north pole grotto..... at home!

betterlife

soblivion, thankyou so much, that would be great. i really want to go over the top, and i love the giant candy cane idea, i will check out the link as soon as baby settles thankyou.x

betterlife

oh my god! soblivion, ive just had a quick look at that link, and im getting so excited, both ideas are perfect, this is exactly the sort of thing im talking about, i have a fantastic big realistic tree, and loads of traditional decs for it. but i was looking for ideas for the rest of the room, and outside, im very artistic went to college of art and design, so this sort of thing will be great for me, oh i cant wait to get started. keep the ideas coming everyone thankyou all.xxxxx

soblivion

here you go betterlife.

http://stepbystepcrafting.blogspot.com/2007/06/lighted-christmas-box.html lit christmas presents - as you see from the pics they are beautiful, make them to suit your decor/tastes.

http://www.santalady.com/crafts/fishinglinetree/ fishing line trees and a pic of the different ones another lady did. http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/100599125nnnnxu again tailor to suit you.

clay pot soldier http://www.hobbylobby.com/site3/pdfprojects/HL-129.pdf this is a pdf file of how to but this is the one I love http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/288016 and this snowman http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/288019 I've seen these done in huge pots for standing outside the front door, they look gorgeous

North pole lights http://www.johnsonschristmascorner.com/NorthPoles.html this means electrical wiring so I'm not advocating this. hubby and I are going to have a go though. There's also a fantastic sign on there and light arches too.

That's some, I'll come back with the rest in a sec.

Gangstabird

Buy loads of lights and have the ceiling full of them, get some plain white ones for the walls and have that wispy snow, not sure if it's cotton wool or what, but it looks fab with the lights behind it.

One of my highlights at Christmas was putting cotton wool around an old vase and making the snowman head to put in the window. Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

soblivion

Me back again:D

Glass block lights - these require a diamond drill bit but they are so beautiful. Here's instructions, these ones are done by decoupage or transfer decals http://www.hgtv.com/holidays-occasions/holiday-shoebox-glass-block-lights/
These ones are just gorgeous too, just wired ribbon and xmas deco bits http://southernhospitality-rhoda.blogspot.com/2007/12/lighted-glass-block-christmas-cheer.html

These are sparkle balls http://www.sparkleball.com/intro.htm there is a version of just making a ball from wire mesh and threading the lights through but I just can't find it at the mo. Obviously outdoor lights for outdoor use - but you know that already;)

Hope it's given you some ideas to go on with. Can't wait to see piccies.

betterlife

soblivion, you are amazing, i am going to be so busy, i love to clay pot soldiers, and the sparkle balls, infact all of them, my husband will be busy, he just does`nt know it yet. hehe, any more ideas welcome, and thankyou everyone else aswell.xxxxx

soblivion

Thank you betterlife, just remembered - don't forget the snowballs, polysterene type here http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cl_holiday/article/0,,DIY_13731_4250358,00.html

or old white socks stuffed with toy stuffing or old tights or whatever and sewn into ball shapes.