Christmas projects + December recap

I have enjoyed doing monthly recap posts the last few months so thought it would be good to recap just December and give everyone a post to reference to view all of the Christmas projects/posts of this year.

I had a lot of fun doing a totally new color scheme/theme for Christmas this year with the neutrals/burlap/metallics and more.  And I enjoyed doing many more homemade projects than I have ever done before for Christmas.  You can see a quick view of them above.

But let’s recap the month.

First we started with our “A Homemade Christmas” 3 week series with three of my blogging friends.   There were TONS of great projects shared over our four blogs during that series.  Go to this post to see pictures and links to them all.

My first project in the homemade Christmas series was my DIY mercury glass ornaments.  Clear glass ornaments and spray paint created these vintage looking ornaments.

Then I showed you how to create an easy faux evergreen wreath embellished with natural elements and plaid ribbon.  You can customize this wreath in any color or theme that you wanted.

I had been wanting to make this music page wreath for months!  And finally got it done so it could be the center of my Christmas mantel.

I showed you how I decorated my Christmas mantel and hearth with things pulled from all over the house, yard sale finds, and natural elements.

And I made burlap stockings! So fun! I will definitely be making stockings again if I change up my color scheme for other years.

I was excited to do some fun campaigns this year too.  I got to share the Christmas joy with a shelter with the help of Cost Plus World Market

I whipped up a quick pillow made from a placemat!  Many of you also said you did the same thing and even gave some as gifts this year.

I got to give back again by sharing my Better Homes and Gardens blanket from Wal-mart with you and helping to get some blankets donated to children’s hospitals.

I finally revealed my neutral Christmas tree this year.  It was a fun change from the traditional reds of Christmas.

We ended our homemade Christmas series with a linky party and many of you came and linked up your homemade projects.  You can go here to check out all those projects.

I have always loved the ruffled tree skirts I see on Pinterest and I finally got to create my own burlap and lace ruffled tree skirt.  It took a little bit of time but it wasn’t hard.  And the end result was totally worth it!

I showed you how I decorated our Christmas front porch.  I LOVED this porch this year – the hanging candle lanterns are my favorite part.  I might have to keep them up for winter

I shared our Christmas card with you and wished you a Merry Christmas!

And then recapped the year a bit last week with the top projects of 2012.

And I shared all my mantels of the whole year in one post.  I can’t pick a favorite – I love them all!  Now can I come up with all different ideas for this year?  Going to be a challenge!

I know I say this a lot, but thanks for reading The Frugal Homemaker!  2012 was my first full year of blogging here and it was a tremendous year.  I am looking forward to sharing many new things with you in 2013, learning and growing in blogging + DIY projects, continuing to find my style, decorating better (but still on a budget!), and getting to know you better too.

We are having friends over tonight to play games, eat lots of yummy food, and ring in the New Year!  Hope you have a wonderful New Year as well.  See you in 2013!