Using Christmas Fillers & Picks

I like to pick up Christmas filler and picks {usually at the end of the season clearance sales}, but the dollar store makes it so easy to buy them now. I'm not always sure where I'm going to use them, but I like to have them on hand.

This piece below is all dollar store items. The holder it's in is the glass vase and candleholder I put together last week. The bells are sold in packages, with glitter and without; and there are four berry filler pieces. I wound up not using them on one of my mantels, so I put this together. The bells help hide the stems. This makes for a nice tall arrangement and I will probably use it on my dining room table Christmas Eve for the buffet I will have set up.

You might recall that my second trip to Goodwill netted me the finds below. The next two projects include the two pots you see sitting on top of my fab window panel find {that will become pillows}. The black and polka dot pot had cream/beige polka dots and I decided to keep the design ~ I just painted the polka dots white. The smaller pot was a peach/pink. Both were $.99 each.

Once the polka dots were white and dry, I took my floral foam and glued a piece inside.

I took this filler piece that already had the berries and a couple of pine cones on it, purchased at Michael's, and just stuck it in the foam.

A red ribbon, some reindeer moss, a few dollar store ornaments tucked in and Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown! A nice size table top piece.

Trying to incorporate some of the lime green color that is so popular this year, I found this craft paint at Michael's to be the closest to the color I was going for. I painted that little peach/pink pot, two coats plus a little bit of touch-up here and there. The existing paint was shiny and I sanded the pot before painting, but it still needed that little extra.

I had found these pick/filler pieces at Michael's and loved the pink color. When I saw them I thought they looked like they had a Christmas tree shape to them.

The other side appeared flat. So I put the two flat sides together and wired them together. This wire is great and so handy to have around. It even cuts with scissors. I've used it on numerous occassions for many different projects.

Added some foam {that I had to shave off bits to fit in this little pot} and stuck in the piece that I wired together.

Stuffed in some reindeer moss and added a ribbon around the edge. A perfect size topiary piece that will fit in just about anywhere you need a little decoration!




Okay, back to decorating. I've got Holiday house parties I'll be linking up to soon!

Linking this post up to DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land.

A Medley Of Christmas Decor Projects

I have a slew of different projects I've been working on. I'm hoping to share them with you in upcoming posts because I think these would be great decorations for yourself or to give as gifts. Just about everything is inexpensive and some use things you may already have around the house. So let's get started.

My hubby was making something and had some scrap wood. Because he's quick to either a) burn them in the fireplace or b) put them out for the trash pick-up, I left him a note that I wanted them. As soon as I saw them I knew they would be perfect for these projects.

This first one was based on a blog post I read {I'm sorry I don't remember who it was, but it was one of those that I found clicking through two other blogs} and I believe I've got the word "Noel" covered with this project. I used a scrap piece of wood, wrapping paper that I had and I printed out the letters N, O, E, L. I had printed out the letters before I found I had this wrapping paper! I like when things like that happen.

I painted the wood with my red craft paint, but not the whole piece since I knew that most of it would be covered with the wrapping paper. While this was thick wrapping paper from Current, it was a bit tricky to work with when using the Mod Podge. I'm wondering if it would be easier to cut it into two pieces and just piece it together on the wood.

I waited for the Mod Podged wrapping paper to dry then I placed my letters in a haphazard fashion {that's whimsical, in case you were wondering}. When the letters dried, THEN I did a coat of Mod Podge over the top of the whole thing. I added some "Noel" ribbon along all the edges. I'm glad that I have 3 more pieces of wood this size to work with because adding the "Noel" ribbon I think was a bit of overkill. I liked it better without the ribbon.

Then there were these square plaque-like scraps of wood. I painted them red too. {Might as well, I had the sponge brush in use already}. I got this snowman graphic from my sister. I just Mod Podged the snowman on {trying the matte Mod Podge this time}. I added a line from the cartoon Frosty the Snowman and a snowman ribbon I found at Michael's. The quote says "For when the first snow is also a Christmas snow . . . Well, something wonderful is bound to happen".

Because I am a brazen hussy and never afraid to ask, if you don't have wood scraps and are close to a Home Depot, Lowes or lumbar yard, I would go ask for the scraps they are most likely going to throw away. In the same vein, I would also go to a paint/wallpaper store to see if you can get any of the wallpaper books they are throwing away. They may not be Christmasy papers, but they could make a great background for your Christmas and holiday images.

Next using Christmas picks and filler!

The PaperAddict.com giveaway ends tonight at midnight! Be sure to enter for your chance to win a $35.00 gift certificate.