Recycled Christmas Decorations- Sleigh Bells

I am all for recycling and reusing. Two years ago, my stash of craft crap swelled to include many holiday decorations  which once belonged to my in-laws.  After my father-in-law's passing, my husband and two of his siblings had the daunting task of cleaning out a condo. The spouses helped and thankfully the job was completed in only a couple of weeks. That is how I came to own a bunch of bows, silk flowers, various evergreens, Christmas lights, and plenty of craft crap to keep my creativity buzzing for a long time.

Some days it seems as though my mother-in-law is visiting. She like to decorate and she loved bows and flowers. So when I find myself with the sudden urge to create a floral arrangement, I know my mother-in-law is visiting for the day.

For this arrangement, in addition to the gold sleigh bells that I purchased this year,  I gathered up three pieces of plastic spruce or whatever it is. It looks quite real but I can't remember what she used to use it for. I also grabbed some of her poinsettias and holly leaves as well as a giant ribbon bow. I remember making this bow for her for the top of small tree that was set up in her bedroom just before she passed away. We all knew she wouldn't make it to Christmas that year so without letting her know, we moved Christmas up about three weeks. Oh how she loved Christmas and what a treat it was to give her one final Christmas.

I started this project by arranging the three evergreen pieces like this. This will form the base of this arrangement.

I secured them together with floral wire.

Then I laid the sleigh bell harness on top .

I attached the belt from the sleigh bell harness to the stems of the evergreens with floral wire. The picture below shows the back side of the arrangement.

Next, I start to place the holly leaves...

and the flowers...

I use more floral wire to secure their stems to the arrangement.

There's no set way to arrange the various flowers and leaves, just move them around until they look good.

Once the flowers and greens are  secured into place it's time for the ribbon.

This particular ribbon had its own gold wire already to go. I just had to twist it into place.

Now there are times when I get to the end of a project and I notice that it's not quite right.

As perfectly matched as that cream and gold bow may be to the sleigh bell harness, It is simply way too big for the arrangement. That's okay. We'll just put it back with the supplies and find a use for it later.

I think part of the problem with that bow was that the ribbon was too wide. Fortunately there is never a shortage of ribbon in my craft zone. I found this printed sheer gold and new it would be perfect.

a brand-new bow and we had a new Christmas decoration.

I can almost hear my mother-in-law say, "that's beautiful."

Oh, I should add this arrangement is attached to an old wood crate that's tipped up on its side. I love to decorate my house with odds and ends such as this crate.  It's absolutely perfect as a lamp stand tucked into a corner next to a chair.