Christmas Decor - 2/5 - The Idea Room

Christmas Table Centerpiece

My daughter is in a local production of The Nutcracker this entire week and it has gotten me in the mood for pulling out my Christmas Decor…and a nap. I usually wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put out all of our Christmas Decor so that Thanksgiving doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

If you remember…last Christmas we were knee deep in a kitchen demolition and so the Christmas decor was pathetic. I did manage to put up a tree and the stockings…but that was about it. It felt sad…but I couldn’t stand the thought of the construction dust everywhere. So I am jumping at the bit to get all that Christmasy goodness out this year!

So I took that Thanksgiving Table Centerpiece and decided to make a Christmas Version! It couldn’t be simpler. You will need some sort of box or plantar, or you can make a wooden box using the tutorial I shared last week (for those of you who are new here).

Then take some Spanish Moss or other filler and place in the bottom of your box.

*BE CAREFUL WHEN USING WITH CANDLES AS THE MOSS IS DRY AND FLAMMABLE. NEVER LEAVE A BURNING CANDLE UNATTENDED.

Then take some berry garlands and tuck them into the edges of the boxes and hide the wires under the moss. I used a couple of different garlands for this. A white one and a silver one. I found both of them in the Christmas section of Hobby Lobby.

Throw in some fun colored “fuzzy balls” (yes…that is what they were called) and a couple of candles and you have a lovely centerpiece for the middle of your Christmas Table. I like that it is also low and doesn’t intrude on your table space or block your view of your guests and gives you plenty of room for that giant plate of Christmas Ham!

This is a really easy way to add some fun, festive Christmas Decor to your home to help you celebrate.

November 15, 2012 · Filed under: Christmas, Christmas Decor Tagged with

DIY Christmas gift

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Need a last minute DIY Christmas gift? Today you can print out this already made template for either soap or sanitizer bottles. This is one of my very favorite gifts to give. This gift is perfect for when you have to give out gifts to teachers, neighbors and friends. They are pretty easy to make and inexpensive. And I love that they are totally practical especially in this season of germs.

The other thing I love about these is that you can totally customize them in any way, shape or form and for any season.

Instructions:

1. Remove the label(s) from your bottle.

2. If there is any sticky residue left, you can easily remove it using some Goo Gone.

(I picked mine up from Home Depot)

3. If your bottle has an insert inside you can remove it with some tweezers.

4. Print out the Christmas Soap insert here.

5. Print it using a laser printer onto your transparency film.

If you do not have a laser printer you will need to print it out and then copy it onto your transparency film. If you do not do this your ink will end up running and falling off into the soap or the hand sanitizer. You can take it and have it printed at your local copy store as well.

6. Measure your bottle and cut your transparency so that it will fit into the bottle. Be sure to measure it on the top and bottom so that it sits where you would like it to…INSIDE THE BOTTLE!

7. Roll your transparency backwards and slide it into the top of the bottle. Push it into place so that it sits right against the front wall of the bottle. You can use the soap dispenser pump to push it into place.

Christmas Soap Bottles Download

Such an easy gift that people can really use. I love to make these up and give them to my kid’s teachers along with a gift card, but I use Hand Sanitizer instead of liquid Hand Soap. The teachers always seem to enjoy them as they go through a lot of hand sanitizer in their classrooms. Here are the links to the other versions of them that I have previously shared.

Thanksgiving Soap/Sanitizer Bottles

Monogrammed Hand Sanitizer

Hand in Hand Sanitizer

I also wanted to take a minute and wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Chanukah, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, Holiday, etc. Only 2 more sleeps till Christmas!! I wish all of you a happy and safe holiday with family, friends and loved ones! I feel so grateful everyday for this blog and for each of you who follow along! I am truly blessed!

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December 22, 2011 · Filed under: Christmas, Christmas Decor, Christmas Gifts, Crafts, Free Downloads, Gifts, Teacher Gifts, Tutorials Tagged with decorative soap bottle, DIY Christmas gift, hand sanitizer, handmade gifts, homemade gifts

Holy Names Subway Art

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Well, you asked for it…so here it is!

I whipped up this Holy Name Subway Art using an 11 x 14 inch frame that I already had on hand and cut out the anmes in vinyl using my Silhouette SD machine.

But it would be so easy to just print out this subway art on some nice paper and then frame it. I love how simple it this decoration is, especially next to my other brightly colored Christmas decorations. But my favorite part of it is that it reminds us of the REAL “reason for the Christmas season”!

Wouldn’t these also make a great neighbor or friend gift? I decided that I am going to give these to the ladies that I am “assigned” to visit monthly as part of one of our Church programs.

I simply printed out the subway art, on some nice cardstock paper, so that it measured 4 inches x 6 inches (most printing programs will allow you can change the size of the document you are printing) and framed it within a 5 x 7 inch frame. You could even find some frames at the dollar store to make it extra inexpensive.

Such a simple and easy gift!

Want to make one for yourself or to give to someone as a gift? Click here for the free download. This is a .png document so you will only be able to print it, unless you have a program that will allow you to change it. But you should be able to save it to your computer and then print it into the various sizes you may need.

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