Christmas Cheer

Where is the snow.....I can't believe how fast the holidays have snuck up on me, not to mention the warmer than usual weather. It almost feels weird to listen to Christmas music on the radio when you're driving around in sunny 60 degree weather. However, inside our home the Christmas Spirit is in full swing. This year Bryan set up all the trees and then b-lined it to the basement to watch a football game. The girls and I took over and "decked the halls" while jamming out to the Forgotten Carols and Mannheim Steamroller. Here are a few pictures of the holiday decorations in our home. I can't decide what element is my favorite, but I love the cozy woodland tree in my family room. The wood stick snowflakes were purchased a few years ago from Tai Pan. They bring a natural warmth to the room and compliment the rustic wood logs turned into stocking holders. I also love the darling wiener dog ornaments my mother in law gave to my girls this year. What a fun way to bring our beloved "Copper" into our holiday decor. What ever way you love to decorate and celebrate this holiday season, I hope the love of our Savior will be felt and shared by all. Merry Christmas!

Girls night.

Once a year I get a chance to host a fun girls night (Bunco) with a group of 11 women who are the funnest neighbors and friends. We eat, play games and laugh until our stomachs hurt.  There's also prizes for everyone.  Here are some fun shots of the table settings....

We use three tables with four to a table. I used white table cloths purchase from target. The table runner is a DIY, basic kraft paper stamped with gold polka dots. The black and white place mats are from IKEA. The plates, napkins, and straws are from Target. The clear glasses with lids came from Kneaders (it's where I had the salad catered from), and the scalloped label on the glasses was something I had laying around. 

The centerpiece was a project I did for a West Creek Design segment on Studio 5 featured here. I bought the round wood slice from Hobby Lobby.  The cute scalloped cake stand is from World Market. The cushion the pumpkin is sitting on is another DIY using coffee filters. The pumpkin is from the dollar store, that I spray painted white and wrapped with a deconstructed small grapevine wreath.

Here are a few pictures of the prizes....

The small wreath with the felt flowers is actually from the $3 dollar section at Target.  The "blessed" pallet sign was made using the lid from a small ammo box found at Smith and Edwards.

The small pumpkin is the same as the pumpkins used for the table centerpieces.  The "Thankful" pallet sign was made using the lid from a small ammo box found at Smith and Edwards too.

The "grateful, thankful,and blessed" pallet sign is a West Creek Design original, and one of my favorite to make.

Fa*La*La*La*La pallet art is also a West Creek Design original and will be available to purchase in the next few weeks.

I loved finding the fonts to use for this Fall pallet art. This is also a West Creek Design original.

The "Fresh Baked Pies" sign is from World Market, and the baguette slice cutting board is from Target. This miniature pumpkins are from Hobby Lobby.

The scalloped white cake stand is from World Market, and the delicious smelling hand soap and dish soap are one of my favorites and from Target.

The ammo boxes are a West Creek Design original done for a Studio 5 segment found here.  They make perfect table center pieces or look amazing on your kitchen window sill.

It was such a wonderful night! I'm so thankful for great friends.

Featured on Studio 5 "Tree Slice" holiday ideas

Today West Creek Design was featured on Studio 5, showcasing great ideas to add rustic warm charm into your holiday decor with wood slices or tree discs.

First things first.... I want to give a shout out to my favorite boutique for dressing me and helping me look so fabulous on the show! Have you heard of Kendalljane Boutique?! They have the most fabulous clothes and amazing prices, you just can't go wrong with them. On Studio 5 today I wore their new Red Plaid Tunic! Not only is it extremely comfortable, it's so flattering on! You can wear it by itself or add some layers to it like I did. It's a must have for Fall and  right now you can get it on their site here! For only $31.99 you don't want to miss out on this top!

Right now they are offering West Creek Design fans 10% OFF their entire purchase!

Use code :WCD10 at checkout! So head on over there, I'm sure you'll find something you'll LOVE!

Now on to great ideas for your holiday decor using regular old wood slices. I first discovered this darling wood slice wreath.

found here on Pinterest. 

I knew it would be a great transitional wreath for fall all the way until Thanksgiving.  As I gathered the supplies, I found all the wood I needed piled up next to my Mother-in-law's shed. With her permission I grabbed as much wood as I could and knew that I couldn't stop at just the wreath.

I used my miter saw to cut the wood slices. You have to be so careful while your cutting the wood. Having knots in the wood and different thicknesses can sometimes cause the miter saw to grab the wood and throw it, or cause your hand to slide into the blade. ALWAYS clamp the wood so that it's completely secure and won't move on you when you're making the cuts with the miter saw. 

If by chance you don't have access to a wood pile or a miter saw, you can purchase wood slices on both Amazon or Etsy. I was able to grab some wood slices from Rustic Wedding Supply via Amazon here. I was very happy with the wood slices and the shipping was great. There are many other vendors and options available online. I also ordered biodegradable craft rings here via Amazon, for the base of the wreath. These are compressed MDF like material that the wood slices adhere to really well with the Gorilla wood glue. The wreath was extremely easy to put together as shown on the Studio 5 segment.

Once I had all the wood sliced, ideas poured into my head.  I loved taking each individual wood slice and stamping it with snow flakes, drilling a hole in the top and tying it with jute for Christmas ornaments.

I also made coasters with the individual wood slices stenciling numbers on, and then covering the coasters with polyurethane to seal the wood.

One of my favorite ideas was to make place card holders. I took the wood branch and instead of cutting small slices, I cut chunky ones, and then used a dremel saw to cut a deep line across the top of each piece of the chunky wood slice. I love the rustic element this adds to a a table setting.

A great neighbor gift for the holidays are these adorable push pins. I took a small branch and cut baby wood slices out of it with my miter saw. I then took a small finishing nail that was twice as wide as the wood slice and pounded the nail all the way through so that the sharp edge stuck out on the other side....tada a wood slice push pin.

I found a great chunky wood slice at Hobby Lobby. I took a drill bit and drilled a hole in the middle of the wood slice. I then took my jig saw and went from the hole I made in the middle of the wood slice and hollowed out a circle to make a wreath shape. I took a palm sander and sanded the middle so that it was smooth. This gave it the wreath shape. I decided to spice things up and paint the inside of the wreath gold and a small edge of the outside circle. I finished it off by hanging it with a burlap ribbon. This is one of my favorite projects using a wood slice.

Without the middle cut, this wood slice makes an excellent staging piece. Whether it's for a center piece or as a plate charger. I love the possibilities of the texture and height it can give.

Also using store bought wood slices, I applied orange craft paint to the middle and then used a paint stir stick as a stem to turn them into a pumpkin collage.

I very excited about the stocking holders made from a chunky log. I used a small branch and clipped off the stems for the stocking holder hooks. This was so simple to make but will have a huge impact on my mantel this holiday season.

Thanks again to Studio 5 and Kendalljane Boutique for hosting West Creek Design and this fabulous segment. I hope you're as excited as I am for the upcoming holidays. If there is any interior design or staging needs that you might have, West Creek Design would love to help. Contact me at westcreekdesign@gmail.com.