With a free tree, and my inspiration pictures, I decided to take my chances and create a sparse tree from an ordinary Christmas tree. The tree we found was left by the previous owners, and was in great shape. Most of the lights were out, but we knew they would have to come off anyway. The transformation ended up surpassing my expectations and I’m so excited to share the three easy steps with you!

Step 1 Remove Lights

My husband, Adam started by cutting the plastic light clips off of each individual branch, but quickly realized that was too tedious of a process. Although extremely messy, pulling and jerking the light wires worked very well and made the process go quickly. The plastic light clips broke off very easily. I recommend you do this part outside!

Step 2 Remove Branches

Some trees have removable branches… that type of tree is ideal for this project. However, our tree did not have removable branches, they were hinged, like most trees these days.

To create a sparse look, I removed every other branch on each row all the way up the tree using bolt cutters. Once I got closer to the top, I could remove the smaller branches with tin snips. I cut as close to the trunk as possible to minimize the hardware leftover from the missing branches.

I kept the bottom row of branches intact to create a thicker look toward the bottom. It also helped to “ground” the tree and look more natural.

Step 3 Hide the Hardware

You might’ve already wondered about the look of the Christmas tree’s trunk. Obviously, this tree wasn’t made to have the trunk part seen, so it had parts that needed to be hidden, especially after removing half of the branches.

I knew that once the tree was decorated, your eye wouldn’t “see” the trunk, but it still needed to be somewhat camoflauged. I used dark brown burlap ribbon to hide the hardware and was pleased with how it turned out!

Tip: I also used the dark brown burlap ribbon to hide the light plugs once I began decorating.

Jamie

How you decorate your sparse tree is totally up to you, but I kept it really simple. I love how you can see all the ornaments and how the garland “floats” on the branches. Less is more when it comes to these types of trees.

I’d love to know if you try this with a tree in your home! Be sure to comment below or send me a message on Instagram!

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo

Last weekend, this happened to us. Getting my family of five out the door in a timely manner is virtually impossible some days. It seems like the later we are, the slower my people move! I’m sure some of y’all can relate!

Anyway, I needed a creative idea, and I needed it quickly! I remembered something I had seen on Pinterest and decided to give it a shot!

I had cubed cheese and grapes, plus some leftover herb garnishes from another project.

I arranged the grapes and cheese in a tree shape, and boom! An inexpensive, creative, holiday dish!

A few tips:

• Cut your grapes in clusters of 3-5 to make it easy for guests to grab & go.
• Use various colors of grapes and/or cheese to create a great look.
• Rosemary & Thyme make beautiful garnishes, especially at the holidays.
• Buy a new tray or board and gift it to the host/hostess of the party!

These are some of my favorite boards from Amazon!

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo

Like any small business, Bloom Creative Co. earns money when you shop here. Your price is never affected. Thanks for the support.

Jamie

Meet Kerri! She’s a wife and mom of two kids Sydney (14) and Brennan (10). She mostly works in her home and loves using her creativity and housekeeping skills to beautify her space as well as her client’s. 2019 will be the third season she is offering her decorating services professionally.

When Kerri arrived I had put our tree up, fluffed the branches and plugged it in. That’s literally all I did all day, unless cutting ornament tags, drinking two cups of coffee and having a salad counts… Yeah I didn’t think so!

She did everything, start to finish, and I’m so glad she did. She decorated for about 3 1/2 hours. Including shopping for ribbon and a few ornaments the day before, she spent about 5 hours total to create the finished look.

1. Shopping

According to Kerri, there are a few main things to keep in mind when shopping for your tree decor. She recommends that before you shop, you decide on a color scheme and overall style of your tree. Pinterest is a great place to find inspiration, but no two trees will ever look exactly alike. While pictures help, ‘inspiration’ is better than ‘imitation’. Once you decide on a color scheme and theme (rustic, classic Christmas, glam, etc.) you’ll be ready to shop. I chose a style that reflects the overall look of my home which is “transitional farmhouse-ish”. (The truth is I don’t really know what my style is, I just collect things and hope they look good together. I kinda just find what I like and make it work. I planned to do the same with my Christmas tree and Kerri was very flexible.) After going back and forth, I decided to stick with white/silver and gold, with accents of mint green and copper/brown.

