DIY Christmas Staircase Garland for $25!

 There's nothing that makes a house more cozy than the Christmas season. With so many decor options at hand, it can sometimes be overwhelming to decide which areas of the house to decorate while leaving other areas on the back-burner, especially if you're on a budget like me. It goes without saying that the living room is always the epicenter of everything Christmas. Thus, choose focal points in this room that you & your guests will notice first. My staircase is the most focal part of my living room. If the same goes for you & you have $25 to spare, then this DIY will definitely interest you! Why buy those overpriced, overrated, boring looking garlands in store when you can blow those out of the water with this one? ;)

You will need the following materials:

Garland $2.99 - Michael's

Poinsettias $2.50: Michael's has the best ones!

Garland Ties $2.50 - Wal*Mart

Ornament Balls $4.98 - Wal*Mart

Mini Lights $2.99 - Target

Ribbon $2.47 - Wal*Mart

Glitter Stems $0.74 each - Michael's
Pine Cone bag - $2.50 each - Michael's

*Note: sale + coupon price shown above*

Measure your staircase in order to determine how long of a garland you should purchase. My staircase measured 5 feet long & I purchased a 7 foot long garland. Take the garland and weave it in between the railings. Secure it with the garland ties. I did one on each end & two in the middle. Secure your ornament balls with the ornament wire and place them as shown below. Alternate colors & finishes (glitter, matte, shiny) throughout. Don't forget the backside!

Taking the poinsettias, detach them from their stems.

 Then, taking your ornament wire, slide it in-between the bottom of the flower & plastic stem, as shown:

Proceed to secure each poinsettia to the garland with the ornament wire. The cream poinsettias add warmth to this piece. In my opinion it is what makes it unique & cozy.

Next, take the individual glitter stem pieces and simply slide them into the garland - alternate colors throughout. You can secure them with ornament wire if you like, but it is not necessary.

Take your string of lights, plug them in, and place it to your liking. I suggest having them lit while you weave them onto the garland so that you can maximize the amount of surface area to be covered in lights & to ensure you do not miss any spots.

Add your ribbon of choice (I suggest a sheer ribbon - it makes the lights pop more!) & some pine cones and you are done! So simple & inexpensive, but it most certainly doesn't look that way ;)

 

 Here are some close-up shots for more detailed placement.

It's also a great place to add your stockings!

 

 And for impromptu Christmas card pictures ;)

I had such a fun time creating this & I hope you do as well! If you re-create this DIY, please leave a photo in the comment section below - I'd love to see them! Share this with your family & friends!

Craft Beer-Inspired Christmas Wreath Tutorial

Being a self-proclaimed craft beer snob, when I saw that Michael's had glittery hop stems this year I immediately knew I had to incorporate them into my front door Christmas wreath. I love that they add that little something extra to your stereotypical holiday accent pieces & they are SUPER AFFORDABLE! We are talking in the cent-denomination people!! In fact, this project only cost me ~$15! + I still have material leftover for other holiday projects!

Michael's - $0.66 each. I used 4 - 3 silver and 1 gold.

I used a grapevine wreath (Hobby Lobby - $2.50) as the base, wire cutters to trim each piece off its corresponding stem, and a hot glue gun to secure everything. My placement technique is the same one I have used in all of my previous DIY wreath tutorials. I will link a video tutorial I did going in-depth on my process here >> https://youtu.be/YFkrSZOUmAs As shown in the image below, combining different colors & textures within the evergreen-color family allows each piece to compliment one another.

Left & middle - Michaels - $3.99 each. Right - Hobby Lobby - $2.50

This in combination with the bright, glittery accents prevents the overall piece from falling flat to the eye. Don't forget to add some pine cones!

All from Hobby Lobby - $0.75 each

After layering and mixing all of these materials, your wreath should look something like this:

Close-ups:

DIY Weathered Picket Fence

I love weathered-looking fences. To me, weathered wood exudes that comforting "cottage meets rustic" vibe I can't seem to stop obsessing over. This being the theme of my living room,  I designed and created this piece specifically to be the focal point on my new mantel I just built (Mantel Tutorial Link Here). I absolutely love how it turned out! It is so gratifying to create something & have your vision breathe life into your home. I hope this inspires you to do the same :)

You will need the following materials:

Five - 5/8 in. x 3-1/2 in. x 6 ft Cedar Dog Ear Fence Picket (Link Here)

One - 5/8 in. x 5-1/2 in. x 6 ft Cedar Dog Ear Fence Picket (Link Here)
One - 2"x3"x96" Whitewood Board (Link Here)

Hand or Power Saw
Eyewear Protection
Gloves

Hammer

Wood Stain

Cheese Cloth

White Acrylic Paint

Paint Brush

Sand Paper
Wood Glue

1 1/2 inch Finishing Nails

 I want to mention that this project cost me zero dollars - I used scrap-wood/leftover materials I had accumulated from various DIY projects :) I provided the links below so that you could see specifically what I used.

