Deck the Studio!

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and our tiny studio got the full decorating treatment. Since we have very little funds at the moment (and I've needed crafts to keep me sane during the thesis/job search period) most of our decorations are homemade. Behold our festive trimmings!

First up, magazine Christmas trees courtesy of Martha Stewart:

So sparkly!

They're actually really easy to make, and you just need old magazines, spray paint, and glitter. Martha made hers with gold paint, but when I made these back in July I wanted a colorful Christmas.

I stole this next project from Bryony Dick, one of my two amazing college roommates. She made this pine cone decoration back in September while she was pregnant with her first baby (it's a boy!), but I kind of cheated on my version. My mom collected and cleaned all the pine cones last year but didn't know what to do with them this Christmas. It took about 5 minutes to spray paint them gold, insert screw eyes into the bottoms, and tie them up with ribbon.

Ignore the unfinished magazine tree in the background...

And the last lovely Christmas craft of the year: ornaments for the tree.

An empty clear plastic ornament filled with costume feathers. That's all it takes. I love lazy, pretty Christmas crafts. Thanks, Young House Love!

And another clear plastic ball, this time with glitter paint icicles. I like glitter - can you tell? 

This was my first year decorating my own place for the season, and it's a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. People judge you for listening to Christmas music in the middle of the summer, but not if you're crafting.

The best of the playlist this year:
1. Bing Crosby and David Bowie - Little Drummer Boy
2. John Denver and the Muppets - The Peace Carol
3. Gayla Peevey - I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
4. The Impressions - Amen
5. Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas is you

Next year's goal: a garland to hang on the bookcase and homemade Christmas cards!