decorating for the holidays

Just a few of the Christmas decorations that I made and promised you photos of:

1. We put up Christmas lights around our living room windows and I hung 3 big pine cones with ribbon from our curtain rod. Very classic. 

2. These are yarn letters that I made out of cardboard and yarn. I got this idea from one of my favorite blogs Jen Loves Kev. See Jen's DIY yarn letters step by step here.

3.  Instead of getting a Christmas tree this year (we are tight on $$ and we won't even be at our apartment the week surrounding Christmas), I decided to find another way to display some of my favorite Christmas ornaments. I cut 10 pieces of ribbon and tied them to the curtain rod above our kitchen window. Then I tied my 10 favorite ornaments to the ends of the ribbon. Looks pretty cute right? 

4. This is a cinnamon jar that I made out of a pint size mason jar, a strip of Christmas ribbon, and cinnamon sticks. I used a hot glue gun to glue the ribbon around the lid of the jar and then I poked holes in the top with scissors so that the cinnamon scent can permeate the room. Then I broke about 7 cinnamon sticks in half to fit in the jar and screwed the lid back on. I love coming home to an apartment smelling of cinnamon during the holidays!

5. My friend and I went to Color Me Mine a few weeks back and did some painting--this cute snowman is my creation. Turned out pretty good considering I haven't painted since I was doing it with my fingers. And did you know you can bring wine with you to drink while painting at this place? We're definitely going back for this reason :)

Has anyone else done any decorating for the holidays yet? I would love to hear what you did!