Christmas crafts for my walls

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http://asoftplace.net/2009/11/diy-day-with-the-north-pole-secretary/?

I love Christmas. I love decorating. I have a small house. No problem! At Christmas I simply take down almost all of our regular decor, pictures, vases etc. and put them in the garage a few days before Thanksgiving. Now I have a blank slate to wrap in tinsel and cover in holly! Plus, in January when I scrub everything (because I am barely 5'4". All those tchotchkes high on top of my kitchen shelves? They get dusted just once a year, folks) I then get to re-arrange all my stuff. It is like my favorite part of moving into a new house-setting things up!

But first-I will need holiday pretties to hang on those blank walls. So I take my four favorite hobbies and mix them all up---decorating. scrapbooking. thrift store junkin'. crafting... and let's see what we get!


This first one is my favorite kind of "craft". Find someone elses beautiful needlework at the thrift store. Decide it is definitely worth that $4 price tag-just remember it is actually a donation to the St. Vincent de Paul, to feed the hungry and provide for the homeless. Take it home. Dust liberally. Hang up.
Beautiful!
This picture was just so sweet, and for just .69 cents to The Salvation Army (they bless the poor, too!) and then a quick paint job to the ugly gold frame? Now it's perfect to hang up near our nativity... I made this last year and still love it. Find a big picture at the thrift store and ignore whatever is inside it. Just look for a thick mat and a wood frame-this one was already red, so I was thrilled. Choose some scrapbook paper you like (vintage jingle bells, here) and then get a piece of Christmas sheet music. (I put Joy to the World in, because I couldn't find my favorite, O Come O Come Emmanuel) I buy old hymnals to tear up, but you can also find copies online and just print from your computer. Distress the edges, if you like that look (I do) and place on top. Done!

I like vintage stuff, and especially old packaging! Shiny Brite ornament boxes make excellent shadow boxes. I used a copy of a vintage postcard but the possibilities are endless!

My love for scrapbook paper is endless. (I really ought to try scrapbooking with it sometime) Here, I layered it with a sentiment sticker on a wooden plaque. It used to be really Americana ugly-

See?!

I just layered right over the top of it, using scrapbook adhesive.

Fun, fun! and what to do next? The glue gun is hot and I still have halls to deck...

they'll never know what hit 'em.