homemade holiday inspirations

Turkey has been eaten.

Friends and family have gone home.

Dishes are clean and the house is back in order...

Let the decorating begin!

I absolutely love decorating for the holidays! I get a tiny twinkle in my eye the day after Thanksgiving when I pull out my boxes {and boxes and boxes} of Christmas garb! I am particularly excited about this year since it will be my first Christmas with my sweet hubby in our home together. 

I have been thinking, planning and PINing my inspirations for my decor all year. I try to use a color scheme as my starting point for my decor every year. In the past I have been all over the board from hot pink and lime green to "Suzie Lu Who" bright red and green. Last year I toned it down a bit and went with a shabby chic white and cream theme. I want to stick with the vintage shabby style {it's my favorite} but this year I am going to add a touch of vintage reds and greens for a pop.

I am such a visual person, I need something in my hands that I can pull my colors from. I found the perfect combo of vintage shabby and traditional colors in scrapbooking papers by Authentique {from my favorite crafty store Whim So Doodle of coarse}. I just love the slight vintage shabby twist on the traditional colors. Now that I have my color scheme picked out and my inspiration board {which used to be in a notebook but now is a Pinterest board} I am ready to start shopping and creating for Christmas 2012!  Here's a sneaky peek at a few of my treasures for this year! 

I try to create a few new handmade decorations to add to my collection every year in addition to the special little store bought treasures I pick up. I was so in love with the scrapbook papers I found that I couldn't help but jump into my workroom and start creating!

First, I made a small wreath out of paper cones with sparking glass glitter edges, lovely ribbons, vintage tinsel & hand stamped details.

   

and I kept going....I made a shabby little chipboard banner. I think my favorite part about this banner is the JOYFUL lettering. Let me tell you I had my heart set on using these letters and it was quite the task to get my hands on them! After I had my perfect letters, it took me a bit to come up with how I was going to cover them but after a few trials, many paper towels, and very inky fingers, I came up with the most amazing shabby distressed shimmer technique! I just love it!

So this is the start of my inspired Christmas for 2012 and it's only going to grow from here! 

I am filled with joy when I get to share my own inspirations with others and thrilled to be teaching both of these crafty projects at Whim So Doodle on December 1st. If you are interested in taking the workshops you can sign up at Whim So Doodle 727-827-4911. 

I will also be offering both projects pre-made for sale on my Etsy store. 

I hope I can pass on the joy of creating and putting a handmade touch to your Holiday decor!