Between Merritt and the house, this Christmas, there is a whole lot of “new” for us. Decorating new spaces for the holidays can be very overwhelming – especially if your style has evolved since the last time you dragged out the decor boxes. Maybe you want to throw it all out and start fresh – I feel you. The thing is, buying new Christmas stuff is expensive, and throwing out all of the plastic do-dads to replace them with slightly different, newer plastic do-dads has me feeling very wasteful. So I identified three new areas in our house I have to decorate – my mantle, my built-in and Merritt’s room – and got creative with upcycling old decor to complete the spaces.
Now, I have a pretty good arsenal of craft supplies by this point. But simply spray painting everything black wasn’t going to work for the task at hand. I found this Chalk paint at Walmart and instantly had an idea. You know, the popular baking powder and paint trick to give a “terracotta” look to your decor? Well this paint skips a step. Walmart has such a great selection of high quality craft items at everyday low prices – I just love their “Hello Hobby” brand. It’s perfect for any holiday DIYs. Whether you’re painting ornaments, stamping DIY wrapping paper, creating homemade ornaments—find everything you need from this brand. I found everything I needed for all of my projects (plus a few new holiday decor items I snagged – couldn’t help myself!) right at Walmart.
Berry Stem Upcycle
The first item I found in my decor boxes that I knew was heading straight for the garbage? Red berry stems. I had a “Nostalgic Red” phase a few years back and tucked these in all of my (real) garlands and tree. I’m definitely over it now. So I decided to reinvent them.
- First, I dusted the stems in a light coat of gold spray paint. Not for full coverage, but for a base and to cover up some of the red.
- Then I used Foam Brushes to apply Chalk paint in “Swan White” to each red berry
- After the berries were covered, a did a light coat of flocking on the strands to blend the gold, white and green
I tucked each stem into the garland I put together on my mantle to add asymmetry and make it feel organic. I love the outcome, and I’m so happy I was able to save these branches!
Tree Collection Upgrade
I’ve collected decorative glass trees for years, and knew I wanted to display them in our new home. However… my style has changed a bit. I’m going for more of a modern, organic Christmas this year and less of a gilded sparkly Christmas. So I knew the reflective rose gold trees of Christmas past weren’t going to cut it. This was the easiest and least time consuming upcycle – I definitely recommend “monochroming” your old glass figurines for a modern Christmas touch!
- I used foam brushes to apply Chalk paint in “Swan White” to each tree in light, even coats
- It took 3 coats for a completely opaque, white terracotta look
I styled these white trees in clusters on my bookshelf among the other black and white glass trees. They look perfect! I’m so glad I didn’t throw them out.
Ornament Upcycle
I have a bunch of old, brightly-colored, shatterproof ornaments set aside in a donation box. I know I’m never going to use them again, lets be honest. But when I found this perfect, ombre blush tree for Merritt’s room, I opened the box and took a second look. Now you may be thinking – how on earth is a pink tree “modern organic” Christmas? Doesn’t this clash with the rest of your vibe? The short answer is – I had a pink tree growing up, and needed to make one work for my baby girl. So, I peeked back into that box of tacky old ornaments and – chalk paint to the rescue (again).
- A grabbed a group of ornaments in various sizes and shapes and propped them up on a carboard box, upside down.
- I mixed two different custom blush shades using “Swan White” chalk paint and various pink and rust acrylic paints
- Using foam brushes, I went through and painted each ornament – either dark blush, light blush or Swan White.
- The darker ornaments took more coats of coverage
Along with my beautiful new (old) ornaments, I used the same warm brown velvet ribbon found throughout the rest of my Christmas decor to tie on the tree. Those ribbons (and the touch of faur fur pelt layered at the bottom) make this little pink tree tie right in with the rest of our home’s decor. It’s just more special, because it’s for Merritt!
Be sure to check out Walmart’s holiday selection to find special decorative touches for entertaining spaces, kids rooms and more as well as their hello hobby craft selection to bring some holiday upcycle projects of your own to life! I have accepted monetary compensation and free product or services from Walmart in exchange for my endorsement of Walmart. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
