Happy Holidaze!

San Antonio Riverwalk extension/water lock dam; San Antonio, TX

Peering inside a Bed & Breakfast; Main Street, Fredericksburg, TX

Under the faux tree; Zilker Park, Austin, TX

And best of all, inside our lovely home

It's a Wrap!

Well ladies and gents, the Christmas holiday is around the corner! It is now time for my favorite Christmas preparatory step...the present wrapping!

I am proud to announce that I have not purchased holiday wrapping paper in about seven years. The idea of wrapping gifts was founded by your well-known friend, Hallmark, back in 1918. Today, the US experiences an additional 25 million tons of waste during the holidays. To boot, some gift wrap is not recyclable due to the dyes and coating that are used in manufacturing.

While my family may not follow suit to recycle gift wrap and their respective decorative parts, I make the announcement that I will take home anything that is redeemable for reuse. They may find this behavior ludicrous, but I enjoy reusing perfectly good holiday items, as well as using simple everyday items to make packages look enticing.

Here are a few (Cheapskate) tips in utilizing recycled materials as holiday gift wrap. I hope you appreciate the fun behind upcycling. It is ultimately a creative process to turn trash into treasure. It is also cheap!

Make your own wrapping paper by taking a paper shopping bag and stamping the blank backside with a holiday rubber stamp. The rubber stamp can also be used to make gift tags and holiday cards.

Speaking of shopping bags--they come in all forms! In these two instances, I have collected small paper shopping bags and glued/taped miscellaneous holiday items to the bags to cover up the company name and logo. The first photo is of an Anthropologie shopping bag. The glitter snowflake covered up the brand name perfectly. The second bag came from an Aveda store and the paper trees took care of the disguise!

This gift was an awkward shape and difficult to wrap or place in a gift bag. I used a Trader Joe's paper grocery bag, which had the holiday theme already going on here. It was easy to wrap--place the items in the bottom of the bag, then fold or wrap the top portion of the bag around the items and tape on the underside. Garnish with scrap ribbon--this is your chance to get creative.

Remember the previous blog post, How Wreath It Is (Part 2)? I upcycled this lost maple leaf twice by using it as wreath decor for Thanksgiving, and again as Christmas gift decoration! Wrap with colorful vintage gift wrap and any other baubles. I glued on the felt gingerbread men, which can be saved for other holiday decor purposes.

We bought our niece an odd-shaped cute little stuffed felt crocodile, which was not easy to wrap. I found this handmade burlap sack at our local thrift store. Ding! (Done!)

Also, hubby works for the city municipality and brought home some old arial city maps that were destined for the trash. We were able to wrap several gifts with just one map; see background at right.

(All images via Art & Facts)

How Wreath It Is (Part 3)

Every holiday season brings out the best "cheapskate" in me. Not only do new gifts add up for everyone on your list, but holiday decor is another thing to take a hit on your wallet. (Decor is important! It lends a hand at getting your cranky self into the holiday mood!)

So here we have another Cheapskate Tip: The Christmas holiday wreath as a follow-up to Part 1 (Halloween) and Part 2 (Thanksgiving) wreath decoration tutorials.

Tutorial:

1. The holidays are a busy time. Don't spend too much time decking the halls. Simple goes a long way. 
2. With my wreath, I removed the "garnishes" to the Thanksgiving wreath and left the burlap wrapping on it. Now, we are ready to add new "garnishes" to the wreath.
3. I tend to buy clearance scraps of Christmas wrapping items and craft store decor pieces. I use them on gifts, decor and other miscellaneous items the following year. Dig around in your stash boxes for such items.
4. Wrap holiday ribbon around the entire wreath or just around a portion of it. I found this classic old plaid ribbon to wrap around like a candy cane.
5. Affix your focal pieces. I located this red raffia flower bow that was made for gift wrapping. Bah humbug it will be used for wrapping! It must be used as decor! I affixed this flower to the wreath using a pearl-capped floral pin.
6. It looked a little too plain, so I found some glitter decor leaves to pin behind the flower and lends a bit more texture to the wreath.
7. Done and done! This wreath took about 10 minutes to create and the best part is that it cost absolutely no cash to make. Again, the best part to being a cheapskate is to use the items we hoard away. You can change it up year to year, and it still won't cost you anything!

Made For Walkin'

Maybe it's the fact that I have grown up and lived in Texas for the majority of my life, but cowboy boots have not been on my list of must-haves. Don't get me wrong--I went through a phase in my childhood when I owned a cowboy hat and boots and ran after the calves in the rodeo. (This is a big step for me to admit on a public website!)

After that phase had passed, I despised anything that resembled  a cliche homage to Texas. I knew it would be all the more difficult to explain to my out-of-state friends that we all don't ride horses here in Texas!

(Image via CJs Lucchese Boots)

No doubt cowboy boots are beautiful. They are a Civil War-era art form that has remained as a strong staple.

Just like brussels sprouts have transformed from a hatred to a love as I've aged, so have cowboy boots. Each time my hubby and I go swing or country dancing, I worry about my toes getting squashed or my nicer dress boots getting scuffed. I need something rugged! Enter: Cowboy boot.

And that's what they are--rugged style that works on and off the dance floor. I have been spotting them everywhere the past few years. Dressed up or down, cowboy boots work their magic with everything...

On the streets of New York City. "New York City???? Get a rope!"