When she shops for her clients, Kerri loves to start by looking for ribbon! A nice, wide (4”+), wired ribbon can make all the difference in her opinion. Once you find one you love, look for 1-2 others. These can be more narrow and understated. Choose ribbon that compliment each other. Purchase plenty of each! It’s better to have more ribbon than not enough, plus you can always use leftover ribbon for gift wrapping.

When shopping for ornaments, she recommends staying away from giant boxes of balls! “Sometimes people go overboard with balls of the same size. Varying the size, shapes and colors of even the most basic ball-type ornaments will take your tree to the next level in terms of design”, Kerri says. So while shopping, buy a few boxes of balls as fillers, but focus on more unique ornaments. Her best tip for unique ornament buying is, “always buy an odd number of them. A collection of 3, 5, or 7 ornaments always feel better than an even amount”. For mine, we used a lot of ornaments I had, and bought a few new unique ones! Unfortunately I was a “chronic ball-buyer” from way back!

Before you begin decorating, make sure your tree is fluffed, lit, and your ornaments are laid out so you can see everything you have.

2. Decorating with ornaments

Before Kerri begins, she puts a fluffy blanket around the base of the tree. If a glass ornament falls, the softness of the blanket may keep it from breaking. If it does break, the glass is easily picked up since it’s contained in the blanket. I imagine this tip will be especially valuable if you’re decorating with little helpers!

Kerri began with a few basic ornaments and hung them toward the back of the branches. This was a great use of some of the balls I already had. Once she had a few on, she began hanging the larger ornaments to be sure they had a spot. She says, “Larger ornaments can MAKE a tree! People often think large ornaments are just for really big trees. Using a few large ornaments strategically in odd numbers will really make it feel professionally decorated”.

Once the larger ornaments were placed, she began to fill in with a few floral accents. She was using velvet poinsettias in various sizes and colors, gold glitter feathers, and berry branches. She placed about half of these and then began filling in with the more unique ornaments. She hung the most beautiful ornaments towards the end of the branch so they would be seen. She says, “Don’t be afraid to hang more than one ornament on the same branch. Just because you already hung a ball towards the inner part of the tree, doesn’t mean you can’t hang a more unique ornament towards the outer part of the branch. This is another great way to create a designer look”.

Always be aware of how the tree will be viewed while you decorate. For example, my tree is against a window, not seen in the room on all sides. Kerri was very careful not to “waste” unique ornaments on the side no one would see, so keep that in mind when decorating yours as well as shopping. How much of the tree is seen, will affect the quantity of unique ornaments you purchase as well.

-Jamie

Once she hung most of the ornaments, and rearranged things… and hung some more… she was fairly happy with the placement of them, so it was time to start adding ribbon!

3. Decorating with ribbon

I am not particularly a “bow person”, and I don’t usually use many bows in my decor, so I had very little ribbon. She picked out a few fabulous rolls and I was going with it! The ribbon technique she used on my tree was so clever. I would’ve never thought to do it, and it created such a beautiful look. “To make the poinsettias feel more grand, I add ribbon and it visually enhances them and makes them feel bigger. Cut two or three pieces of coordinating ribbon, cinch them in the middle, place them together on the branch under the poinsettia and gently bend the end of the tree branch over the ribbons to hold them in place”, she explains. No tying! I loved this idea and no tying means no untying when it’s time to take it down! She used this technique in a few places strategically around the tree. It added so much to the look!

