It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

No, Thanksgiving may not have come yet, but lets face it...Christmas is right around the corner. It matters not if you believe with every ounce of your being that there should be no sign of Christmas until we are laid out fat and full of turkey, dressing and pecan pie. Not only do we begin seeing Christmas at every store we walk into in October, but if you are like me, the days that lie between Thanksgiving and Christmas fly by so quickly that it seems as though they do not exist. So if you are anti-Christmas-before-Thanksgiving, please forgive my preparedness. I must prepare for at least a portion of the Christmas season so that when Christmas Eve arrives and I still have not wrapped gifts, much less finished my Christmas shopping...I can at least savor in the fact that my house is decorated. :)

Today I am featuring a fun way to display your Christmas photos. You know, those beloved pictures of the sheer terror on your child's face as you and/or Santa Clause hold them down to capture a fond memory? Now you can hang those photos with pride and look and think back to [unhappier..?] times, and count your blessings for today. :)

Please excuse the poor quality! This photo is the result of an FFA fundraiser at a craft show.  Quality aside..priceless!

But seriously, even though we may not want to relive those exact moments, you can't help but laugh looking back at those times, and the memories are beyond priceless.

Plus, you do have the occasional Christmas picture that is absolutely perfect. :)

So in prep for this post I began doing a little research...well, my time for research has been limited. I had it on my mind..be thinking, be looking....then I spotted one of my many grapevine wreaths.  I love grapevine. It is so versatile, not to mention inexpensive, and the texture and character that grapevine has is like no other. You can use it in all seasons. You can cut it apart and make smaller wreaths, you can cut it and unroll it to make a fun grapevine garland...the possibilities are endless. And it is so easy to change up. Attach whatever decor/ribbon/etc to it by simply tying or wiring it on, and when the season changes, or you are just ready for a new look, remove your wreath accessories and give it a makeover. :) My grapevine wreaths have served so many purposes for me in my home, and for this Christmas season, my grapevine has become a fun and festive photo display!

The research I did do had many photo displays that included twine and little clippies. I love it! What an easy way to be able to change out your photos. (Be expecting to see more posts on using twine/string and clippies for photo display ;)) So here is where I am..grapevine, a mini-banner, red yarn, little clippies and done!

I thought how adorable a little banner on the wreath would be with the pictures. The banner can say anything you want, or you can have no banner at all and just use string or twine. You can easily find printables online. Search Pinterest or a search engine for printable Christmas banners. For this project I downloaded a free banner font here and created the banner in Word.  For best results print on card stock. (If you use regular paper the ends will eventually curl up and have a mind of their own.)

My next move was cutting out my banner flags, and then attaching (I used hot glue) them to my yarn.  Wrap your banner around your wreath, use your little clippies to strategically place your photos, and embellish with anything Christmasy. (FYI, little clippies like to be handled gently. Squeeze them too hard and they jump right out of your tiny little grasp. And a little sweet talkin' helps.) I also tied on a pine cone, and then adorned the wreath with some of my many festive Christmas earrings ( All of my other Christmas decor is still in storage, so I went with the earrings! Hey, they already have hooks!). :) 

I love it! It makes my heart happy to look back on all those times right there together on that little wreath.  When the season is over, you can either remove all of your pictures and accessories and get ready to reuse your grapevine, or you can just bag the whole thing (remember..gentle with the clippies) and store it away for display next year! What is so awesome about this project is that all of these items were things right out of my home; no need for a trip to the store!

And don't limit those wreaths to just doors and walls! Think of creative ways/places to hang your fun and festive Christmas memories wreath (mirrors, frames, backs of chairs!). :)

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed assembling this wreath and looking back at Christmases past. If you put together something similar or have a great tradition of displaying your Christmas photos, I would love to hear about it! Remember that being able to share our creativity with each other is a gift. :) 

Be watching for more posts to come!  Thanks for reading!

Display photos on an old tin!

On this Throwback Thursday I will begin my blogging with one of the crazy ideas out of my head. :)     A few months ago, I posted this to my FB page. I still have this displayed, and I still love it!

I bought a vintage tin at an estate sale that caught my eye. 50 cents, and I couldn't pass it up. :) That is my kinda deal. I struggled with displaying the tin as a whole, but I liked the front so much I decided to just remove it and display only the top.

Vintage tin top hanging for display to the left of "Pray" on a shelf.

I was happy with that, but just knew I could come up with some sort of purpose for the bottom.  Then it came to me! It's magnetic! So, with some adorable pics of my kiddos at the beach, some homemade magnets, and the bottom of a vintage tin, I have this one of kind photo display that not only easily allows changing out of the photos, but one nail or hook hangs it anywhere you would like with no problem. If you like to change things around as much as I do, you will really appreciate the versatility of this photo display!

Maybe you don't make it to estate sales or resale shops, or if you do you can't find a cool old tin for 50 cents. You can even take this a step further with just a bit more effort. Who doesn't have an abundance of Christmas tins somewhere in their family? (If you don't and you would like to try this photo display, I know for a fact you can purchase tins at your local dollar store.) Grab your choice of spray paint, or for the crafty painters out there, paint your choice design on your tin, and Voila! You have your personalized magnetic photo display tin.

If you have enjoyed this blog post, be looking for the next soon! My main goal of this blog is for awesome and unique photo display ideas, but you just never know what else I may feel like sharing. ;) If you have tried something similar to this, or rush off to try this as soon as you get a chance, I would love to hear from you and/or see a pic of your display!  

It is such an awesome thing to have the ability to share our ideas and gifts the way we can nowadays! My hope is that through this blog I can encourage you to get out some of those old photos, take new photos, and use them in your home. Photos are really and truly precious memories, and often the only route down memory lane. We need to keep those memories alive and pass them on to those we love. 

Have a blessed day, and thank you so much for taking the time to read my first blog post!

Jenna