(Image via New York Times)

Partnered with a vintage silk 1960s dress.

(Image via California Pixie)

Coveted by brides.

(Image via Elizabeth Ann Designs)

A musician's staple, a la rock.

(Image via imgfave.com)

Fashion designer Marant Blackson toughens up the sweet lace.

(Image via style.com)

Leather biker gear.

(Images via thatgossipsite.com and streetphoto.com)

How Wreath It Is (Part 2)

Here we are, arriving at another holiday in our fall series of madness. Speaking of series, I am bringing to you another Cheapskate Tip for creating your very own Autumn/Thanksgiving holiday wreath. This tutorial stems from my last post, featuring the spooky Halloween wreath.

Tutorial:

1. Take your wreath that was decorated for Halloween and break it down as far as you want to take it. For my wreath, I only removed the postmortem sock monkey. 
2. Add any textile you wish. The more textures, the better. I completely covered the wreath by wrapping burlap fabric around the entire parameter.
3. When you are wrapping your wreath, determine how it will hang. Here, I created a loop at the top with the burlap, and knotted it in the back. I then took narrow black ribbon and tied it perpendicular to the loop to create my hanger. I then covered the black ribbon with the rhinestone satin ribbon with hot glue, to add that holiday bling we all love.
4. Affix items that remind you of fall and Thanksgiving. The best part about this wreath is that I found this amazingly large maple leaf on the ground while walking my dog during a beautiful autumn evening. I allowed it to dry naturally and painted the veins of the leaf with silver paint. Allow this project to open your eyes to the outside world. LOOK FOR GOODIES ON THE GROUND!
5. We had an old pine cone ornament with a wire inserted into it. I straightened the wire and secured the pine cone to the leaf by way of floral tape.
6. Again, I encourage you to work with items you find and already own to create your style. That said, you will have to figure out a method to affix your items to the wreath. I used orange satin ribbon that was laying around and wrapped the stems to the wreath with a crisscross action. Tie a knot to keep the boys and girls in place.

There you go! A Thanksgiving holiday wreath for under $5. In my case, this was FREE. Slow down, enjoy your surroundings and thoughtfully display the things that resonate with you. Happy Thanksgiving and until next time!

How Wreath It Is (Part 1)

Happy Halloween to all of you out there! Halloween kicks off not only the official week of autumn, but also whispers to your ear that the holidays are following right on its tail.

I started to think about how we all love to decorate for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. All three holidays are approximately 30 days apart! How can we possibly keep up with this? How do we find the space for it all? And, what about the expenses to decorate?

Well, my friends...this is another opportunity for another Cheapskate Tip: Part 1 of 3. Today, I will share with you a very scary wreath for the kiddos to fear when knocking on your door. This wreath came out to just under $5 since I used items I had around the house. The postmortem sock monkey was an impulse purchase I could not resist.

Tutorial:

1. Take any holiday wreath that you most likely own already. 
2. Find some yarn that you have hiding away in your craft room that invokes the colors of Halloween: orange, black, silver, etc. 
3. Wrap the yarn around the parameter of the wreath. This is completely up to you--wrap the entire wreath with yarn or make a small pinstripe effect. I decided on three large areas to wrap so that it looks reminiscent of a biohazard symbol.
4. Attach your favorite spooky decoration or figurine any way you wish.
5. Hang it up!

Spook it up! Until next time!

The Little Things

Oftentimes, when I'm browsing around in my favorite (expensive) stores, I ache at all of the beautiful things that exist for the home. Then "I want this, I want that" sets in. That's when it's all over.

After careful study, I realize that what makes me pine over such things is because of the level of detail that went into the product. Or it's something unique. And the best part is...these are all characteristics that can be created with your own thriftiness!

That's right boys and girls. We've gone way too long without another Cheapskate Tip!

Handmade and decorative soap costs at least $5.00 and upward. As you see, I have a small collection of amazing decorative vintage-inspired soaps made by Nepenthe's Bathtime Soap. But there are other more inexpensive (read: $2.00), handmade soaps I can get my hands on that are not packaged and are quite plain. How does one dress up plain soap in a jiffy? Washi Tape! A quick tape around that bar can add pizazz! Now my cheap bar of soap is just cool enough to hang out with the others...

Now we've all seen plants potted in many re-usable containers left and right. No doubt this is an inexpensive alternative. After I potted this succulent in my old jar, it was not exciting me at all. I also know that this succulent tends to grow tall and will lose its uprightness. So I made this cool little plant "crutch" disguised as a flower--all made out of items I had laying around the house.

1. Cut felt fabric in circular spiral. Hot glue spiral back together, overlapping all edges. This creates a domed petal effect.
2. We save all of the bottle caps from our favorite local tea-maker, Sweet Leaf Tea, because they have witty little quotes on the underside. It's like a fortune-cookie drink. I used this bottle cap as the flower's center; attach with hot glue. This cap in particular was fitting, as it says, "Life is a Garden--Dig It."
3. Hot glue flower head onto a disposable takeout chopstick.
4. Shove into the dirt.

A decorating rule of thumb is (a) repetition; and (b) grouping like items. Create an autumn table display with some of your everyday decorative items along with seasonal items such as pumpkins. Add the edible arrangement: Grab a vintage vessel an throw in some nuts that are falling off of your pecan or walnut tree in the backyard. Drop in a nut cracker so your display beckons the guest to partake and feel at home.

(All photos via Art and Facts)