Fatigue Sets In

I admit it. It's only the fifth day of December and I already have Christmas fatigue. My Christmas tree is sitting in the middle of my living room...empty. Well, except for the paper cranes I made when I was feeling motivated. All two of them. The motivation fizzled out pretty quickly.

I'm usually only a tree-decorator at most. My apartment could do with a little spicing up, but I simply don't have the room to store extra decorations for the other 11 months of the year. I barely have room for my little plastic tree! I was planning on making some handmade decorations, but again, the motivation is just nowhere to be found. So instead I'm looking at people who have endless motivation and skill, not to mention pretty paper and lovely twine. Oooh twine, how I love you so.

It all started with these lovely ceramic goodies, which I found at a local store and then Googled to find some at VivaTerra via Dose of Design.


So I thought I'd make some of my own, as much as I'd love to shell a few hundred out on filling my tree with tasty unglazed ceramic goodness. Paper is a tiny bit more affordable these days, not to mention oh so versatile. I thought I found this beautiful image called "Dreaming" on Decorology, but I tried to find it again and it's either hiding or I found it somewhere else. Eek!

I came across these beautiful crane garlands on Robert Sukrachand Wedding Photography, and I'm still enamoured.

This lovely paper and twine garland is from Twig, and would be a great addition any time of year. I tend to think the best Christmas decorations are the ones you can keep out on display all year round.


Then again, it's hard to go past a great wreath! This little paper gem is thanks to Martha Stewart, but I have a feeling that if I tried this DIY gem, mine would end up looking like a tattered mess of brown. Martha certainly has skills.

These modern marvels from Mid-Century Modern Utah however might be in my ballpark, if only I could find some gorgeous paper and a spare bird laying around the traps.


One thing I CAN do is wrap presents, and this year I might just take some inspiration from the fantastic tutorials over at Bugs and Fishes by Lupin. From faux wood to snowflakes and pom poms (eeeek!), I'm totally in love. Even I can make wool pom poms, and I just so happen to have a ludicrous amount of wool in stock (from the days when I thought knitting a scarf would only take a few hours - ha!)

I love this bold text idea, but I have a feeling my patience would run out after 4 letters. Even doing initials would probably be a bit of a stretch for me. So lazy!

And last but not least are these adorable gift tags from Anastasia Drawing and Dreaming, with lovely wrapping ideas to boot! They were available at her newly opened Etsy store, Percival Road Designs, but they sold like lightening!

So much inspiration, so little time (or skill). Maybe, just maybe, I'll get out my favourite pair of scissors, a little wool and some trusty brown paper and see where it takes me. Then again, maybe I should just get around to decorating my tree!

How far do you go to get into the Christmas spirit? Do you throw a few decorations on a tree like moi, or do you go all out and cover your home in Christmas cheer?