Hey, everyone!  I finally got our tree up after last week’s nationwide arctic blast.  Here in Montana we experienced record lows.  Thank goodness we live in The Bitterroot Valley which is mild compared to up north where they apparently learned what -50 feels like!  So, here I am starting this blog about how to spend less time on stressful things but I am launching it right in the middle of the Holiday season!  It may take a while to post all the various things I have piled up that I can’t wait to share with you…

For our first Christmas in Montana, I really wanted a fun, mountain type rustic theme and naturally, Greg expressed his wish for it to be thrifty.  The less we spend on material stuff the more we can save towards travel!

For a few days, I had billions of little burlap fibers floating all over the house as I constructed this garland and had to put up with some sarcastic remarks about what a fine Ghillie suit Christmas we were gonna have.  Alas, once the tree was lit and presented, even he was impressed.  Especially impressed by how little I spent on materials! I purchased 4 yards of burlap at $3.99 / yard and 2 yards each of white fabric and cream fabric.  I set aside a little of each for the Tablescape, mostly burlap…

Materials needed:

Scissors

20-30 feet of twine

2  yards burlap

1 1/2  yards white fabric

1 1/2 yards cream or off-white fabric

Warning:  This is not a fast project, but you can cut and tie knots while watching your favorite family movie.

Here’s what you do:

Once you have set aside some burlap for other projects you may be thinking of (like the Table Runner I am making for Christmas Dinner, which of course isn’t done yet)  begin to cut it into lots and lots and lots of strips.  But first before you cut, you have to put a string. I skipped about 8 and pulled the 9th.

Then after you pull some strings it will look like this, with really clear beautiful lines to follow.

Now you can cut some strips!

Then cut each strip in half (each strip should be about an inch wide and a foot long).  Now take a break and peak outside. Yep…Still cold.  Make some hot tea and stand in the warm house while observing your husband and child outside in 2 degree temps walking on the pond to see how thick the ice is… Then lay out your other fabrics and start cutting them into shreds.  This goes a lot faster than the burlap because you don’t have to pull strings and all that jazz.  Don’t worry about them being perfect.  This is a ragtime look and it is sooooo cute!  Just look at how cute these piles are!! 

Now you are gonna tie them around your twine.  You will probably want to make at least 2 garlands (10 ft each).  More if your tree is large.  Create a pattern.  I alternated with cream, white, cream, burlap, white, cream, white, burlap etc  but I actually had some extra burlap at the end that I put on the tree to fill in areas that needed a little more. Whatever you like!

Time to go shopping!