christmas home tour

I don't know for sure when I decided to go all out for Christmas this year.  It might have been the day I saw the blanket of pinecones at the park near our house.  Or Pinterest.  Either way, I'm really glad I did.  This time last year, we were still waiting for our belongings to make it from the States.  No dishes, no towels, no Christmas.  Our few belongings and, even sadder, our gifts from our family were in the shipment that just wouldn't arrive.  We had a tree and I made stockings, but that was about it.  This year we have a new home, we know Cyprus, and daggum, we were going to have the Christmas we were meant to have!

So I started looking for decorations back in October when they hit the shelves.  (No Thanksgiving here, it's totally kosher!)  There was very little I liked and the few items I did I couldn't justify buying.  So it was time to improvise.  I rounded up the few items I had (no really, I was kind of surprised by how little we had) and gathered as many pinecones as possible and went to town.

runner, homemade out of inexpensive linen.  3 trees for 5.99 from ikea, buckets 69 cents each.  silver dish from the as is section!!

wreath on the right from the dollar store!  glued pinecones from the park in it, hung from ribbon from the dollar bin.

pinecone wreath made by me!  styrofoam painted brown and covered, to capacity, with pinecones I gathered like a crazy squirrel.

made this pillow at a friend's craft day.  freezer paper stencil fun on the same linen used for table runner.

made these last year and still love them...just don't know where to hang them yet...

a nativity scene from Rifle Paper Co. and a print of my own to remind us of the reason for the season.

nativity from our trip to Israel and more ikea trees.  can't get enough of those things!

index cards fit perfectly in the wooden place card holders from our wedding.  also great for holding recipes!

3 euro garland I got from the uber clearance section trimmed with my pinecones and lights.  our advent candle holders are care of the dollar store. I initially got them for cake stands but am using them for what they were actually made for.

our tree looked SO much bigger in our old apartment.  this year we put it up and it just looked sadder than sad.  not wanting to spend a lot, and unable to find things I really liked, I made a simple garland of doubled-over twine with knots in it.  this paired with a strand of scandinavian-inspired "ribbon" for 2.99 filled out the tree nicely!

I may or may not have been planning this noel installation since July.  two cardboard letters from Joann, one wood, an embroidery hoop, colored pencils, and some luck at papier mache and bam-o!  success!  I realized once I got the garland on the shelves that I would need to lift the letters somehow.  I used paperback books from the various corners of our home and stacked them with the spines towards the wall to give them a uniformed look.  instant free success.  the reindeer piece is just a couple of ornaments from ikea framed up against some kraft paper.

.....

I'd be lying if I said I was done.  I want to make some more of my pinecone infused garlands and hang them from the windows in my studio.  Still have some pillow to make, probably an art piece or two, but I'm really getting to the point where I am blissfully content.  My favorite part is how the apartment twinkles now at night with all of the candles lit and the lights on.  It's absolutely magical.  I love working on our sofa now as I can bask in the forested Christmas atmosphere of our home.  And I love how when I look at the tree, there's the "Wise men still seek Him" print.  It is a constant reminder to me that Christ is the reason for all of this.

Merry Christmas, friends!