DIY Pool Noodle Christmas Wreath!

7Ok – so pool noodles are super-fun right?! You can float around on them, have sword fights and whack people! And although they are super-fun, they definitely aren’t super-pretty… until now, that is!

Who would have thought that you could actually make the perfect wreath form out of a pool noodle? I must admit that when my friend first told me about this, that I was just a little skeptical. However, I actually love this idea and I can’t wait to make another one!

This project was not only simple to create, it was also very budget-friendly, and it really took only about fifteen minutes to complete!

So now, I’m going to share with you just how easy it is, so you can make your very own!

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The very first things that you are going to need are your pool noodle, and some duct tape… and the very first thing that you are going to do is tape both ends of your pool noodle together so that they are nice and secure.

When devising a wreath out of a pool noodle, one great benefit is that you have the flexibility of changing the size of your wreath by quickly chopping off some of the length of the pool noodle before securing the ends.

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For the next step, you’ll need a hot glue gun and a pretty garland, or ribbon, or whatever type of material that you would like to use. My friend picked out this adorable candy cane garland for me from the dollar store. In total, it took six of these garlands to cover the entire pool noodle.

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All that I did was hot glue the end of the garland to my pool noodle, and then start wrapping the garland around, while being careful to wrap it tight and keep out any slack. Then I kept wrapping, and wrapping, and wrapping until I got to the other end of the garland. Next, I hot glued the end to the pool noodle.

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My friend also picked up these really cute bows, so I just hot glued them on as well.

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I also added a giant red Christmas ball to the middle of my wreath for a little extra pizzazz! To do this, I just simply tied the Christmas ball to the wreath using a green ribbon.

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And well, that’s pretty much it! So simple, right?! So go ahead and give it a try!

Christmas Home Tour – Part II – The Great Out-Doors!

Ahh… Welcome to the great-outdoors — Of my front yard, that is!

When we moved into our cozy, dream-home, one of the things that I was so excited about, was the pretty front porch that I would get to decorate! Since decorating a ginormous front porch can get a little costly, I tried to use items that I already had, plus lots of greenery from the back yard.

I made my very own Cedar Boughs with some wire and pliers. I then made these super-easy, 2-Minute Bows, from only one roll of geo-mesh for $10. 6To dress up the area around the front doors, I made very, very simple Christmas urns. I used my cheap summer flower pots, but spray-painted them all a metallic-black color to make them match. Next I stuck boughs of Spruce into the pots, and then tied very simple mini-version-bows onto the boughs. 14Last night when I was about to do my photo shoot, I realized that I didn’t have a wreath for my door — a major faux-pas! So in house-coat, high-heels (because they were the closest shoes to me??!), I dug out the ladder to find my old Christmas wreath…. It wasn’t anywhere! Panic-Alert!!!! So after running around trying to come up with something else to use, I found this cute, little, tin-bucket and stuck some old garland and branches of cedar in it. Whew — Crisis averted! 

Matt, (my husband), was in charge of the Christmas lights, and I must say, he did a fabulous job!10Below is my big, beautiful, grape-vine wreath that my wonderful mother made for our wedding! It’s about 5 feet in diameter, and I absolutely love it! All I did to “Christmas-Up” my wreath was add some lights to it, wrap it in red geo-mesh, and add a matching cedar bough and bow to it. It’s so sparkly and pretty… definitely my favorite piece of holiday decor, this year! 5Total cost for this front porch Christmas decor, $21.00!!!! $10.00 on geo-mesh, and $11.00 on spray paint…. Now, all we need is some snow!!!!!!!

 

The 2-Minute Bow!

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This is seriously, the easiest bow to make — Ever!!! And the best part is…. that it takes only two minutes to make, and it looks totally professional!

All you need is some geo-mesh, scissors, a pair of pliers, and some wire.

Step 1: Cut the geo-mesh into 3 inch strips. You will need 5 to 6 of these strips per bow.

Step 2: Take all of your strips and gather them in the middle with a piece of wire.

