Christmas Wreath (and confession)

I have a confession to make, you guys.  It's one that will surprise and probably disappoint you....

I'm kind of a Grinch about decorating for Christmas. (Hangs head in blogger shame.) In fact, there have been years that I've made a case for not putting up a tree at all.  I mean, it's just me and Mr. M. around here, so it's not like I'd be depriving little kids of Christmas or anything!   But apparently I would be depriving Mr. M., because he has never allowed my Grinch-status to go to that extreme.

It's not that I don't like Christmas decorations!  I do.  I like them a lot, actually!  But it seems like so much work and money to spend on decor that will only be up for a few weeks!  

I mean, if I'm going to spend money on decor, I want to buy stuff that can be displayed for most of the year. I was browsing Christmas decor recently, seeking out some white lighted garland for our built-ins in the family room, and the absolute cheapest that I could find was on sale for $30 of 9 feet of garland.  I would need two.  $60 for some white stuff to put in front of my TV?!  Um, no.  I could buy some really cool stuff that could be fabulous in my home all year for $60.  I just can't get that into it.  

But you know that I always do a wreath!  

This was my first time making a wreath from fresh greens.  Although I don't know why, since we have at least four or five pine trees on our property.  It just never occurred to me until this weekend!

I started out by using a grapevine wreath as a wreath form, and tucked several pine tree clippings into the grapevine, using twine to secure any pieces that didn't want to conform to the round shape.  Then, I went back and added in smaller clippings to fill in the thin spots.

Once I had my wreath covered in greens, I wrapped a red ribbon around the wreath and tied on some of my favorite shatterproof ornaments. And of course I added in a monogram with a little holiday sparkle!  

But it still needed something, so I decided to add in some sparkly embellishments that I rescued from a clearance rack a few months ago.  I think they are designed to be used in jewelry-making, but I thought they would be perfect to bring a little glitz to a fun holiday wreath.

Don't mind my messy, makeshift wreath-making station.

And here's the final result!

Did you notice the fun wreath hanger?  Isn't it great?!  I want. every. color.  Find it here.

To be honest, I'm not in love with the red ribbon.  I wish that I had more of it, because it could have used a few more 'wraps'.  But I didn't want to leave the house to buy more, and wasn't really willing to tear the whole wreath apart to fix it.  Oh well!

And in the spirit of being a good blogger, this year I am trying to embrace the holiday decorating spirit in decorating the rest of the house.  I can't wait to show you what I come up with!

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