Christmas

What’s a wreath without a bow?  (Probably still a beautiful wreath, but humor me here, OK?)  I think we can all agree that the cherry on top of most wreaths is a pretty bow.  For years my DIY wreaths had, being completely honest, stupid and wimpy bows.  But after fiddling around with my ribbon stash for a while, I finally figured out how to make a beautiful wreath bow, and it could not be easier!  

The best part is that aside from the ribbon you need to make the bow, you probably already have the other two supplies you need: a stapler and scissors.  

Seriously.  With just three supplies you can make a full, floofy, fantastic wreath bow in under two minutes!

Because it’s easier to SEE how it’s done in real time, I made a video to show you how to make your own wreath bow.  I think it’s simpler to “get” the process this way than with step out photos.  So here you go – watch and learn!  

Can you believe it?  Did you know it was THIS easy to make a gorgeous wreath bow?  Now that you know, just say no to those premade plastic bows and make your own.  Your wreaths will thank you for it!  

You May Also Like This No-Sew Coffee Sleeves Project!  

These days it’s almost unheard of to send a holiday card that is not a family photo, whatever your family consists of.  Whether it’s a whole group of people, just you, or your best furry friend, the holidays are a time to re-connect and share a snapshot of you and/or your loved ones with others! 

With the photography tools available to ALL of us these days, it’s so easy to take great looking photos for your holiday cards. To help, I’m giving you tips for taking great DIY Christmas Card Photos on your own, without hiring a professional photographer!  (And guess what – these tips will work for ANY family photos you want to take in the future; not just holiday card photos!) 

This post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

DIY Holiday Card Photo Tip 1: Plan Ahead

Instead of snapping a picture of your family in front of whatever random background is in the location you’re at, spend 10 minutes planning ahead and the results will be worth it! 

First up, plan the location of the photo.  If you have time to go to a location with pretty scenery, you’ll instantly upgrade your holiday photo game.  Whether it’s a hotel lobby with pretty Christmas trees or the woods with natural scenery, plopping your people in a scenic spot will help your photo tremendously.  

Next, think about whether you want or need any “props” for your photos.  If you’re going to the woods, for example, maybe you should bring a blanket for everyone to sit on.  If you’re taking the photo in your living room, do you want to add in a cute holiday pillow to make the photo more festive?  Take a look at this amazing Pinterest board for lots of great prop and pose ideas.

Finally, if possible, plan the outfits your family will be wearing in the photo to avoid clashing colors, graphic or “message” t-shirts, etc.  You don’t want to look unnatural with overly matching looks, but coordinating colors goes a long way for a professional-looking photo.

DIY Christmas Card Photos Tip 2: Get Them Smiling

When it comes to taking a holiday photo of a group, you’re almost guaranteed to get someone who doesn’t want to cooperate – especially a child or a pet.  Bring some treats along with you to help soften any attitude.  

Another great tip to get a really natural look in photos is to say something that makes the people being photographed laugh.  I often tell my kids that they can say a “bad” word they’re not allowed to say (before you jump on me in the comments, these “bad” words are things like “butt” and “fart.”  Not really the bad words you might be thinking of.)  This makes them crack up and I get awesome, natural faces in our photos instead of cheesy, faked smiles!

DIY Holiday Card Photo Tip 3: Technology is On Your Side

Thanks to smartphones, it is SO much easier to take a great holiday photo these days.  These tiny devices can take such nice photos, especially if you know how to use some of the most basic features that are built right in! 

Brush up on camera skills for your particular phone with a quick Google search.  You’re bound to find tutorials that will teach you things about your phone’s camera that you didn’t know before, like how to brighten the image before even taking it and how to set the timer for a group shot.

Add-on accessories for smartphone cameras can also be very useful – especially when taking group photos that you want to be part of!  I love my phone tripod and remote control, which lets me set up my phone as a camera anywhere and snap the photo wirelessly when we’re all in place.  It makes taking family photos so much easier!  

