Five Ways To Have A Decorator Style Christmas Tree

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are staying well and that you are staying encouraged.

I have some tips for you so that you can have a wonderful decorator looking Christmas tree while still using your collected family ornaments. 

No. 1 

The most important thing you can do to get a decorator look for your tree, is to fluff your tree once it is set up. 

It takes a while. It's a pain in the neck, The branches are scratchy. You might cry. 

You can have the cutest and most bestest ornaments in the world but if the tree is wonky looking after a summer in the attic, it will diminish the look of the bestest ornaments in the world. 

(Blogger is letting me know with their annoying red line that bestest isn't a word.)

This is true for wreaths and garlands as well. 

Take a few minutes to fluff them so that they look as good as new. 

This is probably why I'll get dissatisfied with my older decor items. They look old and used because they have been crushed over time. Now is a good time to use florist tape to fix picks that are coming apart. New trees need to be fluffed as well. I mean they have made a long journey to get here. They may have been made and boxed a year ago. 

No. 2

Check your lighting. If the lights are out on a pre-lit tree, I find it is best to cut them out and restring the whole tree. Instead of grabbing a random strand from the garage, get new matching light strings so that the top of the tree matches the bottom of the tree. 

It is the worst if a section goes out mid December. Okay, not the worst but you get the idea.  

Add a string of novelty lights for fun. I've been into lights that have a twinkle feature. 

I love, love battery operated candles. 

No. 3

The tree is fluffed and the lights are working. 

It is ribbon time. 

I cannot express how important the ribbon is to a designer looking tree. 

It took me some practice to get it right, so don't give up. 

I always start at the top right hand side and pinch the end of the ribbon with a branch to secure it to the tree. I prefer to use new ribbon each year. The older ribbon is used on packages and other decorations. I do not cut my ribbon into sections. I keep it in one continuous piece until I get to the bottom of the tree. My ribbon always cascades down to tree toward the left. After a couple of feet, I'll go across and up the back of the tree and begin another drape. Random Shirley Temple type ringlets are formed with the ribbon in between the sections. The ribbon gets tucked into the tree periodically so that it doesn't look like the ribbon is laying across the front. 

Imagine a sash across the homecoming queen. You are making a couple of those type of passes across the front of the tree depending on the size of the tree. 

If I'm using two coordinating ribbons, I'll do them at the same time.  

That being said, there are fabulous ribbon tutorials on YouTube. 

I think David Christopher's  is one of the best for adding ribbons. They are an adorable couple so the videos are entertaining.  

No. 4

Now is the time to add additional garlands or picks as accents to the Christmas tree. 

However, it can be expensive. Shop around but Dollar Tree has little bushes that can be cut apart. 

I like my accent greenery to come out of the tree a little. Garlands cascade down and around in the same pattern as the ribbon. 

For the tree in our garden room, I used grapevine from our woods, thrifted black berries picks, and blue berry bushes from the floral section at Hobby Lobby. 

You could stop at this point and have a gorgeous designer looking tree but ornaments are my favorite part. 

No. 5

I love collecting ornaments. They have been collected over time so they don't all match. 

Many of the designer trees have matching ornament sets in a variety of sizes. I don't love that for our trees. I want to use our vintage and collected ornaments. 

Ours can be grouped into several different themes, however. 

That is why I have several trees. I like grouping ornaments together. 

Grouping ornaments to a theme helps it have more of a designer look. 

That being said, the eyes will rest a little if there are matching ornaments on the tree. 

I found these darling red striped homespun balls at Hobby Lobby. 

I think they are adorable. 

I hope this helps unless you already have decorated your tree. If that's the case, bookmark this for next year. 

I get a lot of compliments on my trees. I think a lot people want an expensive look for Christmas but they don't know how to achieve it.  Breaking down why a tree looks designer has helped me create some fun and beautiful Christmas trees. 

That is all for now. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Katie 

Let's Talk Turkey

There is a great debate between the early Christmas decorators and those that believe in the sanctity of Thanksgiving decor.

I've seen various memes where a turkey is telling Santa to "back off".
The internet is silly sometimes.

I've seen actual cases of internet shaming over Christmas decor.

If someone wants Christmas in November, it's not my business. I personally prefer a couple of weeks to display my turkey collection while secretly listening to Christmas music.
I say "secretly" because Bill doesn't want to listen to Christmas music - ever!
I'm sad for his choices.

