Last minute gift ideas

Are you still looking for a teacher gift idea??

My very crafty friend, Melissa, made these......she went to AC Moore and bought

the candles when they were on sale.....4 for $10....

She just embellished them with scrapbook paper and ribbon....they can be customized for any season!

Melissa also used Martha Stewart's idea for these button ornaments....

You can just use old buttons and green pipe cleaners!


Thanks so much for your ideas, Melissa!!




If you have a crafty idea, feel free to email me a picture and I'll feature you, as well!!

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Finding the perfect tree. . .

In our family, Christmas is all about compromise.....and at the top of the compromise list is the tree...

My hubby grew up with fat, live, colored-lighted, tinsel-drowned trees....

I grew up with artificial (my mom masterfully invented a tree allergy in one of us??), white-lighted, slender, coordinated trees....

Until I met my husband, I didn't know that it was possible to anchor a tree into surrounding walls.....

My husband grew up with outdoor C9 lights adorning his house....in fact, his brother's recent FB post was 

that you could see Jim's house from space due to the abundance of C9 lights on it...

Me....I grew up with a few carefully-placed, white-lighted evergreen

wreaths with some greens artfully draped on our porch railing....

So how does one merge these two drastically different approaches to celebrating the holiday???

Well.....quite honestly....it hasn't been without a few tears!

Some of our knock-down, drag-out fights have been over the size and decoration of the Christmas Tree!!

My husband and I have developed a rather ingenious compromise about the lights....

if colored lights are hung outside, then white lights go on the tree...

So, I take a deep breath and enjoy the C9's that send the electric meter

to ecstatic spinning joy so that I can enjoy the white-lighted, color coordinated tree!

As for the size of the tree....why does it always look smaller out in the field 

when surrounded by other 9 foot evergreens??

I feel tricked every year as my 6'5" hubby reaches up and says....it's not that tall!  I'm also usually being

distracted by this pink puff of joy complaining about her frozen feet!

At the end of the day though....it's not about the size of the tree, the color of 

the lights.....or even the number of spiders that crawl out of the live tree...

It's about the tiny, warm hand that holds mine as we walk back to the car!

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Christmas Ornament Inspiration. . . .

I have been very inspired this season by the Christmas

creativity that has been floating around blogland....

Here are some of my favorite ornament ideas......

{Scrabble Tile Ornaments}

{Vintage Mod Podge} 

{Burlap Word Ornaments}

{Pom-pom Snowman Ornament}

{Glass-filled Ornaments}

{Musical Ornament}

{Paper Lolli Ornaments}

{Upholstery Tack Ornaments}


I am pinning my own page for next year because I will need
to start crafting on Labor Day to complete all the fun
projects that I want to tackle next year!

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We need a little Christmas. . . . .

I haven't felt a whole lot of Christmas cheer.....it has been a really hard month...loss has just touched the lives of so many people around us....

This week, a mother had to bury 3 of her 10 children.....suddenly and tragically killed in a car accident....the twin boys were on their way to pay for their Christmas tree....

A sweet friend is facing a long year in the treatment of an aggressive bone cancer in her son.....treatment begins this weekend....

This young man was a student of mine and an idol to my 9 year old drummer who wants to be just like Ethan...

A former member of our youth group lost her husband tragically in a car accident....she is left with a 2 year old son and a baby on the way....

My children have been deeply affected by all of this loss and grief.....

I'll find my middle son suddenly by my side....saddled up to me just needing reassurance....

My first-born....ever practical and conscientious has been asking questions like....."Is our car safe in a car accident.....How do you get cancer?  Can I?"

There have been so many questions.....many centered around..."Why would God let this happen?"....."Why are there so many bad things happening?"

I don't have any perfect answers.....the truth is....grief and loss can easily touch our lives, too......we are not immune....

As I was driving the other night, I was just struck by the fact that while I don't feel like celebrating Christmas.....isn't this what Christmas is all about??

Our world is broken......it didn't start broken....God wanted it to be perfect without pain, loss.....sin....but man chose differently.....so God had to develop another plan.....His plan to fix our pain, loss, grief and brokenness from sin ended on the cross, but it started in the manger.....

In a somewhat unknown town.....born to a teenage mother......an infant child came to make a way for us to leave this broken earth and enter a perfect Heaven to live forever with a God who loves us....

It's not about how many cookies I haven't made or presents that aren't bought yet or the Christmas projects that are sitting unfinished.....it's about the hope of redemption that this baby brought.....hope that a Mom will one day be reunited with those three children and wrap her arms around them once more.......

Merry Christmas....

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Winner of 4th Generation Designs Giveaway

Congratulations to.....

Shauna, who said, "How adorable! I just might have to get the baby 

bear hat for both my newest little nephews..."

Email me your contact information!

