…And it’s Christmas time once again! As I was thinking about what I was going to do for this year’s decorations, I thought it would be fun to take a quick recap on all the Christmas shenanigans that I’ve done here on Happy Mundane. Let’s start at the beginning and revisit some Holiday DIYs of Christmas Past
The first “tree” I posted, wasn’t even a tree really- Back in 2006, I decided to forgo the traditional tree, and instead opted for a more contemporary vase with branches and ornaments vibe.
2007 marked the beginning of what would become the main tree I still use today. After finding this collapsible white tree at a Macy’s After Christmas sale the year prior, 2007 saw me looking at a more warm and modern take, using non-traditional colors of ochre/golds, gray, and white. I spray painted some of the vintage reproduction ornaments I had a matte white, which gave some fun texture, and added yarn wrapped ornaments.
In 2008, I basically kept the same tree that I had in 2007, but added some other decor, like a tablescape using twigs wrapped in yarn, and I made a paper wreath using newspaper, using instructions from a vintage crafts magazine.
2009 followed again, with basically the same tree as 2007-08, but this year I added geometric faceted ornaments, similar to traditional Himmeli ornaments, but mine were a little more haphazard and random in formation.
In 2010, continued the tradition of adding a new element to my evolving tree. This was the year that saw some bright pops and my increasing obsession with all things geometric. I added construction paper origami faceted paper ornaments and did a tablescape that had some white branches draped in a garland made out of neon label stickers.
2011 was a very productive year. I actually did TWO separate trees, one down in Solana Beach, and another back at home in OC with my usual tree. The Solana Beach tree was my first tree using a real tree (I’ve always had artificial trees, even growing up), and I went for a more glamorous look using red, black and gold.
The other tree went an opposite route, with lots of neon and more geometric shapes that were made from carving and cutting up children’s foam building blocks. I also made a fun modern tablescape using wood blocks, neon tape, and neon straws.
2012 saw a return to the tree concept of 2006, the vase with twigs and ornaments idea. I was inspired by this tree idea I spotted in a vintage Better Homes & Gardens magazine and tried creating something similar.
After 2012’s tree break, 2013 saw the return of my trusty tree… and a whole lotta terra cotta! I made some simple ornaments out of air-dry terra cotta clay inspired by Stan Bitters, and created a matching tablescape of terra cotta and gold.
In 2014, I added some graphic black and gold to the mix. I also found some gorgeous black and gold marbled wrapping paper that completed the look.
2015, last year, 2015, I was all about marbling and made some fun ornaments and gift tags, as well as making a funky gray ornament that used beads and a white glaze. I was also totally into pom poms, and made some fun ones in cobalt blue, gray and white.
AND… that finally brings us to 2016! Whew! what a journey right?! Celebrating that fact was really the basis for this year’s tree. I really wanted to commemorate all my little “ornament adventures” and so basically I just made a little “greatest hits” and placed a mix of my old ornaments together, but I did add a few new touches.
I’ve really been into green lately, and see it as an important color moving into 2017. Apparently Pantone agrees, although I’m going for more of the darker, richer green tones. I also added some cork balls I found at the craft store, and threw in some super fluffy pom poms, which are basically cheap knock offs I found at the dollar store of those more fancy accessory pom pom charms you’re seeing everywhere.
For the table, I found some great green/teal fabric to use as a table cloth, and kept it pretty simple, with cork trivets from IKEA, and these fun gold pyramid shaped candlestick holders from H&M.
And that’s pretty much it! A mix of old and new on a trusty white tree that’s seen quite here at Happy Mundane over these years. If you’ve been paying attention, you might also notice that there is a significant number that this year marks, and I’ll be expanding more on that in my next post which will be in a few days…
In the meantime, Follow me on Instagram (I’ve been using Instagram stories a lot more lately, how about you?) for the rest of my holiday shenanigans, and I sincerely wish you and yours have a wonderful holiday!!