Welcome to the December 2011 edition of DIY Friday, a monthly show-and-share where we all swap our money-saving DIY tales. Want to join in? See how here. In the meantime, here’s my DIY for the month…
It was supposed to be easy this year.
All I had to do was unpack my handmade decorations from last year and hang them up. I wasn’t going to reinvent the wheel like I did every other year. I wasn’t going to spend hours upon hours crafting new pieces. I wasn’t going to be spray painting anything.
But when I put the first Christmas decoration in place, I stood back, tilted my head, and wrinkled my nose.
Too….fancy?
Too…dainty?
Doesn’t match our house?
All of the above?
And with that one tilt of the head, my easy decorating was thrown out the window, and I was starting from scratch again.
But this year I promised myself I’d keep it simple. I wanted something bold, colorful, casual, easy to make, and of course, CHEAP. So I surveyed my collection of materials:
Yarn. Spray paint. Old paint chips. Glass ornaments.
And I hit up the craft store for some new materials:
Pack of scrap paper. Pad of double-sided patterned paper.
(the papers I bought were both half off for a total cost of $6.50)
Then I got out my paper cutter, and made strips out of paint chips and paper. This went surprisingly quickly and my cutting was complete within an hour.
Then I spray painted the backs of the paint chips gold to give them some glitz (and because I’m weird).
When everything was dry, I piled them all on the table, got out my darning needle and gold yarn, and started stringing the paper strips together. It’s just like stringing popcorn, except with paper.
Two hours later, I had a heaping pile of paper garland.
I decided to hang some of them vertically, tying the glass ornaments to the bottoms.
Then I took two long garlands and swagged them over each one of my windows.
To carry the paper theme to the tree, I raided my tissue paper collection and constructed some fans while watching Parenthood on Netflix. Then I raided my fabric collection and pulled out two pieces of vintage trim I’d bought in high school that I’d never used.
I’m still amazed I only spent $6.50 for everything, especially with the large quantity of decorations I ended up with. And come to think of it, I probably could have gotten away without spending anything at all by taking advantage of other free paper sources in my house:
- magazines
- old books
- sheet music
- construction paper
- coffee filters
So the next time you need to decorate in a pinch on the cheap, just remember the two magic ingredients. Paper and yarn.
I’m hoping these decorations suffice for next year, and aren’t ousted by my wrinkle-prone nose. Because then I could put my energy into decorating my kitchen, which is screaming for this treatment I found on Pinterest (originally posted at katie did).
Note the the magic ingredients for this project are also yarn and paper. They pack a big frugal punch when used correctly.
Are you decorating for Christmas this year?
___________
Time to swap! Check out these great DIY posts submitted by all of you savvy folks.
MONEY DIY
- Paypal Currency Exchange – USD to CAD Workaround by Sustainable Personal Finance
- Three Money Saving Tips to Avoid by Afford Anything
- How to Find a Good Financial Advisor by Young and Thrifty
CHRISTMAS DIY
- The Homemade Christmas Challenge at Totally Money Blog
- DIY Paternless Stockings by Femmefrugality
CRAFTY DIY
- Create your own Recycled Natural Centerpiece by Silly Simple Living
- Wedding Money Saving: DIY Fall Centerpieces by Snob on a Budget
- A Quick DIY Project: Recovering Furniture by BrokeTO
FOR THE HOME DIY
- Tree Removal, DIY Style by Money Crush
- Growing a Worm Farm at Mike and Molly’s House
A big thanks to everyone who participated in DIY Friday this month! We’ll be back with another edition on January 6, 2012. You can submit your DIY posts at any time.
December 2, 2011 at 5:24 AM
Wow.
No, we’re not doing anything that fancy. Just putting up the same stockings as last year and after finals are over and graded we’ll buy a small rosemary tree and decorate it like usual with the assorted decorations we’ve been given over the years.
December 2, 2011 at 5:15 PM
I love the rosemary tree idea.
