Holiday decorating Archives - Page 2 of 21

15 Holiday Decoration Storage and Organization Ideas

Most of us love to decorate for the holidays, but the mess and chaos after you take all the decorations down can be overwhelming. Instead of letting that stress into your life, use these 15 Holiday Decoration Storage and Organization Ideas to keep everything in order and easy to handle.

Holiday Decoration Storage and Organization Ideas:

When the holidays hit, things can be chaotic and you might feel a bit disorganized. Use these ideas to stay organized before, during, and after the holidays!

make a holiday planner like this printable one by the homes i have made Print off an amazing printable Holiday Planner like this one to keep yourself organized before, during, and after the holidays.

Use small compartment containers to organize the little ornaments, hooks, and other small pieces you’ll want to save for next year.

organize ornaments Create a grid of compartments using cardboard to keep your ornaments safe from breaking and perfectly organized.

greeting card cash storage Use a plastic filing bin to keep all holiday cards organized year-round for quick access when you need to mail one off!

wrapping paper storage idea by southern hospitality Build a wrapping paper holder on your wall where you can store the paper for gifts all year long!

acasarella labeled drawers Use plastic drawer sets to store different holiday gift supplies and be sure to label what each drawer holds.

Prevent broken ornaments next year by using styrofoam cups inside of plastic cups to insulate glass ornaments.

saran wrap your christmas tree for storing Wrap your entire tree in plastic wrap to keep it secure and prevent any critters from getting into it during storage. It also makes the tree much easier to move!

use plastic apple holders for ornament storage by make life lovely Save plastic apple containers after eating the fruit and use them to store all your nice ornaments until next year.

Place your long wrapping paper rolls into a square hamper to keep them organized and safe from damage.

use coffee filters to cushion ornaments by one crazy house Coffee filters make a great liner for glass ornaments to keep them from shifting and breaking.

organize christmas decorations by color by maison de pax Use large labels in clear bins to keep your holiday decorations sorted by color theme.

cover wreaths in plastic by sew many ways Wrap wreaths in plastic bags to keep them organized and clean from bugs or critters during storage.

create christmas card books by oh louise Make booklets out of holiday cards from previous years to continue to enjoy the memories and see how friends and family grow over the years.

Hang wreaths on a rod, so they don’t get smashed or flattened during storage.

I hope you found these ideas helpful with the upcoming holiday season! Do you have any other great ideas? Feel free to share them in the comments. As always, thanks for reading! Please remember to share on Pinterest to inspire others as well!

Hi, I’m Sheri from Hazel + Gold Designs. Here are a few fun stats about me: I ~~like~~ love chocolate and peanut butter (together of course.) If you like stats, I have been crocheting for about 16 years, crafting for 20, and woodworking for about 4 years. I found a passion in making and being creative and began documenting my projects online at Hazel + Gold Designs.

When not working on projects, I enjoy spending time with my husband, four children, perfect dog, and ornery cat. You can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

Read all of Sheri’s tutorials.

~Find more of Sheri’s projects here ~

November 30, 2020/0 Comments/by Sheri

arts and craft, Build It, Crafts, Decorating, DIY, DIY tools, DIYCourage, Do It Yourself, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, jigsaw, nailgun, painting, Uncategorized

DIY Candy Cane Craft

Make this adorable DIY Candy Cane craft using 1 board and 2 tools! These DIY Candy Canes are the perfect complement to your holiday decorations.

DIY Candy Cane Decor

I love this craft because it’s not only cheery but it also helps me add decor at a mid-height. I often find myself decorating something really tall like my Christmas tree or something short, like cute decor items near the ground. These candy canes are super simple to make and add medium height decorations to your home.

Material:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

1- 1″ x 8″ x 6′ pine board cut to 4′
Wood glue
Paint

Tools:

Instructions:

Step 1: Draw the candy canes

Find something round that is about as wide as your board. I used a cereal bowl from my kitchen.
Draw the top curve of the candy cane, one on each end of the board
Then draw the candy cane stem coming down from the curve on either side of the board.
By rotating the board, you should be able to fit two candy canes on one board.

Step 2: Cut out the candy canes

Clamp your board then use your jigsaw to cut out the candy cane. Mine looked pretty rough at first but no worries.

Sand the candy canes smooth.
Optional: If you have a trim router with a round-over bit, run along the edge of the candy canes to get nicely rounded edges.

Step 3: Paint

Paint the body of the candy canes white. (Or you can paint it red.)
Using painter’s tape, create candy cane stripes and painted them red (or paint them white if the body is painted red).

Step 4: Cross your candy canes

Place your candy canes, one over the other, in the way that looks best to you and use glue and brad nails to secure them together at their intersection. (No brad nailer? You can secure with a screw through the back.)
Cut the bottoms off at an angle so they stand up flat on the ground. (This step isn’t necessary since they won’t stand on their own anyway.)

Step 5: Decorate your candy canes

Using ribbon, ornaments, decor sprays, or picks you have in your Christmas decor box to decorate as it suits your decor style.
TIP: I like to wrap a rubber band around the candy near the intersection to hold the sprays and picks. This way you can change it up yearly.