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Thrifty Thursday #38

There were just WONDERFUL projects linked up this week on Thrifty Thursday....I've tried to feature a bunch on my FB page, too....truly, you all are amazingly creative!

Did you know that you can go enter your creative Christmas crafts at PennySaver USA for a chance to win up to $300!!  I entered my DIY Vintage ornaments!

  

It was very hard to choose, but here are some of my favorite projects that you all linked up last week.....

I love this VERY fun Christmas wreath idea from Sassy Style Redesign.....

My Heart's Desire made these Christmas Candy Trees....I think 

that mine would end up with a few bare spots!!

Artsy VaVa took wood blocks and created works of art....these would

make beautiful gift ideas!

My Wonderfully Made designed this vintage photo tree.....

I love the idea of decorating with black & white photos!

If you are looking for a creative way to package your gifts,

Creating Home linked some of her gift tag ideas.....beautiful!

Do you need a hostess gift this holiday season?  How about making a 

jar of hot cocoa like Happy Hour Projects?  She includes the recipe!

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab one of my buttons!

Here are some very simple suggestions for the party:

1. Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating.

2. Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3. Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in 

your post or blog so that others can link back.

After you've linked here, hop over and say "hi" 

to Johnnie at her Thrifty Thursday link party

at Saved by Love Creations!

You can also head over to visit Erika
at Thrifty and Fabulous and join
her Thrifty Thursday!

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A new home page. . .

I love the look WordPress....I do, but, in reality, the learningcurve for Wordpress is just WAY beyond my time and ability right now....
So, when I saw Rebecca at You Are Talking Too Much change herhome page, I immediately contacted her because I knew thatshe was on Blogger and her home page resembled the formatting of Wordpress!!
Rebecca was so kind to email back and put me in touch with Brooke from...


Brooke also does blog and web design.....

....and for a mere $5.00, she can change your home page to feature the truncated posts!!  That is a deal!!
I get all jittery and nervous when I start messing with my blog's html code....and then I get a massive headache....Brooke made the changes in under an hour!!
So if you like my home page.....or are thinking of changing up your blog....contact Brooke at Get Outta My Head Please and tell her that Thrifty Decorating sent you!!

Thanks so much, Brooke!!

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Guest Post

Are you still looking for fun Christmas ideas??

Sarah from Crafting and Creativity is hosting 11 days of Christmas ideas.....I'm posting over there today!

I'm sharing how I made my JOY blocks....

See you there!

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Advent Wreath

I was raised Presbyterian, so Advent was a big deal growing up.....while we no longer celebrate Advent at church, the tradition of Advent is still a unique way to focus our family on the coming of the Christ child at Christmas.


In the past my hubby would say....why don't we buy a real Advent wreath and celebrate Advent?? Well....because an Advent wreath costs too much to buy???


So last year, I got creative and decided to make my own.....using materials from The Dollar Tree and The Goodwill Store!

I started with ribbon and glass containers from The Dollar Tree.....

I just hot-glued some of their ribbon to the glass container.

Then I went to Goodwill and turned an old picture frame into a tray...

I spraypainted the frame black, distressed it with sandpaper and added some

fabric instead of the odd-looking photo that was originally there.

Then I added some inexpensive handles that I purchased at my local True Value hardware store....

From there, I just put my ribbon-covered containers on the tray....

....and added greens and holly......(my hubby recently told me that the holly is actually supposed to be there....it apparently represents the crown of thorns that Jesus wore at his crucifixion
.....and I was just going for a "pop of red!")

Here's a little background on Advent  (excerpted from here.)

The first is called the "Candle of Hope." It symbolizes faith in God keeping his promises to humanity. The second is called the "Candle of Preparation," reminding Christians to "get ready" to receive God. The third candle is the "Candle of Joy." It recalls the angels joyfully singing about the birth of Christ. The fourth candle, the "Candle of Love," reminds Christians that God loves them enough to send his only Son to Earth. The "Christ Candle," the white candle in the center, stands for Jesus Christ himself.

What are you doing to help focus your family on Christ this season?

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DIY Painted Ornament. . .

Grrrr.....I just realized that I deleted a bunch of the how-to photo's for these ornaments....truly, even though I don't have pictures, they are SUPER easy to make!


First....you take a fillable glass ornament and some acrylic paints......I used three colors for each ornament.  Then, I squirted the paint right at the opening and let it drip down the sides.


The ornament will still look a little "messy" during this phase....I panicked slightly thinking....how did I mess this up???

You want to turn the ornament upside-down on a paper cup.....this is when it turns into something pretty!

As the paint drains out, the colors blend into a gorgeous ornament!

I painted the top of the ornament with glue and shook some Martha Stewart glitter on it...

Then I just hung it with a simple ribbon...

I plan to use mine as gift toppers for Christmas presents and hostess gifts!

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