December 2, 2011 at 6:27 AM
Thank you for hosting! I always find someone new to follow with your suggestions. Katie Did is very cute.
December 2, 2011 at 5:14 PM
I know, I love that site. I was sad to see she stoped updating about a year ago though. :(
December 2, 2011 at 8:01 PM
I noticed that after I looked a little deeper. It’s too bad- Brooklyn, kids, crafty and tiny apartment- it was a great combo!
December 2, 2011 at 7:15 AM
Love all of this! We’re just doing a little decorating, since I’m lazy. We have a Christmas tree and a Charlie Brown tree and a wreath.
December 2, 2011 at 5:15 PM
I’m hoping to have a lazy decorating year next time. :)
December 2, 2011 at 7:33 AM
I love the creativity!! Nice work using what you already had–I think you’ve inspired me to add some own DIY to my Christmas decor!
December 2, 2011 at 5:18 PM
In past years I’ve always looked to the stores for inspiration. I even bought some beaded garland for half-off after Christmas last year, and I didn’t even end up using it this year. Who knew all that time everything I needed was in my very own home. It’s amazing what you find if you start thinking in those terms.
Good luck with your DIY decor!
December 2, 2011 at 7:35 AM
LOVE IT! I will be pilfering your paper garland ideas for sure. Great ideas!
December 2, 2011 at 8:37 AM
Wow, just wow! Great job Lindy, you’ve given me some ideas!
December 2, 2011 at 9:09 AM
Ah, this looks so great, Lindy! I am totally jealous! I might have to take a page out of your book and try this myself.
Thanks for including my post!
December 2, 2011 at 5:13 PM
You should! It really went a lot faster than I expected.
December 2, 2011 at 9:17 AM
Awesome decorations!
Thanks for including my post.
December 2, 2011 at 9:32 AM
Gorgeous photos!! And I like how clever your decorations are …. not the usual stuff!
December 2, 2011 at 5:11 PM
Thanks. :)
December 2, 2011 at 10:18 AM
I love your decorations! They create a really nice effect.
I usually don’t decorate my apartment for the holidays, but maybe I should consider something like this.
December 2, 2011 at 5:11 PM
A few strings of lights go a long way, if you’re into that sort of thing. :)
December 2, 2011 at 10:39 AM
Those are pretty nifty lindy. I’m kind of a scrooge when it comes to christmas decorations, because I dont want to put a bunch of time or money into something that’s not going to get used that often.
December 2, 2011 at 5:10 PM
I was the same way until I had kids. Once they came around I wanted to make the Holidays more magical by decorating. Then it turned into a DIY creative outlet for me too. I try to keep it simple, but I admit, it’s hard some years.
December 2, 2011 at 1:13 PM
Wow looks so good!!
You are really good at DIY! I still need to put the xmas tree up- that’s on the to do list today.
Thanks for including me :)
December 2, 2011 at 5:07 PM
You bet. Thanks for participating!
Outdoor lights are on our to-do list this weekend. Good luck with your tree!
December 2, 2011 at 2:45 PM
Looks great! But too much DIY for me. :)
December 2, 2011 at 5:05 PM
Too much? And here I thought I was being tame. ;)
December 2, 2011 at 3:31 PM
I think that looks awesome! I love it!
December 2, 2011 at 5:04 PM
Thanks! I might be updating this post with a few more photos. It was overcast on the day I shot them and hard to get good enough lighting to show full effect.
December 2, 2011 at 4:44 PM
Lovely! It’s classy and simple! I like the song lyrics on the ceiling, too, but I feel like I couldn’t cut out that many words. Your ideas are much more realistic and just as cute.
December 2, 2011 at 5:00 PM
Yeah, I don’t think I’d have the stamina to cut out my own letters either. If I did this I’d probably look into pre-cut ones.
December 2, 2011 at 7:08 PM
I like the paper garlands. Very colorful :)
December 3, 2011 at 8:25 AM
Thank you for the mention!
Well done with your Christmas decor! Love it. I wouldn’t have thought of doing this, I think I will try as well next weekend.