very destructive to the garland. She found it to be the best play toy in the world. All night long she would 

pick and play. The next Christmas, the garland did not go up.

I measured the garland, decided to purchase two piece of plain greenery and go from there. I had some artificial poinsettia's on hand, and purchased more shatterproof ornaments. The garland and the greenery wrapped together. Using florist wire to attach all of the ornaments. I recycle my old garland and made it absolutely beautiful. We used the clips to hold the lights to the gutters and attached the garland with zip ties. The garland going down the newel post was also attached with zip ties. Very secure.

I also made the baskets with the left over burlap and the extra ornaments. 

With the exception of the cards, all of these projects will be able to be used next year.

It was a lot of work, but I really enjoy the Holidays and dressing up my House.

I will definitely take a picture of my tree. It is absolutely beautiful this year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.