DIY or Buy: Cozy Kindling Mini Tree

Posted in Inspiration by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

I know it’s still November and Thanksgiving isn’t even here yet, but if you’re gonna start DIYing the Christmas decor, then you have to get started now so it’ll be ready to put up the weekend after Thanksgiving, right? Right.

I love love love the look of this little tree for an entryway or desk, or even kitchen table! but at $88, it’s a little pricey for a stack of twigs and colored thread. How about an easy DIY?! I think it’d be fairly simple to wrap the twigs with cotton (sort of like batting cushion for the thread), wrap with colored thread, yarn, twine – whatever you choose!), and then stack and glue the sticks on top of each other. You may need to use supports to get them highly stacked. Or just really strong glue. I wonder if it’d be easy to drill a small hole through the sticks and use a dowel? Worth a try, right?

I have some left over eucalyptus branches from Declan’s Lumberjack Lunch that are pretty big (too big to stack like this) but they’d be really cute and festive wrapped in fun colors laying in our unused fireplace! I just may give it a go.

19Dec2012

The Scent of the Season

Posted in For the Home by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

Dear Fellow Christmas Lovers,

Today I’m writing to tell you about the most splendid scent of the season: Frasier Fir from Thymes. I tried it a few years ago and have been obsessed ever since. It smells like a Christmas tree is in your hands when you use this soap or lotion and it’s just divine. Every year Mumbles and I join his family to go Christmas tree hunting at a local Christmas Tree Farm (by the way, how cool are Christmas Tree Farms? If I was a farmer, that’s what I’d want to grow!) and the smell of the damp leaves, the cold air and fresh cut wood is all around. I swear this scent is just like that — crisp and woodsy but also warm and a bit floral to lighten it up. Perfect. For those of you looking to savor the scent of the season (or stretch it out a little longer), be sure to stock up. Here are a few of my favorite products from this fantastic line — I just love the faux bois caddy for the soap and lotion set and I think the decorative sachets would make a perfect compliment to brown paper packages tied up with strings!

clockwise: Votive $12.50 | Sink Set $36 | Reed Diffuser $60 | Decorative Sachet $3.75

Do you have a holiday scent that you love?

28Nov2012

DIY or Buy: Wood Tree

Posted in For the Home by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

Wooden Wall Tree from west elm

What do you do if you want to decorate a tree this holiday season but don’t have space for a tree? This chic, space-saving wooden wall tree from west elm is a great way to add a little Christmas spirit to your home or office without sacrificing floor space (or having to clean up pine needles…or water off your floor). There are tons of variations on the wall tree, but what drew me to this one is that it could quite easily be a fun little DIY project using craft sticks, popicle sticks…heck, you could probably even walk outside and gather some sticks off the ground and create a more rustic version! Make it easy on yourself and use hot glue if you’re going the DIY route, and be sure to add a few layers of “branches” so you can hang some lightweight ornaments. And don’t forget to stack your presents underneath!

(Update: the wooden wall tree from west elm is no longer available on their website so I did some searching and found some other inspiration — see here and here — plus a great DIY for a wooden wall tree from Swoon!)