What you want to do first is cut the tops of your fence pickets to various lengths. These desired-lengths will vary from person to person depending on where you are placing it. I had these 4 leftover fence pieces from the flower box I made at the beginning of Spring (Tutorial Link Here). Since the space between my ceiling and mantel isn't very tall, these were the perfect height.

I wanted to make it wider so I added 3 more sections. I added one - 5/8 in. x 3-1/2 in. x 6 ft piece. 

Then, I took my 5/8 in. x 5-1/2 in. x 6 ft plank and cut it in half.

**Helpful hint: determine the height for your tallest piece and from there, stagger the heights for the remaining pieces.

I loved how the half-pieces just tied the whole look together. It made it look "less neat" and more rustic.

 
 From here, stain with a wood stain of your choice. I used Miniwax Wood Finish Oil-Based Interior Stain in 'Jacobean' (Link Here). Since cedar wood is porous, I used a light hand when staining each piece to avoid over-saturation. Sanding each piece beforehand will also help to avoid this. The wood pieces below the fence pickets will act as the cross bars (top) and the stand (bottom).

 When that has dried, lightly paint these pieces with white paint. I did this by lightly tapping my paint brush into the paint. You don't want to cover up the stain you just applied - you want to compliment it and have the stain peak through in a subtle way that's pleasing to the eye.

You could leave it like this, but to me it was missing dimension, character, and the authentic-nature of a real fence. So I decided to add 2 cross bars.  I placed them at angles to exude more of that "old & weathered" look.

Place the glue as shown, then secure with your finishing nails.

Place atop your mantel and you are done!!

Easy DIY Floating Mantel UNDER $20!!

When my husband and I moved into our home, we loved everything about it...except for the very awkwardly situated/peculiar looking "crawl space". For 2 years I've looked at it everyday and have struggled to design a way to decorate it. I didn't want to block it with entryway storage shelving because we live in a tornado-prone area, and we found that a fireplace console would run a tad short. Then one day I was thinking about our old apartment and how much I missed having a mantel - decorating it and the liveliness it brought into the living room. Inspiration hit and here we are :)

Before

You will need the following materials:

Power Saw or Hand Saw
Power Drill
Hammer
Protective eyewear
Stud Finder
Level
2 Clamps
Paint or Wood Finish of your choice
Sandpaper
Measuring tape

As far as nails & drill bits - those are personal preference, but I will show an image of the ones I used in the tutorial :)

Boring but necessary technical stuff:

Interior Support Bracket - 3 - 1"x6"x6ft Common Board @ $5.42 each - (Link Here) 
Top, Bottom, Side, & Front Shelving - 1 - 2"x3"x96" Whitewood Board @ $2.17 - (Link Here)
GRAND TOTAL: $18.43!!

Mantel Dimensions (approximate-after sanding down & smoothing edges):
57.5 inches long
4 1/16 inches tall
6 5/16 inches wide

Using your power saw, cut all 4 wood boards to your desired length. I cut mine to 56 inches.

Using the wood leftover from the Whitewood, cut four - 3 3/4 inch pieces. These will serve as the interior frame.

Now to connect the 4 interior frame pieces to the support bracket >> Use a 3/32" drill bit to drill pilot holes into your support bracket.

Then use a 7/16" wood bore in the same spots. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Doing this will ensure that the bracket will lay flush up against the wall when mounted.

You should have 4 sections that look something like this (shadows emphasized):

Secure a frame over each section with a 3" 7.62 cm screw in combination with wood glue & a clamp.

Your finished support bracket should then look like this.

Now for the front the shelf >> Trim your Whitewood boards  to be 6 inches wide. We trimmed just a teensy bit more than 6 inches in order to account for what we would lose when sanding.

Sand till smooth to the touch. Then choose a paint or wood finish. I choose this paint since it was used for all the baseboards in my home  Plus, leftover paint = no need to spend any $$$ ;)

Remember - you only need to paint what will be exposed.

Mount your support bracket to the wall with the following nails. Don't forget to use your level!

Connect your front, top, and bottom shelf piece to the bracket with FINISHING NAILS - this is necessary so that the nail heads aren't visible.

I highly suggest using wood glue not only for added strength but also to fill in any gaps. Clamp as shown & let dry overnight.

Add the front & side pieces. Sand where necessary so that all edges are smooth and become flush with one another.

If you still find that, despite sanding, there are uneven places where the different pieces of wood meet each other, use wood filler glue. As you can see in the images below, using wood filler glue in combination with sanding makes a drastic difference!

Without sanding or wood filler glue

With sanding & wood filler glue - Left End

With sanding & wood filler glue - Right End

Add a 2nd and/or 3rd coat of paint, decorate as you wish, and you are done!

Before

After

 I designed & created the rustic-weathered picket fence & window accent pieces --> tutorial on these and how I (inexpensively) styled my mantel coming very soon!!