Continuing in my month of Christmas videos, today I’m talking decorations! I love all the Christmas decorations that I put up in my new apartment, so I thought I would share a few tips for decorating in small spaces where you don’t have tons of storage room. Keep reading to check out the video and more photos!
My favorite part of the whole room are these snowflakes that I put on the walls using artists tape. Artists tape is specifically made to not rip paper, so it’s safe for walls and won’t tear off your paint. If you don’t have gray walls where the white tape really pops, you could try colored artists tape or washi tape. You could even make an entire mural on the walls out of tape, or a washi tape tree that Meg showed us how to make on HGTV Handmade.
One idea that I didn’t get to in the video is to, rather than filling a bowl with candy, fill it with jingle bells and ornaments! I know that I can’t keep candy in the house or I’ll snack on it all day long, so jingle bells are still festive without also being delicious.
Another one of my tips from the video is to break up your displays with trays. I LOVE this tray that I got from Target last year, and I’m also displaying one of my extra Christmas cards that I designed!
Moving on to the tree, my roommate and I aren’t exchanging gifts since we’re both going home for Christmas, so underneath I decided to display the wrapped “gifts” that I made for a Duck Brand video and for an HGTV Handmade video. To be honest, they’re just wrapped books and board games I already owned, but they still look festive! I’m also displaying my Ampersand Coloring Book, which I’m planning to send out to some friends and family, and a pair of ice skates, which I got at the thrift store for $10. Once the holidays are over, I’ll be giving them away online so that hopefully they can be put to good use.
On the other side of the tree, I’m displaying large gold containers, which mimic gifts without needing to actually wrap a ton of presents to fill the space.
On the tree, I pulled out some of the extra silver ampersand necklaces that I sell on DFTBA, and they add such a nice sparkle and shine to the entire tree. If you have any large jewelry you don’t wear often, it could make a great ornament!
I also love decking out the tree with candy canes, because they’re very inexpensive and add a lot of color. Plus, it’s fun to grab a snack right off the tree!
Another tip is to hang up Christmas cookie cutters! I got my cookie cutters from the girl who lived in my room before I did and left a bunch of stuff behind, but you could also find them for cheap at a thrift store. And if you don’t plan on actually using them, you could also paint them to bring more color to the tree!
I also LOVE Marianne’s idea from her 10 Ways to DIY a Clear Ornament video to cover an ornament in a temporary tattoo. I decided to use Mr. Kate’s Beauty Marks, and it looks great in person!
I also sat down one night with my gilding paint and painted a ton of pinecones gold. It was so much fun to do a DIY without worrying about filming it, and I think they turned out so pretty, and I can’t wait to display them for years to come.
Moving over to the TV stand, I’m in love with these stockings. I made them out of cheap $1 stockings from Target, and all I did was glue on faux fur trim to the top, glue a piece of red ribbon under that, sew on some festive buttons, and add polka dots with fabric paint. I think they turned out so cute!
Here is another example of my little tray vignettes, this time featuring the sparkly cone trees that are a new addition to my decor from Target this year. I love adding little bits of additional sparkle by cutting down tinsel into smaller pieces and nestling it around all of the decorations. I am seriously feeling all of these mixed metal metallic accents!
Over on the cabinet next to the TV, I decided to display my chalkboard globe, which I covered in Christmas designs. Underneath that is a display made up of red books, which is a great festive decoration that only costs a trip to your bookshelf. I also draped a large green garland over the whole thing, which used to be on our heating unit while it was still broken, but once we got it fixed, I had to move the garland so it didn’t become a fire hazard.
I am in love with this coffee table that we got from IKEA, because the glass top means we can display things underneath all year long. For the holidays, I decided to pull out all my old Christmas copies of HGTV Magazine, along with a tree stump tray and some festive mugs from Target.
One last cheap decorating tip – get thin artists tape and use it to add a pop of color to all your furniture. I might keep doing this in other colors all year long!
I hope you guys liked all of my decorations and all my tips for inexpensive decorations in small spaces. I’ll be back on Friday with one more winter-y DIY video, so stay tuned until then. Merry (almost) Christmas!