Now incorporate these candy canes into your seasonal decor. They would look cute inside or outside.

That is about as simple as it gets for a fun DIY project you can do at home. I’m sure the kids would even love to help!

Hi! I’m Kristen, from In Her Garage, and I am a self-taught woodworker and DIY fanatic from Minnesota where I live with my husband and our two daughters. Between being a wife, mom, and registered nurse, I try to make as much time for DIY as possible. My love for building came after our family built our current home in 2015. After we moved in, we needed furniture, and instead of spending massive amounts of money to order the pieces we wanted I decided that I would build them myself. I started with a buffet table plan from the fabulous Ana-white and quickly set out to remodel my entire home office.

Check out all of my tutorials here on the Pretty Handy Girl and head over to my site to see more tutorials for making a Toy Box, Folding Craft Table, or a Rustic Buffet Table. Making something beautiful with your own two hands through a little preparation and determination is an amazing feeling and I hope to bring inspiration and know-how to those looking to tackle a big or small project.

Not interested in making these items yourself? Let me make them for you!! Feel free to contact me and I would be happy to talk with you about any idea you may have for your home.

I am so glad that you found me here and please feel free to connect with me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Etsy to see what I am working on right now.

November 18, 2020/0 Comments/by In Her Garage

arts and craft, autumn fall decor, Crafts, DIY, Holiday decorating, Paintbrushes, painting, tablescape, Thanksgiving, Tutorial, Uncategorized

DIY Leaf Place Cards for the Holidays

view of napkins tied with jute twine and a clay leaf place card

DIY Leaf Place Cards for the Holidays

I hope your fall has been lovely so far. The weather is just starting to turn here in NC. I have to say, I love the weather here compared to Seattle. We never experienced so much sun day after day! Today, with Fall weather on my mind, I’m making you these DIY leaf place cards for the upcoming holidays. These place cards are little clay leaves inspired by nature (hello, fall!) and painted in a beautiful gold color to elevate them for elegant dinners and parties.

You’ll love my secret for getting those fancy leaf edges from your clay too – read on to find out how I do it.

These place cards can be used time and time again, just change out the name tag for each new guest.

I hope you enjoy this craft!

Materials:

Gold Paint
PaintBrush
Air Dry Clay
Flat Screwdriver
Rolling Pin
Toothpick
Leaves from Outside
Jute Twine
Wax Paper
Cardstock
Pen for Writing

Instructions:

Step 1: Roll our your Air Dry Clay

Grab a ball of air-dry clay and with slightly wet hands, roll it out using your rolling pin. You want it to be about ¼ inch thick. If you make it too thin, it will be too fragile and crack.

Step 2: Make a Leaf Imprint

Take your leaf, and lay it on top of your clay. Using your rolling pin, roll carefully over the leaf several times, creating an imprint of the leaf onto the leaf.

Step 3: Cut your Leaf Out

Here’s where the magic happens! You should see a beautiful leaf imprint in your clay. Take a flat screwdriver and make little divots on the side of your clay leaf, where the leaf would naturally have edges.

Do this all the way around, and then carefully remove your leaf. Using a toothpick, make a hole in the top of your leaf. This will be for tying your jute twine later.

I take the leaf in my hands and slightly bend it to give it a more natural leaf shape, but you are welcome to keep it flat too. Place your leaf on wax paper and allow it to air dry naturally for a couple of days.

Step 4: Paint your Clay Leaves

After your leaves dry, take a paintbrush and gold paint and lightly brush a few coats on the top and sides of your clay leaf. Set them aside to dry.

Step 5: Tie on a Nametag

Our leaves are looking beautiful! Now, all we need to do is cut a small tag of cardstock and write the guest’s name on it. Use a hole punch to cut a hole in the cardstock. Tie this to your leaf by threading your jute twine through the hole we created in the leaf in Step 3.

Simply beautiful!

I like to tie my cloth napkins with jute twine, and then tie the clay leaf name tag to it.

How pretty and unique are these!? I’m sure you will get some comments from your guests. And they will feel so special sitting at this elegant dinner with you.

As I said earlier, you can reuse these DIY leaf place cards. Once you get the hang of making one leaf, the rest don’t take long. You can also try this project with different shaped leaves, such as maple leaves.

My daughter and I foraged for some leaves together. She happened to find the pretty ones I ended up using. Thanks, Hannah!

Grab the kids and make this a family project. It’s a great craft to do around the holidays.

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

If you liked this tutorial, you’ll love these fall tablescape ideas:

October 28, 2020/1 Comment/by Karen Decor Hint

art, arts and craft, Crafts, decor, Decorating, gifts, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, priming, Spray paint wood, Très Frugal

Doodle-Painted Birdhouse

If the birds are out in your area, chances are they are looking for a place to nest. Try your hand at doodle-painting a cute little birdhouse to help them start a family. Who knows, they may be lurking in your yard like a depressed House Hunter’s couple who can’t get past the color on your neighbor’s birdhouse. Check out this cute Doodle-Painted Birdhouse.

