A tisket, a tasket, here is my simple Christmas basket.

A change of season calls for a change to the front door...  
I think of the front door as the lipstick for the house :)

I've always loved old, cool baskets

but they have always been a bit LOT too much for my budget... 

so I found this one at a local shop 

( I am SO sad to say they are no longer in business :( - boo!).

I paid $12.95 for it earlier this year.  

If you found a simple basket you liked that didn't have a handle, you could add one - my handle (came with the basket) 
is just some jute rope tied onto silver rings.  
I tacked a small nail into the door to hang it.

Usually I have flowers filling the basket in the spring 
and leaves in the fall, but 
it was time for a Christmas transformation, 
so this is what I came up with...

I had some garland from years past that I cut into a strip as long as the front of the basket (about 8 inches) using the cutting part of needle nose pliers.  

Looks like some creepy mutated spider!  EEK!

 

Fluff up your garland and put it over the front of your basket... some of the pine tips going to the front of the basket and some to the back.  This will help keep it in place.

Do this again for the back of the basket.

It's starting to look like Christmas already!!!

Well, maybe not just quite yet ;)

I headed to Joann's and found some sparklies I liked - at a great price of course.  Each one was $1.99 and then 50 or 60% off (I can't remember which it was).

Here is one before I cut the stem shorter, but after I bent the stem :)

(with the needle nose pliers again).

I bought four of these stems for a whopping $4ish dollars.

Then you just stick them in the basket...

One

Two and three

Four

For the finishing touch...

I found this cute pick from Neiman Marcus...

ha ha ha!  Just kidding - 
from Dollar Tree - yep one buck for this cute baby - clip and all!

 

I wanted to add a bit more fullness to the greenery part, so I found a 'bare' place between the pine tips, took the trusty needle nose pliers and cut the wire.

   

 I then tucked a few extra of these clippings into the greenery until it felt 'right'.  So I spent about $5.00 plus tax for this right now.  If you add the basket and garland (depending a lot on the garland... there are so many different garlands from super cheap to really pricey.  We'll say $6 for the garland and $13 for the basket - still under $30.  Not too bad if the basket is used year round :).

So at long last...Ta Da.... (wow, I am really impressed that you are still reading this!)

Hope this inspires you to put some lipstick on your door :)

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by!