DIY Twine Wreath

I see all kinds of beautiful wreaths on Pinterest, in craft stores, on Facebook, and Instagram. While it's so much easier to just purchase one, it can be a heck of a lot cheaper to make one yourself. Today I'm going to tell you how I made this twine wreath with interchangeable accessories so you can have a cute front door that matches every season or holiday!

What You Need:

Slender Pool Noodle
Large ball of twine
Duct Tape
Pipe cleaners / or floral wire
Floral Tape (optional)
Glue (optional)
Scissors
Artificial flowers
Ribbon
Any other wreath decor you like

I purchased most of these materials from Dollar Tree! You just have to get creative and think outside the box when you're walking through the store.

Make the Wreath

Bend your noodle into a circle and tape the ends together. You might have to work your noodle into a good circle shape by bending it in several places.
Tie the end of the twine on the noodle, and wrap it around the noodle making sure none of the noodle is showing through. When you're done, secure the end by tying it to a neighboring strand of twine or you could even glue it down.

Add the Decorations

Arrange the flowers into two bunches that fit the shape of the wreath (or however you want them to look!) and secure the stems with floral tape or pipe cleaners
Then attach the flower bunches to your wreath with pipe cleaners or floral wire.
Make a large bow with matching/corresponding ribbon and attach it to the wreath with pipe cleaners or floral wire. Make sure the bow is covering the stems of your flower bunches.
To make the loop so you can hang your wreath, make a circle with a pipe cleaner (preferably the same or similar color of your door) with the noodle in the middle of the circle, and secure the ends together by twisting them.

If you want a more permanent arrangement on your wreath, you can glue all the pieces down. Otherwise, you can take off your Valentines Day flowers and put up St. Patty's Day flowers, or even make a little bunny head with some ears and cotton balls for Easter.

Badda bing! Badda boom! You have your very own, fancy schmancy twine wreath!

Have you ever made your own wreath before? Was it cheaper than purchasing a similar pre-made one?

7 Christmas Decorating Tips and Tricks

My favorite holiday is fast approaching and the thing that I love to do most is decorating my house. Inside and out. A friend once told me that during the holidays it looks like Pottery Barn exploded in my house (even though nothing I own is from Pottery Barn). The affinity for festive decor was passed down to me from my mom, and to her from her mom. I guess you could say it runs in the family.

Over the years I've developed my Christmas style, and (very slowly) built up my decor stockpile (I have a total of 5 tote bins and 2 boxes of stuff over 10 years). However, when I first was out on my own, I had to get creative. Sometimes funds are limited or you don't have much time. These tips and tricks I've learned have helped me so, so much.

1. If you have a smaller tree, elevate it to make it feel bigger. 
I love having our tree in the window so the lights can be seen from outside. We have a 5 foot tree, it's shorter than you think. To make it taller and feel a bit bigger, I put a box under the stand. The box I used this year is probably about 8 inches tall. We also have a 3 foot tree in our bedroom. I put that one on a TV tray. My Dad has a 4 foot tree and they have a small coffee-table-height table they put it on.

2. DIY "Mantle" Shelf
Much to my disappointment, we do not have a fireplace in our home. I'm 95% positive there used to be one (along with a second floor/attic room) that was taken out in a huge renovation to the house a few years before we moved in. We have some shelves in our living room that are above two of the doorways for the cats to get up and away from the dogs if they want. Well for Christmas, the larger one gets turned into a "mantle". I put up garland around the door frame, add some fairy lights, and hang the stockings. Another semi-permanent option is to purchase a floating Mantle shaped shelf (like this one) and designate a spot on the wall at the Mantle, then use it for candles and picture frames the rest of the year. More "mantles" could be bookshelves, window sills, hooks on the wall, get creative!

3. Use Clear Thumbtacks and Floral Wire to hang garland around windows and door frames.
Put a thumbtack just above the door/window frame on each corner and one in the middle. Attach a 6 inch length of floral wire around the coordinating spot on the garland in a loop, center and each side. Some measuring is involved with that part. Then hang the loops on the tacks. For a less damaging option you could use the small clear command hooks instead of tacks.

4. Dress up the decor you already have.
I use silk poinsettias, fake greenery, cinnamon (or not) pinecones, bows, fairy lights, candles, and bunting to transform my everyday decor items into a more festive version. For example, I have a hanging bucket in my gallery wall and I change out the flowers for each season. I put some cinnamon pinecones in a basket on the ottoman in the living room. I put fairy lights and a DIY mesh garland on top of my cabinets. I hung a DIY bunting on the bookshelves in my kitchen. I put a big red bow on my donkey planter on our porch. Even some holiday hand towels from the dollar section at target hung on your cabinets in the kitchen can liven things up.

5. Fill in your sparse artificial tree with garland.
Yep. Our fake tree is a lot less full as the box would have you believe. So I bought some extra garland and wound it in to fill in the bareness around the "trunk" part of the tree. Trust me it makes a huge difference.

6. Put fairy lights on the inside of your child's bedroom window
This doubles as a night light and decor! Plus it gives children a Christmas "chore" to do each night, to plug in their lights! Thanks to my Llama for this suggestion.

7. Hang extra ornaments from the curtain rod in the window.
I don't know about you, but I always have at least one box of Christmas balls leftover after I've decorated the tree. Sometimes I like to hang them at varying lengths with string/yarn/ribbon in my small kitchen window. But this would also be a great one for the kids rooms too!

BONUS!
Most people do up their main living spaces, but don't skip the bathroom when decorating. At least the bathroom your guests use, anyways. Holiday towels, candles, a wreath, or a rug can add a pop of Christmas spirit while you pee.


What's your Christmas style? Do you have any tips or tricks to add?