4. Decorating with bows

Honestly, bows could probably have their own blog post, so I won’t even go there! Again, I’m not a “bow person”. Of course Kerri makes her own bows, but hasn’t always. She said she started making them after a lot of trial and error. She figured it out by practicing over and over.

She decided to make a double bow for the top of my tree. She knew a bow was not something I had in mind for my tree, but she wanted to try it. She mostly wanted to complement the angel topper that I’ve always used and was insistent on using again this year! She tried it and I’m so glad she did!! Her beautiful bow was just what the tree needed to be able to accommodate the large angel topper. I absolutely love how it turned out. She left the ribbons a little long and I really like how they flow down the tree.

5. Finishing touches

To finish things off, Kerri added a few handfuls of the floral picks she had picked out. Pine cone stalks and berry branches finished the look. Surprisingly it made the tree feel larger and gave it a bit of a tousled look that I often find myself loving in decor around my home.

We moved her masterpiece into its spot and we celebrated! It. Was. Finished! I feel so blessed to be able to have such a beautiful creation in my home to enjoy all season!

After hearing her tips, and knowing the small changes to make, I feel confident I can decorate like a pro next year. I’m even going to use some of what I learned on our family tree in the foyer this year! I hope you’ll join me and use these tips and tricks to level up your tree!

If you’re interested in having Kerri decorate for you this year, contact her through Facebook here. Or if you’re tackling your own tree, feel free to message her with questions if you hit a snag.

FYI: All of the new ornaments on my tree, ribbon and angel tree topper were purchased 40% off from Hobby Lobby. The Christmas tree was purchased from Amazon (I linked it below) and I’m still shopping for a tree skirt! The total amount spent was $500 for the items including the tree.

-Jamie

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo

Amazon affiliate link:

Kerri’s portfolio:

]]> https://shebloomscreative.com/decorating-your-christmas-tree-like-a-pro/feed/ 2 2811 https://shebloomscreative.com/our-thankful-tree/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=our-thankful-tree https://shebloomscreative.com/our-thankful-tree/#comments Tue, 05 Nov 2019 01:09:00 +0000 https://shebloomscreative.com/?p=2167 For the last few years we have done a small Thanksgiving project together as a family. (I wrote a blog post and shared the projects from years past as well as our idea for this year. You can read it here. ) This year we decided to make a Thankful Tree!!

I was very much looking forward to it because I knew it would be such a statement piece and a welcomed addition to our Thanksgiving decor! There is something so special about having handmade items in my home especially when they’re made by my children. It just takes my breath away every time I look at their creations. In my opinion it’s the best kind of decor there is!

My boys were just home from a deer hunting trip and it was beautiful weather so we decided to jump right in and start creating. Clark and I started by collecting branches around the neighborhood. It really didn’t take us long to collect enough for our tree.

We gathered the materials we needed. We actually had everything already so it didn’t cost a thing!

I arranged the branches while the big kids used a 2” hole punch to make the tags for the tree. We used some scrapbook paper with a fall look that compliments the color scheme of our house.

Tip: Cut the scrapbook paper in 2 1/2″ strips so you can use all of it. If it is whole, the punch won’t be able to reach and you’ll waste a lot of paper.

-Bloom Creative Co.

I dressed up the vase a little with some burlap ribbon. Be sure to use a heavy vase with a wide bottom. The tree tends to be a bit top heavy and needs the support of a large vase. You could always add river rocks or water if you need to weigh it down.

Tip: To achieve a nice inverted “v” edge, fold the ribbon in half and cut at a downward angle.

-Bloom Creative Co.

I punched a hole in each 2″ tag with a standard hole punch to hang them on the tree. We decided not to use the twine to hang the tags, and just hang them directly on the tree like the inspiration picture. This worked well and was much less time-consuming than tying each tag with twine. I like the clean look of it as well.

While we worked we talked about some blessings from the past year that stuck out to us as a family. When it was finally time to write down what we were thankful for, everyone knew where they wanted to start. We wrote big things, little things, funny things, serious things and everything in between! Of course we saved some blank ones to last us all month!

