60 Days and Counting...

Can you believe it? Only 60 shopping days left until Christmas?! Yes, I know it's annoying to walk into the nearest shopping mall to sounds of Perry Como and strands of glistening lights when we haven't even gotten Halloween out of the way yet. But that's how it is, and I couldn't resist adding a little "holly jolly" to my blog on this cold, rainy afternoon.

Here's a fun little home decor project I did this weekend using the Polar Expressions line from Imaginisce. I just love that little polar bear feltie and, the moment I saw him, ideas started brewing in my head. Yes, that can sometimes be dangerous. But in this case, all turned out well and I ended up with a new piece of holiday decor.


I made the tree by cutting strips of the green paper (which conveniently has diagonal stripes all over it) and trimming the edges parallel to the diagonal in different lengths. I then stacked them on top of each other to form the tree. The lights and peppermint decorations are actually rub-0n borders that I cut up.


The presents were just cut with a square punch, then I trimmed a bit off the top to make them more rectangular. That's Imaginisce ribbon, and it's double-sided, so the same ribbon was used on both packages...just different sides.

I even made the fireplace out of Imaginisce papers. I liked the way the red words lined up to seem a little like bricks. Reminds me a little of the fireplace in the house where I grew up.


The sentiment, stockings and peppermint on top of the tree are all chipboard from the Imaginisce Polar Expressions line, too. Are you sensing a pattern here? :)

To finish off the project, I wanted something to spice up the somewhat boring frame I bought at Michael's, so I took more Imaginisce ribbon, trimmed it into pieces, ran it through my Xyron "X" and adhered it onto the frame to create a border.


Since the length of the ribbon that came in the package wasn't *quite* long enough to make it all the way around, I finished it off with little chipboard wreath, which I mounted onto the chipboard backing that came in the package of rub-ons. I really love manufacturers who include nice chipboard in their packaging...it's such a bonus!!

And now that I've gotten a jump on my holiday decor, I guess it's time to start thinking about Christmas shopping. Right after I get rid of all this Halloween candy.