Thinking About Christmas Trees Already...

I was inspired last year by Cami from Tidbits and her "way back when" idea for redecorating her Christmas. I'm tired of our coloured plastic ornaments and bead strings on our tree. I really like the gold and green colour combination we have, but I want something warmer and more homely, and I want to decorate our whole house this way, not just our tree.

Cami's gorgeous "way back when" tree.

So for a long while now I've been thinking about our tree - because that's where I'm going to start - and what I want to do with it. I want it to have a handmade atmosphere that feels comforting and inviting, yet rustic and is also very textile. I've been pinning lots of ideas on Pinterest because even though it's only May, I know it will take me all year to make them. And also because I'm really not creative when it comes to decorating, so it will take me all year to figure out if my ideas will actually work together. I'm seeing browns and creams, maybe a little green and red too.


Some of my favourite ornament ideas on my Pinterest board:


I love these paper flowers made from sheet music and the words used as garlands around the tree... 

  And these gorgeous, print covered baubles...

These adorable little brown paper parcels... 

 This gorgeous little pearl wreath ornament to add a little elegance to the tree, while still being homely and vintage.

 And these twine covered baubles, which I think are my favourites because of the amazingly textile quality the twine gives them. Perfect to add to the rustic, homemade feel I want for our Christmas tree this year. 

 And because I absolutely adore felt and the warmth it seems to bring to projects like this. These pretty little felt balls...

I love these beautiful little twine baubles for a modern twist while still keeping with my textile, rustic theme...

Some vintage christmas sheet music for inspiration, to use in my ornaments perhaps...

Now, I'm not a fan of the burlap decorating thing. But I really love these stockings. Burlap would fit in very well with my theme. I especially love the wooden initials hanging from the stockings, instead of printed or embroidered names on them. 

Lots of inspiration, time to get started :)

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Our family has been very lucky to be able to send our children to a wonderful public Primary School. The school has a great community atmosphere, and the teachers are wonderful. At the end of last year, I wanted to do something different to the usual Christmas chocolates and card. My little girl was also in Family Day Care one day a week and I wanted to do something for her day care carer, who is absolutely awesome. I found this "Thank You For Helping Me Grow" idea here at Giggles Galore...

   
...and fell in love with it. I changed mine up a little though, to make it more Christmassy and more cost effective, since I had a total of ten to do (in each class there are one or two teachers and two or three teacher's assistants and I wanted to give one to the crossing attendant - she's there every single day, in the freezing rain in winter and the unbearable heat of our hot West Aussie summer making sure our kids are safe).  


So I went to my local Bunnings Warehouse and wandered through the plant section until I came across little pots of herbs in their nursery section for $1.99 each. I had originally been looking at colourful flowers, but herbs are useful. It can become a gift that keeps on giving. I decided leafy green herbs would look lovely, so I chose sweet basil, mint and coriander. I figured the teachers could swap them if they preferred. Then I went to Spotlight and bought a few fat quarters in some pretty red Christmas fabric (on clearance since it was so close to Christmas) some green ribbon and 2 sheets of coordinating scrapbook paper.

 I made up these little cards out of the scrapbook paper and taped a couple of bamboo skewers (since I had them on hand already) to the backs of each one.

I cut each fat quarter into four equal strips, wrapped them around the pots and held them in place with a rubber band, then tied the ribbon around it and pushed the cards into place.

My husband was impressed, I think. At least, he encouraged me to take photos of the process! And they were a big hit with the teachers :)