Thursday, December 7, 2017

How I'm Getting Crafty This Christmas...With Just $10

This piece of holiday decor just has...a little TOO MUCH Christmas going on. 

A few weeks ago I hit up a few thrift stores in hopes of finding some fun fashion, and maybe a few pieces of thriftspiration for the upcoming holiday season. And for under $20 total, I came home with a few bags of decor and more. A few of those finds are saved for upcoming posts. but this particular piece is something I can feature in all of its merry detail. 

Overall I like the shape, or what I can see of it under the heavy-handed application of faux poinsettias. The candles though...a little dated. And all together...it's a little...much. Okay, a lot of much. It's just too much. 

But the key to thrifting for anything, whether it's fashion, furniture, or even holiday decor...is to see the item beyond its current state. 

Look at any secondhand item with an open mind. See it not just for what it is, but for what it COULD be. 

The first thing I had in mind was to swap out these dated trumpeting angels with something simpler. To me, the shiny brass of the tree is elegant enough that it doesn't need two gigantic glass candles flanking its sides. It's time to tone down the Christmas and to bring this holiday castaway into the 21st century. 


After a quick trip to Michael's Craft Store for some supplies to make my creative Christmas vision a reality, I busted out the hot glue gun. That's all it took...a hot glue gun, scissors, and just a bit of burlap. 

Simple. Modern. 






And there it is! My too-much Christmas decoration, modernized and re-imagined. Two white taper candles (cut down a few inches to not dwarf the tree) and a garland of faux pine needles from Michael's...a total of about $6. 

After cutting the candles to size, I glued them to a small square of burlap, and glued both to the candle holsters. I also used a tiny glob of hot glue to hold the ring of garland in a circle around the base of the tree. That's it! I love, love, love how the garland is light enough to not overpower the piece like the poinsettias had been. Because the base of the tree is actually very pretty. 

$4 for the Goodwill rescue piece and $6 for the supplies (with garland to spare)...this $10...and ten minute up-cycle is a Christmas miracle! 

There's so much holiday spirit at Let's Go Thrifting headquarters that I can't even squeeze it into a single blog post. So stay tuned for more ho-ho-ho-liday thrifting magic...AND for a special crafting post featuring Grafix Shrink Film! 

How are you getting crafty this Christmas?


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5 comments:

Pam WhimsicalVintage said...

Great job Jackie! I love the new look!!

Cindy said...

Looks so elegant..love it.

Sharing The Goods said...

I am on a budget this year so this is awesome! Thank you for sharing!!

Jackie Jardine said...

Thank you, everyone! I'm really pleased with how this turned out--one of the few craft projects that worked exactly how I envisioned it would, a rare thing indeed.

~ Jackie @ Let's Go Thrifting

Jennifer Winget said...
This comment has been removed by the author.