At some point during my holiday shopping, I spotted a lovely small iron tree, designed to hold delicate baubles. It was super cute, but also super expensive. Even though I have been looking for something to help me with my tangled mess of a jewelry drawer, I thought I could turn it into a DIY project of some sort. Feel better about the expense, perhaps find a better storage solution, and take a little pride in what I created. Below is the result, and the step by step for the fast and inexpensive process.

Materials you’ll need: branches or twigs; spray paint; Plaster of Paris; containers; moss (if desired).

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Treat your guests to a little stroll down memory lane with this pretty and sentimental centerpiece. We hosted my parents for dinner on Christmas Eve so I used family holiday photos from when I was a little girl, but you could tailor this to any holiday or just a simple dinner party by using photos of events and people that bring to mind special memories for your guests. Also serves as a great conversation starter. Step by step for this easy project is included below.
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As my son was walking up to go to bed last night after a fun Christmas Day, he paused on the stairs to ask why we would keep up the tree after Christmas. It was a fun day, but a long day, and my legs ached from running about the house all day cooking and cleaning. What came to mind immediately was to say “because no way mommy works this hard to get things ready for Christmas just for things to come down the next day.” That pretty much sums up my approach to decorating for the holiday – to decorate for the season so that I don’t feel like things need to be taken down immediately after a particular day on the calendar. New this year were the details we added to the porch, which consisted mainly of a set of new pillow covers, with a couple given special touches with custom stencils. The images of the snowflake and deer bring to mind winter for me more so than Christmas, and I will happily enjoy the porch and its pillows after December 25th.
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