Christmas Decorations Made Easy

Here are all the goodies from the bags I showed in a previous post.  I want to remind everyone again they are ALL from the dollar store including the adorable tree in the previous post.  Now that the tree is already fluffed and ready to go I'm going to begin by getting all the decorations ready from the stash you see below.

I will begin with the two candle rings you see in the picture.  I love to find items that I can take apart and use to not only stretch my dollars but give me the look I'm trying to achieve.  Hopefully by the time I finish this post and decorating my little tree, it will inspire a new way to look at Christmas decorations.

I carefully remove the packaging from the candle ring.

Cut off all tags and unwind (or cut the) wires.  I like to keep these wires as they are green and will come in handy for something at some point, learned that over the years.

Looking over the entire candle ring I want to see how it's put together and plan how I'm going to cut it so that I use every piece possible.  Remember, you can always cut more off but once it's cut - it's cut!  Check twice, cut once!!

Making sure when I cut apart the candle ring, I have allowed myself enough stem attached to the poinsettia and holly to be able to work with.  This gives me something to use to attach each piece to the tree.

Where I have the tip of the clippers pointed, there is an indent in the wire and I think I'm going to snip the stem at that point.  It leaves me with enough stem to work with.

Excellent!  Now I will continue to cut pieces from the candle ring making sure I use every bit possible.  If need be, I will cut any extra bits off later.

My next cut will be right below my finger.  There is an indent in the stem just before the base of the candle ring and I can decide later which part of the stem I will cut from the poinsettia.  You will notice I have left a piece of the stem at the top and there is also a piece below.  

I now repeat the same two cuts at the other end of the candle ring.

So now I have to decide how I'm going to cut the base of the candle ring making sure that when I cut, the pieces are not going to fall apart once cut.  Check twice, cut once!

Checking the remainder of the candle ring out and looking at each piece I make a decision where the cuts will be.

I'm going to cut the base between each of the poinsettias and holly branches keeping the base attached.

I make my cut right through the base.

There are two pieces running parallel across the bottom of the base that are there to keep the shape of the ring and are of no use to me so I will cut them off.

Cutting the two unwanted pieces off makes it easier for me to make my cuts.

I now have a better idea of where I want to make all the rest of the cuts.

Just a few more cuts to go and I'm done.

Here are all the pieces from the first candle ring and I will now cut the second ring apart exactly as I did the first.

So now I have all my pieces cut and ready to go.  It's amazing how just those two candle rings can produce so much product to work with.  I think they are going to work out just fabulous!

When out looking for items to decorate with, don't be afraid to purchase something and take it apart.  This is often how I decorate smaller trees of 2 feet or less, wreaths and centre pieces.  I will often purchase items such as this to take apart and use to embellish my wrapped gifts as well.  There are so many great possibilities.

Wherever you are in your day, I hope you're enjoying it!
Wishing you many wonderful creations