Cheap DIY Decor!

 

Over the holiday weekend I decided to do a few cheap DIY projects. If there's anything I love it's working with my hands and whipping up some new creations, for me it's like therapy. But these aren't just any old DIY projects--no, these are super cheap (just the way I like it)! How cheap you might ask...try $2! Yup that's it :-) When you're not blessed with a lot of cash you learn pretty quickly to be creative. Creative and resourceful, that's me. So let's jump right in, shall we? The first thing I decided to make was some indoor wreaths. I had a bit of white space on my back wall in the living room and it was becoming a real irritation. Yes, I know that every inch of your walls doesn't need to be covered (less is more at times), but if the space looks empty then something really should be done about it. I shopped around for various wall accents and I really liked these sea urchin wall sculptures from Target.

I thought these were really cool and originally wanted them for my half-bath. Eventually, I considered them for the living room also. However, while the sea life theme was fine for the bathroom  it just wouldn't work for my living room. Giraffes, birds, and sea is just a little bit too much!

So I headed to one of my favorite places,The Dollar Tree, and decided to recreate the wreaths I made  last Christmas. I love it's burlap--and it is completely not seasonal in my opinion. Since my space has a bit of a rustic feel, burlap serves as the perfect combination.

Here's what it takes to make the wreath. You might have noticed that there are two different types of burlap--that was completely by mistake--but it worked to my advantage. The jute-like burlap can be found in the Halloween area, while the other burlap ribbon creates a neater look and can be found in the Christmas section.

I love textures so in my book variety is a plus! While one ribbon made for a more refined look, the other provided a bit of a wild feathered appearance--I appreciate imperfections ;-) To make the wreath simply wrap the ribbon around the base and secure with hot glue. With the jute ribbon it will be necessary to cut away frays (fly-aways).  Here's a close up of some of the wreaths (I made 6 in total--excessive right?).

 Can you see the different textures? :-)

 

And here's a pic of all three wreaths hanging comfy in their new home. I'm still struggling with their current positions, not sure if I should lower them a bit or not. Luckily, I used Command Strips and not nails!

 

If you haven't noticed already, there's a lot of circles going on in my décor, I think it's fitting. Circles commonly represent unity and wholeness--things that I desire for my home & in my life.

 

While I was on a role I  decided to add two wreaths to my room just above my dresser. At $2 per wreath why not?

Sequins & wood makes these more fun! This is what I call using up materials. Note: the wreath to the right is made of raffia and not burlap.

 

 

So moving right along, you might recall the table that I upcycled a few weeks ago. Well it has just been sitting there idly because I don't know what I want to do with it yet. As I stated earlier, I really dislike blank space so I figured that I would stage it until I figured out how to decorate it. The problem, however, is that the table is huge. I had no idea what I was gonna do to cover it...until I looked out of my window.

 

In my yard was a limb that had fallen from the tree (as they often do) and instantly the light bulb went off. I went outside, stripped the branch of its leaves, broke off a few too large ends, and brought it inside to make sure that it was the right size--it was perfect!

Here's the limb before I did anything to it.

 

Once I made sure that the limb was an actual fit I decided to spray paint it. I made it gold of course!

 



Once I sat it on the table I had the splendid idea of enhancing the branch by adding gems. However--it didn't work out at all how I expected. Whomp, whomp, whomp!!! For this step I purchased a string of metallic purple beads and some head pins.

 

In case you don't know what a head pin looks like here they are for you to see. You simply stick a pin into the bead and then wrap it around your project to your liking.

 

What I envisioned were beautiful cascading gems. When I was younger I liked to write about far away lands with golden trees with diamond leaves--I wanted to nod to that. Unfortunately,  I would have needed much more beads (& much more money) to achieve a cascading look. So I settled for what I call "bead berries". When the little purple beads didn't give me enough bang, I added pearls for a little more of a statement--because pearls make everything better :-D

 

Here's a glimpse of my "bead berries".

And a close up shot!



 Once I finished with the beading my table still looked pretty blah--which I told myself was ok because I was just staging--but it wasn't ok. So I grabbed some frames that I had sitting around, picked out some shots of some of my favorite people and placed the frames in-between the branches.

I really like the natural twist and curves of the branch. Pictures doesn't do it justice by far, but in person it has a really whimsical/enchanted feel.

 

 

 

This entire table look cost me $4--two dollars for the purple beads and two dollars for the head pins. I already had the spray paint, pearls, and  picture frames. So here it is, a final look at my table décor for the moment. 

I like it, even though this is only supposed to be used for staging it is sooo me--I might keep it like this for awhile (or forever). The only issue is that I wanted to add some height to the table. Decisions, decisions...

 

So as I was writing this post I decided to Google: Limb Table Décor, and it is definitely a thing!  I love some of the ideas out there. And I have to say--the candle one is pretty awesome!

 

A Pop of color!

Nice and clean.

Intriguing, alluring, romantic...

 

There is something I love about adding natural elements to a space--there's nothing quite like God's beauty, and right now I am loving my table. Have you ever used limbs/branches in décor? How so? Would you try it if you haven't already? Whether you like the look or not, it's one thing you can't deny--I decorated a HUGE table for four bucks so I am absolutely winning! Until the next time...

 

Xo