Getting Crafty

I love Christmas. Growing up, it was a big deal. Big. The day after Thanksgiving, the fall decorations came down, and the tree went up. Gingerbread on the fireplace, snowmen on the mantle, garlands dripping from every banister, and the Precious Moments nativity on the piano with the wise men thoughtfully placed on the window sill nearby. All three of my sisters and I have a deep, deep love for Christmas thanks to our mom. We love it just as much as we did when we were little. All that to say, I am already desperately aching to pull out the decorations! I have to force myself to wait, knowing that two girls' birthday parties have to happen first, and I want them to have their own little holiday before we all celebrate Jesus'

birthday as a family. So since I couldn't decorate my house, I thought I'd make something new to put out when I can decorate. (Once again, thank you Pinterest!) I saw this first picture and fell in love with it. The website is in Finnish (I believe) so it really wasn't any help. I also had to do an inexpensive version, preferably with a little more color since the walls here are kind of boring anyway. I collect the Birch Heart Snowmen figurines, which I think will look perfect in front of this "Noel". I wanted to get a picture of the completed display, but lacked the energy to pull out a million boxes to find which figurines I wanted to use. So you'll have to use your imagination to picture my final display, but I promise I'll take pictures this December! One of the figurines I may use on the left, and here's my version of "Noel":

And since I was in such a craft mood, and had left over supplies, I made one for "Fall", too:

(I'll let you in on a secret: the first and last letters are made from diaper boxes. :) First are wrapped in brown paper wrapping paper and the "L"s are wrapped in twine.) Once again, use coupons and shop sales! Projects don't always have to cost tons of moolah!