Holiday mugs are also available for coffee drinking while visions of Christmas decorations float through my head.

The trees are brought down from the attic a week or so before Thanksgiving.
Slowly, Christmas starts to emerge.

Internet shame me if you must, these turkeys are about to go down for a long winter, spring, and summer nap.
Christmas decorating is about to begin.

Fun, fun, fun!
Have a wonderful day.
Katie 

How To Make A Shamrock Pillow

I've been working on a few fun things for St. Patrick's Day.
I thought I'd share how I made some shamrock pillows so that you can make some too. 

I thought drawing a shamrock might be a little intimidating until I realized that it is just three hearts together.

I drew the three hearts with the points on the bottom touching in the center. Then I drew the stem. 

The cut out pattern was then traced onto my fabric. 

This green gingham came from the thrift store and I just love it. 

Sewing around all the corners was a challenge. 

Snipping the corners and curves makes it smoother once it is turned right side out. 

A paint brush helped to get the stem turned completely. 

It was stuffed and then embellished. 

A vintage seam binding bow is attached with a vintage rhinestone pin. 

Adore!
I love attaching pins to pumpkins, hearts, and shamrocks to add a shabby chic touch. 

It came out so well that I had to give it another try. 

I made it a little bigger and used drop cloth material left over from the couch and love seat. 

It was easier to sew, turn and stuff.

This one is dressed up with three types of ribbon and Nana's pin. 

For some reason I was afraid I'd given this pin away because it wasn't with my pin collection. 

I don't wear pins anymore so that is why it's fun to use them in this way. 

It took some hunting to figure out where I'd put my St. Patrick's Day pin but it was tangled in some necklaces at the bottom of my jewelry box. 

The stones look like jade. Isn't it gorgeous? 

There is something about the patina on a vintage, gold filled jewelry piece. 

The velveteen rick rack came from Tuesday Morning. 

Would you please pin this for me? 

There was not a plethora of St. Patrick's Day pins in a shabby, farmhouse style. 

Thanks for coming by. Stitch one up for yourself. So fun.

Come back this afternoon for Monday Social #25.  

Katie

Linking with,
Julies Creative Lifestyle

Katie's Complete Guide To Flocking

I figured it out and it's only taken me three years.
Go me! 

I love the look of flocked trees and flocked branches. 

Let's face it, you can't replace all of your greenery and your trees on a whim.
Our greens were getting flocked!

I read every Pinterest tutorial that I could find.

Some of them sounded unbelievably messy and I'm not even sure that we have a sifter anymore.
 I tried painting our boughs with a brush and white primer.
That took too long so I switched to white spray paint. 

We set up a plastic spray paint panic area in the garage.
Let's be clear, it wasn't me that was panicking.

Bill has had some traumatic experiences with my tendency to overspray.

It worked pretty well but the branches looked frosted not snowy.
Then I found something called Snow Tex.

It created a look that evokes snow clumped on the tips of the branches particularly if iridescent glitter is sprinkled on it while it is still wet.
I bought two little jars. They were about $4.00 each and I used every drop.  

This year however, I couldn't find Snow Tex at Hobby Lobby.
Ebay didn't have it either.
The other day I was staring at my painting supplies looking for anything that could be used to give some other branches a dusting of snow. 

Bill had a can of popcorn ceiling repair but it was all clogged up. 

When I'm in the midst of a project, going to the store is not an option. 

I'll make do rather than get dressed, fix my hair and put on makeup. 

This is Texas. 

You can't go anywhere without hair and makeup. 

It is a rule strictly enforced by the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. 

I spied with my little eyes a tub of joint compound and thought it might work. 

It does! It is very reminiscent of the Snow Tex.
I began to suspect that the Snow Tex is actually joint compound in disguise.

I had fun freshening up some tired old branches with paint, glitter and joint compound.
It was almost like it snowed.

Finally, I have to show you these darling mugs.

We found them at Kroger the other night.
Kroger and I had been a little on the outs but now they are totally redeemed in my eyes.
They are speaking my language with these green and black buffalo checked cuties.
They also had a green blanket that somehow ended up in the shopping cart.
I've checked all my regular retailers and there is hardly any dark green to be had.
Go Kroger.
I'm done decorating the inside of the house.
I can't wait to show you.
Thanks for stopping in to see what I've been up to.
Have a blessed day.
Katie

Don't forget to link up to Monday Social #11.