Overall I’m so happy with the way this year’s project turned out! I decided to really make it a focal point and placed it on the mantle. I’m loving it!

I encourage you to do this as a family. It doesn’t have to be a Thankful Tree, there are so many ideas. You can check out tons of other ideas here. Take time, do something that helps you to reflect on the year. Whether it’s been a year full of blessing or sprinkled with burden and hardship, an attitude of gratitude (like I tell the kids) makes everything brighter!

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo

Just like any small business Bloom Creative Co. earns money when you shop here. Thanks for your support!

-Bloom Creative Co.

]]> https://shebloomscreative.com/our-thankful-tree/feed/ 2 2167 https://shebloomscreative.com/kid-friendly-fall-decorations/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kid-friendly-fall-decorations Sat, 12 Oct 2019 19:49:23 +0000 https://shebloomscreative.com/?p=60 At our house… WE LOVE FALL! I’m not sure what it is about October, it just makes us feel different. Maybe the anticipation of the holidays, maybe it’s the pumpkin patches popping up around town, the talk of Halloween costumes, or the tiny whisper of lower humidity in the morning and evening (South Louisiana probs). I know for the boys (my husband Adam & son Clark) it’s the start of deer season and all things camo! Whatever it is… we love it!

Just as in any season, I like to make some small, subtle decor changes to our home. Over-the-top seasonal decorations aren’t practical for us for a lot of reasons… time, energy, budget… we don’t have an abundance of any of those! So I keep it simple!

I’m going to share with you 3 simple fall decorating ideas that you can easily incorporate today! Most of these apply to all seasons, but I’ll share our fall ideas for now!

1. Display fall themed kid’s art!

I keep all of my kid’s artwork with the decorations for that season. So for example, all of this artwork was stored in a 2-gallon ziploc bag, in the storage tote with my fall decor. That way, I won’t forget about it when it comes time to put it out.

I used twine and clothes pins, found a spot in our sitting room that made sense, and voila! It is so special for the kiddos to see their work on display, plus it adds a ton of color and is a conversation piece when people visit.

2. Plush decor that is ok to touch!

I try to incorporate “playable” decor for each season (I’ll share each holiday idea throughout the year). For fall I put these plush pumpkins on our main coffee table. My girls absolutely love playing with them. Penelope (4) lines them up and feeds them to her ponies, while Daisy (1) throws them and fetches them herself… over and over! They know they are there to play with and it encourages them to use their imaginations.

Having “playable” decor is essential to a home that everyone enjoys. It gives the kids freedom, keeps you (mom) from having to move things out of reach and/or fussing and saying “no, don’t touch that… that’s not a toy”! With plush decor it IS a toy, but looks fabulous too! I found the large pumpkin at Homegoods last year and the small ones in the dollar section at Target!

3. “Thankful” craft!

Every year we try to create something with the kiddos to provoke a “thankful” mindset going into the holiday season. A few years ago we created this on a live pumpkin. If we do this again, I would do it on a faux pumpkin. I have found I like to keep our project from year to year to reflect back on what we were thankful for.

Last year, we weren’t very imaginative. We had a new baby, and we did what worked! I bought this as a kit in the dollar section at Target and it turned out adorable! I displayed it all season last year and have it out this year too!

This fall, we are going to make our own tree! I got this idea from simply vintage girl and can’t wait to try it. I have it pinned on Pinterest too. Go follow Bloomcreativeco on Pinterest for this and lots of other ideas I’m dying to try!

For this look you’ll need:

• branches
• vase
• fall scrapbook paper
• 1 1/2″ – 2 1/2″ hole punch
• standard hole punch
• thin ribbon or twine
• scissors
• ribbon for vase

This seems pretty simple! I’ll blog about ours once we get to it! I usually start our “thankful” project November 1st!

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Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo

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