Dare to DIY - Week Five

Dare to . . . deck the halls!

Since I posted last week's dare a little late, I thought I would post this one a little early. You're welcome.

I love to decorate my house. (My birthday present to myself is going to be . . . . shelves. Yes, shelves. When I get around to depositing the money I got, I am ordering them - AND I am super DUPER excited about it.) This year, however, I went simple with my Christmas decorations. I created a few new things and went with it. I will have a 15-month-old and a 10-month-old around here messing it all up anyway. :)


My favorite items are my wagon wheels. My mom picked these up for me at a local flea market after I had checked them out and decided against buying them. :) I attached some of my AtHome America items to it with zip ties, and voila! Two new Christmas decorations for my wall.



I really like how these turned out. I think they go great in my house, and I may keep them on the wall when Christmas is over. So what if they are technically outside decor?? :)

My table decor is lame. This is all I could muster:

Terrible, right? Next year I may make something for the table, but I have been spending a lot of time knitting and taking care of a sick kid this week, so I had to make do in the little time I had.

The tree is also kind of lame.

I didn't really do too much with it, or worry about if it was straight or anything. I was sick with the stomach flu when I put it up! Plus I was worried if I put too many ornaments on it that one of the kids will pull them down or break them. So I decided to go with a "poor woman's tree" this year, and run with it. :)

Here's my mantle:

I have really nice hangers for the stockings, but I was terrified that one of the kids would be able to pull them down on themselves. They are heavy and metal, so that would not be good. So I went with the (totally expensive!!! :( but safer) stick-on hooks. Classy, right?

And now for the piece-de-resistance (lol - I don't speak French, but I hope you get the idea. Remember this ladder I posted about? Well, I did something with it. :)

I spray painted it a matte black and then roughed it up with sandpaper. I then painted it with a clear matte lacquer to seal it.

While it was drying, I hand-embroidered panels to go in the "windows" of the ladder. I glued them in when the ladder was dry.


It is a very long ladder, so I wasn't sure where to hang it. I had a few options, but I ended up just attaching it with ribbon to my Sussex Wall System. I like it there quite a bit.


This is my newest "store bought" piece. My mother-in-law got me the Willow Tree Nativity I have been asking for. She also had someone make me a replica of the creche that the Nativity goes on, so that was awesome. LOVE IT! :)

And that's what the Whitaker household looks like this year friends. Enjoy!

Until next time . . .