Doodle-Painted Birdhouse

Have you lost your mind Brittany? This looks like a Christmas tutorial in May? No, I haven’t lost my mind and yes, this is May (for those of us who have lost track of the days. But, this is the perfect project for anyone who has a simple birdhouse that needs sprucing up for those discerning House Hunter birds.

Although I created this little painted birdhouse to function as a tree topper, you can forgo drilling a hole in the bottom and add a hook to have a fully functional birdhouse for those bird watchers in your home.

This is a project you can do for fun or meditation. And kids can also get in the fun. All you need is some acrylic paint and a paint pen and you can have a blast making this Doodle-Painted Birdhouse for yourself or as a gift.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Unpainted birdhouse
Spray primer
Pencil
Drill
5/8 inch drill bit (for tree topper only)
1/8″ drill bit
Plastic dropcloth (I used disposable tablecloths because they are cheap and smaller in size)
Red craft paint
Gold craft paint
White paint pen
Paintbrushes

Optional:

Screw eye hook for hanging,
Outdoor polyurethane sealant

Instructions:

Spray prime the unfinished birdhouse and allow it to dry thoroughly.

Sketch a star shape on the sides of the birdhouse. Mark the location where you wish to drill holes. (If you are using this for an outdoor birdhouse, it’s nice to have a little ventilation for the house. But, feel free to skip this step if you wish.)

If your birdhouse is a double-decker, you will probably want to drill holes through the sides at angle and down into the first floor roof. This will allow some of the light to come through the top story holes as well.

For Tree Topper Only:

Mark the center location on the bottom and drill a 5/8″ hole through the bottom of the birdhouse. (Skip this step if you want a functional birdhouse.)

Dump any wood shavings out of the birdhouse. Set up the birdhouse on the drop cloth for painting.

Paint the sides of the birdhouse red (or any color you like.)

Paint the roof, steeple, and perches gold. Add a star and tree shape on the sides to accentuate the drilled hole patterns.

After the gold and red paint has dried completely, use the white paint pen to doodle-paint all over the birdhouse.

Afraid to Doodle-Paint?

Nonsense, there is no rhyme or reason to the doodling, just make lots of little curly q’s, c’s, and loops. You can start by outlining the window structures. Then embellish them. Regardless of your doodle-painting style, it’s important to have fun!

You can see how I used the same technique on the chalkboard ornaments on my Feathered Nest Christmas Tree and they came out really cute.

When the paint pen lines have dried, add a few coats of an outdoor sealant.

Birdhouse Tree Topper:

You can use it as a tree topper by feeding the top branch(es) into the hole on the bottom of the birdhouse.

Outdoor Birdhouse:

Add the screw eye hook and hang the birdhouse from a tree in your yard.

Décor Birdhouse:

If you simply want to display your birdhouse as décor, set a little battery-powered light inside the hole in the bottom and enjoy a homey birdhouse on a shelf.

Want to decorate your birdhouse more? You can see how I created this little Christmas painted birdhouse and embellished the roof.

Doodle-painted birdhouses are adorable gifts and very frugal. Make it May is almost over, but stay tuned for one more project!

Pin for later!

May 28, 2020/5 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, arts and craft, Before and After, Crafts, Decorating, gifts, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, painting, Très Frugal

Painted Trays with Scrapbook Lining

Scrapbook Paper Lined Painted Trays | Pretty Handy Girl

Look around your house or the next time you’re at a thrift shop. Find either an unpainted tray or a tray that needs a makeover. This is a quick project to create a Painted Trays with Scrapbook Lining for a beautiful and elegant tray to display or organize things in your home.

Painted Trays with Scrapbook Lining

Today I have a really adorable and easy DIY idea for you! Scrapbook paper-lined and painted trays. These trays are so versatile, they can be used in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, or anywhere you want to corral items or have a flat surface available. They also make a great gift if you want to load them up with some smaller gift items. But best of all, you can change their look in a snap.

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

As I mentioned above unfinished trays can be purchased at many places. If you want a new one, look at your local craft supply store or order one online on Amazon for cheap.

You’ll also want some decorative scrapbook paper, gift wrap, or fabric to line the bottom of your tray.

Materials:

Unfinished tray
Fine grit sandpaper sheet
Damp & dry rags
2 sheets of scrapbook paper per tray
Paint (I prefer chalk paint)
Primer (if you are using other than chalk paint)
Paintbrush
Optional:
- Antiquing Wax,
- Plexiglass cut to fit bottom of tray

Instructions:

Lightly sand and wipe off tray with a damp rag.

Prime tray (if using non-chalk paint.) Paint tray desired color. For this tray, I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen.

After the paint has dried, brush antiquing wax onto your tray if desired. Buff off excess with a dry rag.

Cut scrapbook paper to fit inside the tray. When overlapping paper, make sure to line up the repeating pattern.

For the best durability, line the tray with a piece of glass or plexiglass cut to fit inside the tray. (Ask your local home improvement store to cut or order online.) If you want it to be permanent, seal the edges of the glass with clear silicone.

The paper you use to line the tray doesn’t have to necessarily be scrapbook paper. I got this paper from Ballard Designs. It’s actually cheese paper, but I loved the design. It doesn’t quite match up, so I just rotated the paper.