Frugal Friday: How to decorate a Christmas Tree for under $5

Hello all my lovely readers!! Happy Friday!!


Let me start today's post by explaining a little bit about this year's Christmas at The Shabby Nest. As you may know, we are moving. Well, here's the kicker...we're moving out BEFORE Christmas. Yes. BEFORE Christmas. (note to self....never move at Christmas time again.) We will be spending the actual holiday with my in-laws which will be absolutely lovely, but in the meantime things are a bit, shall we say, chaotic. Still, I couldn't let a house with four kiddos go without a Christmas tree now could I?


So this past Tuesday, we made our annual trek with the Hubby's family to a Christmas tree farm about an hour away (the same place his family has been going for the last 37 years) to get our tree. I told the Hubby that since we are moving, I was not pulling out the regular Christmas decor, and I wanted a small tree. We found the perfect little tree.


Once we got it home and put the lights on it, I explained to the kiddos that we were going to do something a little different this year. They were fine with that as long as there were still Christmas lights involved...because to them, that's all that really mattered.


Inspired by these two trees in the PB catalog (yes, there's that old PB catalog again)...





we created this sweet little tree. I'm calling it our Family Tree...

I printed out a bunch of black and white family photos (wallet sized) and simply punched holes in them and added twine to hang.

This is my favorite engagement photo outtake of me and the Hubby- notice "the Rachel" hairdo...circa 1995

That was the end of day one (and the tree was not done). The next day, the Toddler Demolition Team and I made a trip to Walm*rt and purchased a package of stencils. The kids thought I was a little nuts, but they humored me. I punched holes in the cards and added twine as well.

We used some snowflake ornaments purchased last year at the dollar store (I tried to avoid getting them out, but the kids spotted them in the box when I was getting out the lights, and hey, it's Christmas, and they're kids.)

Instead of a tree skirt, I just wrapped the base in some pretty black and white damask fabric that I had in my stash. It lends itself well to the color scheme and adds a bit of elegance as well.

Finally, to top it off, Mr. Two fell in love with this funny star (also at Walm*rt for $1) and had to have it for the tree. I wasn't too jazzed about it, but I bought it anyway. Then I hit upon the idea of combining the book wreath project with the star to make something fitting for our Family Tree. I just rolled up pages from an old book and hot glued them to the back of the star. I. LOVE. IT. Mr. Two couldn't figure out why I would glue "sticks" on the star, but when I told him that the "sticks" made the star extra special, he went along with it. :-)

It must be noted too that aside from putting on the lights, and the star, I let the kiddos decorate the tree by themselves (and I only moved a couple of things afterwards...I couldn't help myself...it's an illness, really.)

So here's the $$ rundown...

Lights............ free (already in our Christmas stash)

Tree skirt....... free (from my fabric stash)

Photos........... free (printed right off the computer)

Twine............. $1 (dollar spot at Tar-jay)

Stencils.......... $1.49 (Wally-world)

Star................ $1 (Also at Wally-world)

Snowflakes..... free (in our Christmas stash - but purchased at the dollar store initially)

Grand total....$3.49

There's some frugal decorating going on here, oh yeah! And you know, I think this may just be one of my favorite trees yet. Everyday I get to look at the faces of those I adore smiling back at me from a tree that celebrates the most wonderful season of the year. Isn't that what it's all about?

Have a great weekend~

Inspire-Me Tuesday~

I'm taking a bit of a different approach to Inspire-Me Tuesday today. I have been thinking a lot about the nurturing the creative process in my life. I also feel the need to foster creativity in my kiddos. I think that one of the best ways to do that is to allow them to see their parents being creative and to show them the value we place on our creative pursuits.

So today I wanted to share a couple of the ways that I nurture the creative process in my own life.

First, I have an inspiration binder. Well actually I have a few. The one I'm sharing with you today is my decorating binder. (I also have one for crafts, and one that just miscellaneous inspiring stuff...photos, images, whatever I find that tickles my fancy.) I have it divided by rooms. When I get ready to throw out my old magazines or catalogs, I go through them and tear out the pages that I love. Then I stick them in page protectors and put them in my binder. This binder has inspired many a project in my home. And when I look through it, I see all images that I love, so it has become a "happy place" or sorts also.

Second, I wanted to share my notebooks. As you can see I have three of them. The large plaid one sits on my night stand. It is for miscellaneous ideas that occur to me in the middle of the night. I don't know about you, but that's when some of my best ideas occur. But I have to write them down, or they stir in my head all night and I can't sleep. Once I know they are safely on paper, I can finally settle down. The other two are divided into sections so that I can "file" my ideas and sketches (or I would never find them again.) I transfer any and all ideas jotted in my night-time notebook or on bits of paper throughout the day into these notebooks for later. I can't emphasize to you all how important these books are to my creativity. Ideas grow, you know. From a partial thought or a sketch into a full-blown something-or-other. That's how I get inspired!

Now, on a completely unrelated note. I have had several people ask me for ideas on how to tame kid clutter. You might think I know how to do this because I have four little kiddos. Well, I'm no expert by any means, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve that I'd like to share. Thing is, I bet there are plenty of people out there in blogland who have wonderful ideas on how to store toys, and books, and art supplies and all other manner of kid paraphenalia, sooooooo....I'm holding a linky party. My very first. I'm working with Pretty Organizer from Pretty Organized Palace, and hosting it here on Wednesday, February 4th! So, my dear readers, be getting your ideas ready to share, and let's all meet up here on Wednesday and use that fun Mr. Linky thingie to share all our CREATIVE ideas on taming kid clutter. Hope to see you all here!

