Decorating for Christmas with Zero Skills, Part II: Two Easy Projects, Two Weeks Too Late

I love pretty Christmas decorations, but as I've stated previously, I don't have the time, money, energy, motivation or surface area for elaborate holiday vignettes.  So I decorate sparingly, and usually just the living room.

However, this year I decided to show the dining room a little bit of love, so here are two easy projects that wound up in that room.  It's two days before Christmas, so I figure everyone has already decorated, but here's the second post anyway, because I promised it was coming.  And maybe you haven't decorated yet.

Please excuse the horrid lighting in the photos.

1. Decorated chandelier

I had some green beads that I strung up and fastened with wire.  On its own, it looked a little "Mardi Gras" (according to one friend - you know who you are), so I had to fix it.  I went to Michael's and procured some pink berries and glittery green leaves.  I made wreaths from the berries for each of the candles, and tucked the green leaves underneath them.  I then added some beaded birds because - well - I like to put birds on things.*

*I'm not alone. Lisa and Bryce put birds on things, too.

2.  Words on glass

I have this entirely blank wall in the dining room that I have plans for that I haven't gotten around to doing yet.  I figured - eh, why not put up something temporary and Christmas-y?  I put some pretty paper in frames I already had, and wrote Christmas messages right on the glass with a black, bold tipped paint pen.  When Christmas is over, I can wipe it right off with a damp cloth, and use the frame for something else.

I added some pink glittery ribbon and an ornament to the large frame.  My bow-tying skills are seriously lacking, though.

I used Command picture hanging strips to hang the big frame, but wound up just using nails to hang the smaller frames. I had used Command hooks, but they weren't up to the task, so the frames kept falling down in the middle of the night (Santa, is that you?!), and pieces of the wall were coming down with them.  Since I have to repair the wall anyway, I figured a few nail holes wouldn't hurt.

If I had more time (or energy, etc.), I would have done more on this wall, because there is still a lot of blank space (see below), but considering there was nothing on that wall before, a little something is better than nothing...right?

Isn't this vintage star clock cool?  I found it at an antiques fair in Tulsa last year and got it repaired recently.

Also, here is the re-purposed wreath I mentioned in Part I.  I spray painted it white, wrapped it with some garland I already had, and attached bunches of some similar-looking small ornaments I found at Target for just a few dollars.  It took forever, and doesn't look super amazing, but it adds color to the front of the house, so I don't hate it. I just tied it to the front door with red ribbon.  Winning.

(The No Solicitors sign is a year-round fixture, I'm afraid)

Have a Merry Christmas, all!