Happy New Year!

to everyone! it's been a crazy few weeks, but it looks like 2008 is gonna be great.

i want to show off some of my craftiness from the holidays. you know me, i love my DIY!

here are some of my christmas decorations. i love to decorate the entire house. and i do have a lot of stuff to make that happen. i do love wreaths. this one was made from a dollar store garland, some ribbon and some holly berries. i think i got the holly berries at an after christmas sale, so you know they were cheap. it's not how much you spend, it's how you use what you have. this year this wreath was on my guest room door. the same idea was used in this wreath. jsut some more dollar store garland and some red ribbon. this one was in my kitchen. i should buy more of the dollar store garland. it's wimpy to use as garland alone, but it's great for these little wreaths. i realized this year i have a very unhealthy obsession with wreaths. (i also had one on the front door and on the gate door in front of the house!) i have a little pass through from the kitchen to the living room, so i dolled it up a bit. the flowers at the near end got some clearance holly added to them. this was also my display area for my christmas cards. and that vase at the far end is usually full of lemons. but for christmas the lemons go away and the extra christmas balls get to give it some color. i'm totally gonna get some more vases for next year. i just love the look of the balls in the glass. it's different, but still oh so festive. another corner gets the normal stuff switched out too. this is on top of my bookshelf/buffet. the milk vase usually has orange poppy like flowers in it. but that's not very christmas-y. so they get swapped out for some red poinsettas. and i totally love the sequined peppermint candy box. it's just too cute. the reed diffuser was a christmas gift from my friend pabs. you know its' the first time i have a diffuser and i love it. it scents the room so subtly but the fragrance doesn't fade. i'm officially a reed diffuser fan. above the poinsetta is this garland. i so love my garland. and of course, though it looks expensive i got it for a steal and then dolled it up with some ribbon (which i'm sure was on sale).

now onto the really crafty stuff. like my new stockings! i got this fabric at joann's. it's from a new collection by debbie mumm. i love that her christmas fabrics weren't all just the typical stuff. they were cool and modern (just like i like it). the stocking complement my table and tree skirt. the snowperson above is dressed by designed by Diana. i made her hat and scarf. there is another snowperson and he has a top hat that i made out of felt. i've had the snowpeople for years now and i just love them. now i can't take credit for this silver stuffed tree. that was mom. i love my little tree cause it gave the living room a little sparkle. and you can also see the other stocking there. i don't have a fireplace, so i hung my stockings on the DVD shelves. now i want to take you back to a craft of many years ago... plastic canvas!the fluffy beard santa was on the door to the guest bath. i made this one all bt myself. the beard is tons and tons of little loops. it took forever to finish up that beard.then there is my think snow door hanger. it's a bit too wide to hang on a regular doorknob, so i put it on the linen closet door. i think this one is so cute. especially since we never have snow (or even cold sometimes) for christmas in miami. maybe if we think snow it'll happen!

and now the piece de resistance... the tree! i have red, green and silver balls on it. they all have glitter in different designs, stipes, dots and stars. we also have our ornaments scattered throughout the tree. the tree skirt is the red fabric from the top of the stockings. and the angel on top was given to me my my grandfather. she's super pretty and even has rhinestones on her skirt.

we had a great christmas. plenty of food and family, and some gifts too. i hope everyone had a great christmas and is in store for an awesome 2008!

oh and i want to thank all of my customers for giving designed by Diana the best december ever!