Now, go forth, inspire, and be inspired~

Inspire-Me Tuesday~

Photo from Layla Grayce

We pre-empt the Shabby Nest Christmas decorating posts to bring you this edition of Inspire-Me Tuesday! Today's be.au.ti.ful inspiration comes from Layla Grayce. On their website they actually have a page called "Inspiration". And, oh yes, there is plenty there to inspire. Look at this lovely room. I just love rooms done in white. I have two sets of slipcovers for my living room sofa and chair, and one of them is white. I've had to pack the white ones away for now because my sofa and chair get a lot more use in this house than they did in the last, and I would be washing those slipcovers every other day. But someday, I might be able to have a room like this. (Or at least I might be able to use my white slipcovers again.)





Go forth, inspire and be inspired~

Inspire-Me Tuesday~

So thanks to this lovely lady, I discovered a new catalog this week. And you know, it's a good thing, because I don't have enough catalogs to look at ;-) . It's called Wisteria, and it has some beautiful things! I immediately fell in love with this settee.

Photo from Wisteria

I love an antique European look, and this settee fits the bill perfectly. French lines with a Swedish color scheme. Doesn't it look festive with the red accents? And I love the bunny and reindeer pillows. It put me in the mood for Christmas already!

Oh, and speaking of Christmas, they have plenty of beautiful ornaments too! Lots of things to inspire you for the holidays.

If you haven't visited Wisteria before, go take a look and enjoy!

Happy Tuesday~

Inspire-Me Tuesday~

Today's inspiration comes from PB Teen. You know I love all things Pottery Barn, and if you've been reading my blog for any length of time at all (cause I only mention it about every other day or so) , you must know how I love banners. Well take a look at this pretty girl's room.

Photo from PB Teen

I loved the look of this room, and the colors were similar to those in the Princess' room. So I took some more of that fabric that I showed you all last week and some skinny green polka dot ribbon, and made this pretty little banner for above the Princess' bed.







Easy-peasy and a big statement!


Thanks PB Teen!

Inspire-me Tuesday~

Photo from Pottery Barn

Since I had bookcases on the brain, I thought I'd share this beautiful bookcase inspiration from Pottery Barn. Oh how I love this! What do I love? The fact that some of the books are turned so you can only see the white pages. The doors with the beautiful glass panes. The glass apothecary jars with photos in them. I must admit that the photos are what attracted me to this bookcase in the beginning. Since the Hubby is a photographer, we are overrun with photos! I love scrapbooking but I can't seem to find the time since my fourth kiddo was born. So I thought the idea of stuffing a bunch of photos in a jar was appealing...and it looks great too! Thanks for the inspiration PB!!

Inspire Me Tuesday

So, I've been thinking that I would make Tuesdays a day to share inspiration from magazines or catalogs. You know I love a good catalog. Yesterday, I got my Restoration Hardware Baby catalog in the mail. Did you all know that they now do a line of kids bedding and accessories? Their kid's stuff is great...it's classic but with a little bit of whimsy. Dots, paisley, bees...

I just love bees. Check out these great towels and bedding!

Photos from Restoration Hardware Baby

I love the chocolate brown with the pink. They also have designs in sage green and brown, and blue and brown. And some with black instead of brown. Makes it super simple to mix and match. Stress free decorating! Hooray for Restoration Hardware!!

More Catalog Inspiration

I got my new Serena & Lily catalog on Tuesday. If you follow my blog, you probably know by now how much I love catalogs! Serena & Lily is one of my favorites. I love decorating for children. And I love Serena & Lily because it timeless and sophisticated, not cartoonish, not too childish. I have often wished that they offered a line tailored to adults. The Hubby is 6'3". On any given night we have at least one, if not two kiddos that climb into bed with us. We must have a king size bed. A king bed has been a decorating dilemma for me from day one. So you can imagine my glee when I found out that Serena & Lily now offers an adult-sized line of bedding...and it even comes in King and California King! WAHOO! Look at the headboard...and the subtle damask print. Just what the doctor ordered. Bliss.

Photo from Serena & Lily

Happy Birthday to the Hubby

It was the Hubby's birthday yesterday. So he and I actually got to out on a date. That seems to be a rare occurrence nowadays! We went to dinner and then we went to the mall. The Hubby wanted some new hiking shoes for his birthday, and that is not something that I could pick out for him, so we had to go together. But while we were there, he indulged me a little bit and let me look around in Pottery Barn. Ahhh bliss! Actually, the Hubby has great taste, and he doesn't mind looking around stores like that (in his manly sort of way!)

One thing I noticed in Pottery Barn was a lot of framed typography. Letters, numbers, ampersands. All that kind of stuff. I thought that was pretty serendipitous, because my latest article was just published yesterday at Blissfully Domestic, and it was all about typography in decorating! Come on over and visit!

Oh and speaking of Pottery Barn, I just got my new Pottery Barn Kids and PB Teen catalogs yesterday! Oh what fun! You know I love a catalog!!!!

And because I know someone out there will probably wonder since I'm a little bit of a banner making addict...no I didn't make the banner...it was a Target special! Cute though, huh?

Have a lovely weekend~