Using Sticks to Decorate? It's Only Natural.

I decided to post a little something Christmas-y since I know that's what most of you are looking for right now. Some of you have asked when I was going to start posting about Christmas decor & I've got some projects coming, but I've been so busy doing them I haven't had time to post!

We dragged out all the Christmas decor on Saturday only to find out that our "Worry-free" Tree was anything but. So, while my husband dealt with the tree issues, I did a project with one of my favorite elements: sticks. Please, nobody tell me that it's going to become ridiculous again anytime soon to throw a bunch of sticks in an urn & call it a statement piece. I won't know what to do if that happens.

You know I have a love for sticks from several previous projects. And this one was almost accidental, yet I love it just the same. I've kept my huge Pottery Barn wire urn on my hearth for months now, keeping it filled with sticks (yes, the plain ol' yard kind) & adding a few different seasonal branches throughout the year.

Here's how it looked most recently for fall:

And here it is now:

I had moved the urn across the room to make room for the Christmas tree & realized , "Hey, I like it here!"

Then, I removed the fall branches & left only the plain sticks. After a few moments of brainstorming, I decided to add a couple more sticks from the yard & a couple of these little branches with red berries on them.

Then, I added some ribbon & threw in a few of these feather-covered balls I had & then added my favorite part: 2 little hummingbird clip-on Christmas ornaments & found when I was out shopping with my sister over the week-end. (Yes, Amy, I know I only bought one at the time, but when I saw how much I loved it, I went back for another.)

It's amazing how Christmas-y it looks now with just a couple of changes. But I guess the most beautiful thing about this huge arrangement is that it only cost me $3 (such a great deal for those hummingbirds!).

Remember: use what you have when decorating for Christmas. Even if it's in your backyard!

More ideas coming soon, but meanwhile, I'm sharing this with some of these people.