Step 3: Hang and fluff!1

Done…. Yes — It’s that easy! 😉

Cedar Boughs! – A How-To-Guide

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Why spend money on Christmas decor, when you can simply make your own? Here’s how to create the Perfect Cedar Bough!

Step 1: Gather your cedar bows. Cedar trees are a very popular North-American tree that you can find growing just about anywhere!

Step 2: Take your cedar boughs and line them up end to end, overlapping the ends about 3 or 4 inches. Layer as many boughs as you like on top of each other until you get a nice “full” look.

Step 3: Cut about a 3 or 4 inch strip of wire and wrap it around the bow ends. Take the ends of the wire in a pair of pliers, and twist. (Be careful, if you twist the wire too  much it may break off!)

Step 4: Hang and decorate as you please! 🙂

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Christmas Home Tour – Part I – The Dining Room

Come on in! Welcome to TheProjectPile.com’s Christmas Home Tour — In fact, welcome to our very first home tour, ever! If you are looking for something extremely extravagant and done up to the “nines”, this may not be for you… Most of the Christmas Decor within our home has either been up-cycled from previous years, found in the backyard (Nature Things — Yah!), or it came from the good ol’Dollar Store! With pops of red here, and a sprig of greenery there — I hope you enjoy!

4This super-cozy, yet simple corner, is my favorite place to sit and read a magazine, or just take some time out of my busy day to relax. Believe it or not, this solid-wood rocking-chair came from a thrift store for 25 dollars, and is totally one of the best 25 dollars that I ever spent! I used a faux fur blanket and a hand-made burlap pillow to make this area soft and comfy!13

To “Christmas-Up” this area, I simply recycled last year’s Christmas Decor by placing the Christmas ornaments into the clear glass holders, that would normally house my regular dining room decor. Such a simple concept, that adds the perfect combination of Christmas and “Sparkle” all in one! 18I purchased one bunch of “Fresh Winter Berries” for 13 dollars, and look at the result! A sprig here and there, totally ties the room together!2I’ve had these little snowman salt and pepper shakers for a coupe of years now, just sitting on the top of my microwave — shoved to the back, where nobody could see them… and I must say, they are my favorite piece of decor this year!
6My lovely nephews gave us this adorable “Joy, Joy, Joy” (one of the songs that they always sang when they were little!), Snowman Plate (sorry, it’s kind of hard to see with the way the light is reflecting!)…. It is the perfect finishing touch to my hutch decor.  

Adding some old red napkins underneath certain pieces in the room was the final detail used to bring everything together! I really hope that you enjoyed Part I of this home tour…. Remember to stop on by TheProjectPile.com to check out more! 🙂27

A Sneak-Peek of my Christmas Decor!

Oh boy, Christmas decorating with a crazy-busy toddler around, ahhh…. not so easy! LOL… But a lot of fun!7

We have been working super hard to get out our Christmas decor, so we can give you a virtual Christmas-Home tour this year! Here is a teeny-tiny sneak-peek of what is “more-to-come”…2The rooms on the tour will be the dining room, living room, outdoors, and the guest bathroom. All of these rooms will have that eclectic-antique-ish “mixed with the new” feel, with the main decor ingredients being a dash of cedar, a handful of fresh winter berries, and a pinch of anything red! Stay tuned for more! 🙂12

Toilet Paper Snowman!

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OK… Today I decided to become a super-creative-genius! My husband doesn’t necessarily agree, ha — but come on…. this little guy is pretty-darn cute! Even better, he took like 5 seconds to make! (Ok, maybe like 5 minutes, but you get the point!)

All you need:

3 Toilet Paper Rolls

Black & Orange Markers

Mr. Potato’s Hat (Yes, that’s right… I stole my kids Mr. Potato hat — Genius!)

All I did was color on my snowman’s eyes, mouth, nose, buttons, arms and shoes… stuck a hat on top, and Viola! I hope that you enjoyed this super-simple, super-cute, super-fast, way to “Christmas-Up” the guest bathroom!