And if you’re going for super high-quality, pull out the trusty old camera to take even sharper images.  Just make sure to minimize use of the built-in flash and use natural lighting instead.  That always leads to a better image!

DIY Christmas Card Photos Tip 4:  Edit, Edit, Edit!

Finally, the best thing you can do for your DIY holiday card photos is edit them before printing!  The good news is that you don’t even need an expensive editing program to do it. 

While I use Adobe Lightroom for editing my blog photos, there are awesome online programs that you can use, too!  PicMonkey is my personal favorite. 

If you don’t want to use an external editing program, use the editing tools built in on your phone or computer.  You can’t edit as much, but something is better than nothing!

Use the editing tools to do things like crop the photo to a good proportion, brighten the photo, enhance the colors, smooth away stray hairs, etc.  Simple fixes like that will make a world of difference in your pictures!

Now that you have all these great tips for taking a wonderful holiday card photo, get out there and do it.  Then make sure to order your cards or print your photos to add into your cards.  

Do you have any DIY holiday photo tips to share?  Make sure to share them in the comments below!

-Bre

I’m so happy to be back in the swing of things with a festive and classic Christmas mantel that I’m sharing today as part of the Decorate Your Mantel blog hop!

My friend Amy at My Life From Home has been hosting this hop for the last year or so, and I’ve loved participating.  I missed the fall edition due to lack of preparedness, but now I’m ready to share my Christmas mantel! 

This post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

So come on in and let me show you around!

I’ve always gravitated toward a more classic Christmas style, filled with reds and greens and your typical Christmas icons, like Santas and Christmas trees.  What can I say?  I’m old school.

My mantels in the past have reflected that (like this one, and this one), but I think that this year’s Christmas mantel is my favorite because it’s classic, simple, and fun all at the same time!  

My new favorite textured stoneware pitcher is pulling decor duty for this mantel, serving as a nice vase for my faux greenery. I like how the iced greenery coordinates with the glittery garland on the mantel!  

And I’m so happy that I found a spot for my cute porcelain snow houses that I got at Target in Bullseye’s Playground (they should really rename that section “Breighanne’s Playground!”).  Target doesn’t have those little houses anymore, but you can find some adorable ones here!  

I propped those little houses up on the bottom side of my wood planter box to give them some height over the garland.  They’re happy to be nestled in close to my cute Santa art print.  This art print might not be everyone’s favorite (like my husband), but I couldn’t resist this vintage-looking Santa!

I moved the stockings to the bookcases this year (hey – all the song says is that they need to be hung “by the chimney with care.”  I think this qualifies), and still need to add family photos to the photo stocking holders!  Ooops.

So there you have it – my classic Christmas mantel .  I hope you enjoyed seeing how I made the classic look work for me!

Yesterday I had so much fun sharing my daughter’s bedroom all decorated for Christmas in a way that’s outside of my normal decor comfort zone.  Sparkles, sequins, and glitter – oh my!  I firmly believe it’s great to mix things up now and again, so her Christmas bedroom was the perfect reason to do that!

For her Christmas bedroom, I created a set of three “Merry & Bright” prints to temporarily take the place of her regular artwork over the bed.  

And because I think they turned out really cute (and were such an inexpensive way to bring some Christmas cheer to the space), I’m sharing a version of them with you!  I’ve minimized them into a single print so you can use it in one frame, and I’ve added a traditional red and green color scheme for those who aren’t crazy about the rainbow colored one!

Just print the PDF file at your local print shop on 8.5 x 11 paper and trim to fit an 8×10 frame, OR print the .jpg file at the photo printer at 8×10 size.  I printed the ones in my daughter’s room at Costco’s photo shop, and I have to say that I wasn’t thrilled about how the colors came out.  So . . . you might be better off printing at Kinko’s, for example.

Please understand that these printables are for your personal use only!  They are not to be re-sold or used commercially.  Thank you for understanding!

If you enjoy this print, please pin this post so others can find it, too!  

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE MERRY & BRIGHT PRINTABLES

I hope your holidays are merry & bright!

-Bre