Winter Wonderland Christmas Vignette

Christmas is pretty much the only holiday I decorate for, and I love to go all out. But the past few years…once we’re finished decorating the tree with twin toddlers, I just don’t have it in me to do much more throughout the house.

A Christmas tragedy.

Things have calmed down now that the girls are 4 (until Cypress starts walking ANY DAY). So the other day the girls and I were making snowflakes out of popsicle sticks and buttons, and I decided it would be fun to do a snowflake-y ‘winter wonderland’ themed vignette on the credenza this year!

Part of what makes Christmas special is creating together and making memories and traditions, so I wanted the girls to be at the heart of this project and be careful not to step on their creativity. In fact, I originally got out all kinds of crafty things for them to decorate their snowflakes with… beads, glitter, washi tape, pom poms, etc; but they had their heart set on buttons. So buttons it was.

While the girls were working on their snowflakes,  *I* was working on my own snowflake… but let’s back up for a little background info.

I wanted to make another monogram wreath, except have it be Christmas-y rather than fall-y. I was originally going to use this little Christmas tree as inspiration…

… but then I was inspired by Ana White to do a snowflake instead!  It turned out to be one of those projects where I’m facepalming and realizing how grossly I underestimated the time this project would take. Why did I have to do such an intricate snowflake?! WHYYY!

But once I was a few hours in, I didn’t want those few hours to go to waste… so I JUST KEPT CUTTING. I had to take my blade off my scroll saw for each and every one of those cut outs. I just put in 30 minutes here and an hour there… just chipping away at it. (full tutorial on making these here)

I truly enjoy working on the scroll saw, and find that gentle hum to be such a stress reliever… so I didn’t hate this eternal project. But there are other things I might have rather accomplished during those FORTY MEEEELLION HOURS. Finally!

Once finished, I sanded ‘er down with the orbital and wiped on some white wood stain (Unicorn Spit) so that it would be white, but still have that woodgrain showing through.

So between my snowflake and the girls’ snowflakes, I had a fairly good idea where this ‘holiday vignette was going. But it wasn’t until the girls were digging through my holiday boxes and I saw all these pine trees lining up that it really came together in my mind.

I had picked up a box filled with trees at a garage sales a few years back, but hadn’t really done much with them since. I didn’t even know JUST HOW MANY trees there actually were in there! Perfect for a ‘landscape-ish’ winter wonderland. Complete with the girls’ wooden nativity puzzle (made by my dad!) right in the center.

As the day wore on and the sun started to go down, I quickly realized that wreath was gonna need some lights. I recruited my giant elf to help.

The girls just stare at this scene with wide eyes and little gasps of air. Paisley says… ‘Mommy it’s beauuuuuutiful’.

And here’s what the whole thing looks like in the dark of the night… with the lamps turned off too. So dramatic!

Behind the trees is a string of lights and a fluffy white feather boa to look like snow.

I love finding ways to include my kids in just about everything I do. It may not make for the picture-perfect magazine-worthy scene we’re all used to seeing on blogs this time of year… but our home is filled with the beauty of family, love, creativity, and the spirit of Christmas! Also poop. Lots of poop.

 

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Huge thanks to Jen Woodhouse of House of Wood for including me in the Christmas Vignette Tour she put together! Check out these other talented bloggers’ Holiday Vignettes and Mantles…. so much Christmasy goodness!  –>

12/1 – Just A Girl and Her Blog
12/2 – Addicted 2 DIY
12/3 – The House of Wood
12/4 – Sawdust 2 Stitches
12/7 – The Ugly Duckling House
12/8 – Sawdust and Embryos  (you’re here!)
12/9 – Pretty Handy Girl
12/10 – Not Just a Housewife
12/11 – Place Of My Taste
12/14 – Bower Power Blog
12/15 – That’s My Letter
12/16 –The Kim Six Fix
12/17 – Her Toolbelt
12/18 – My Love 2 Create
12/21 – Craftberry Bush
12/22 – The DIY Village
12/23 – Shades Of Blue Interiors
12/24 – Ana White