A creative Christmas streak...

Yesterday I was in some sort of creative and festive mood.  I was making Christmas decorations for my house, and didn't realise I ended up with quite a few goodies by the end of the day.  Here are some things I came up with, and of course all DIY stuff (because that's how I roll, on the cheap side, lol).  Be warned, today's post is packed with festive ideas!  :-)

To refresh your minds, I shared with you a creative idea (again with cereal boxes) using our family's initials as decorations.  Click here if you'd like to re-visit that post before proceeding to all the other festivities that's in store for you today.  :-)

ONE
First up, our very own Advent Calendar.  Ok, now this I made last week, but thought why not share it with you today along with all the other festive stuff I made yesterday.  This advent calendar was inspired by one of my favourite blog reads, Brown Paper Packages.  I used paper towel rolls and cut them into thirds.  Wrapped them in packaging paper as well as some Christmas gift-wrapping paper, added ribbons and numbers, and that's about all there is to it.  It is easy, but just a bit time-consuming (because you have to make 25).  The fun part was putting in notes and lollies in each one.  Some examples of what's inside the little packages are:
- make an ornament for the tree
- go for a drive and check out Christmas lights
- go out for ice cream
- play a game
- write Christmas cards for family and friends
etc etc...

Here's a collage I put together that show some of them...

TWO
Ok, so this was the first thing I made yesterday, our very own Christmas wreath made of cereal boxes and cupcake paper liners.  Now, I wish I had taken progress shots, but I didn't even think of it because I was on a roll !  Instead, here's a list of what I did, in case you wanted to do something similar for your casa.

1- Prepare a circle for your base.  I used a 12" cake card, I just cut out the centre using a smaller plate.  You can use cereal box or cardboard.
2- draw out a leafy pattern on the inside of your cereal box.  Cut this out and trace as many times as you need (I used 16).
3- Once you've cut all the traced leaves out, tape/glue them onto your prepared circle.  I used painters masking tape (because I wanted to play around with spacing first and didn't want anything permanent).  Space as desired.
4- Add your ribbon and *cupcake pompom on the right-side of the circle.
5- Choose a wall to stick it on!  I used painters masking tape again, as this is gentle on walls.
6- Admire!

*Cupcake pompom
Simply flatten your cupcake paper liners and fold in half.  Glue on top of each other to create an accordion.  You will need at least nine cupcake paper liners to make this.

THREE
Next, I wanted to create another wreath but this time for our front door.  I wanted to use something else other than cardboard, so off to my box of crafty goodness I went.  I found unopened wooden pegs which I thought would be perfect for this project!

1- Like the cereal box wreath I made (above), prepare a circle for your base, using a 12" cake card (or cereal box/cardboard), cut out the centre.
2- Peg the cardboard until the entire circle is filled (only leaving about a one inch gap for the ribbon).
3- Add ribbon as your loop and voila!  Your very own and unique Christmas wreath!

FOUR
My eldest son, Javaughn, wanted a 'J' of Christmas lights on his wall.  Without planning or marking, I decided to just 'wing' it, since I was still in this creative streak.  I pulled out some Christmas lights that my hubby bought last weekend from his work sale and began to attach them to the wall using painters masking tape.  I was going to use command hooks, but decided it would be less effort (and less expensive) to use masking tape instead, plus I didn't want anything permanent.  What I ended up with was pretty cool, especially in the dark.  Here are some pics I took last night, while my son (and hubby) were sleeping.

My hubby is sleeping in this pic, if you can see...

FIVE
Our JAR OF THANKS.  I made this a couple of weeks ago, inspired by one of my favourite DIY couples, John and Sherry of Young House Love.  This is something we look forward to because it is a time where we get to reflect on our day and think about what we're most thankful for.  The fun part is we get to read them all out on Christmas day as a family.  It should be interesting to see what each member has written down.

Well,  I hope you had fun with me today!  I'm glad to have shared some Christmas ideas with you.  If you haven't done any decorating already, then why not try some (or all) of the projects I shared with you today.  And don't forget to share them with me!!

xo