I just hate how empty and forlorn the house looks when I take my Christmas decorations down. After all that color and glitter it’s a really big let down. This year I decided I had to do at least a little something to tide me over from Christmas until it was time to do some Valentines decorating.
But I didn’t want it to cost much.
Or anything really.
Do you remember the cool branch I have in my front hallway that I’ve been decorating for the seasons? It really is just a free tree branch stuck into a cheapo vase I already had that I filled with rocks (which you can’t see because it’s hidden behind the antique scale).
For Halloween I put a black raven on it (sorry-forgot a photo). Then for Christmas I hung it with little glass ornaments:
The Christmas branch display.
I already have plans to hang little hearts on it for Valentines day, and to add some paper flowers & buds for spring. I decided what I really needed to get me through January was some snowflakes!
I grabbed a couple sheets of copy paper off the computer desk, some sharp scissors from my knitting bag and hit the internet looking for some directions on how to make really pretty snowflakes.  I didn’t want these to be cheeseball kiddo looking attempts. I wanted them to be CLASSY.
This great tutorial on Instructables.com for making a 6 pointed snowflake was just the ticket. I went to town:
Lots of little bits of paper. . .
I'm just so proud of how this turned out!
Several of the finished products.
I decided that the end product should be sparkly, like snow. In the true nature of frugality I refused to go out and buy any glitter. Looking around the house I found a can of silver sparkle hairspray that had been purchased for who knows what.
You can't really see it, but trust me-they are sparkly.
And there you have it, festive winter decorations that didn’t cost a dime!
The finished display. I need something for the scale though. . .
I love it.
Now I just need to come up with something for my bare mantle. I have an idea. . . let’s see if it works out well enough to post. . .
The snowflakes are cute! As for the scale, go to the dollar store and buy a skein of white yarn. Have the kids wrap the yarn around some crumpled newspaper to make a bunch of snowballs to put in the scale. Cute, cheap, and a fun family activity that keeps with the snow theme. They can even use a marker to make snowman faces on a couple of the snowballs if you want. Just an idea!
Wow, that looks great. You’ve really got a talent with the scissors. I doubt mine would come out so well. Who would’ve thought a branch could be such a versatile piece of home decor!
I know-and a branch is super cheap too!
You should try the snowflakes-I bet it would come out better than you think.
Nancy-you’ve got me thinking. I may even have white yarn in my yarn stash!
I use snowflakes in my Christmas decorating as well. In my old place I would tape them to the windows, but I can’t do that here (too much condensation). So what I did this year is put them on my kitchen cupboards (dark woodgrain). I put a Christmas card in the middle, and then arranged the snowflakes around them.
I use scotch tape to put them on, then carefully pull them off (leaving the tape on them) and store them between layers of wax paper for next year.
I made them with my friends daughter so I have some intricate ones like yours, and some more basic ones, and the combination of them look great.
Jenny-how fantastic that you not only have some fun frugal decorations, but a great memory of making them with your friend’s daughter as well. It turns it from a cheap craft into something more like a family tradition. I love decorations that have personal meaning.
Oh, this is lovely!! What a great idea!