Faking a Winter Wonderland

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful warm.

Down here in Southern California we don't have snow outside our windows to remind us that it's winter. (Don't get too jealous; we'd love to see something other than palm trees and cactus.)

Since hell doesn't seem to be freezing over anytime soon (the only way we'd get frost), I have to fake it. Luckily, the fake stuff is almost as cheap as the real thing. Everything I either found at the Dollar Tree or I already had on hand.

I started off with a ragamuffin garland with some fabric scraps I'd had lying around. (I did see some silky cloth napkins at the Dollar Tree you could use for one of these.)

BTW, yes these are cubicle walls. I like to have something to look at and enjoy during my daily drudgery. I'm crazy like that.

I love the shimmery material and the satiny silver. Perfect wintery colors.



I purchased the snowflakes and put them around the garland as well. They are Styrofoam and really durable, unlike the paper ones.

Next up, Epsom salts! I've had a lot of fun with these this year. There are tutorials all over the blog world about how to roll candles in Epson salts to make them all shimmery. I did it with jars I had on hand (don't look at the top of that jar that I forgot to Mod Podge).






The salts seem to turn a bit chalky over time, but they still look nice. (I wonder if Kosher salt would work better?) I bought some of those flickering LED tea lights to put inside, and they really do look like the real thing!




I also used the salts with Mod Podge on some of the branches left over from our Christmas tree to make it look like they had snow on them.








The angel I purchased at the Dollar Tree last year, and was the perfect white to add to the wintery wonderland. The tulle I had lying around, but I think you can find some at the DT in the bridal section. I also used a scrap of snowflake fabric just to add a bit more "coolness" to the scene.





At home, I put the rest of the salts in a vase I had, and stuck some branches inside. I had some leftover icicles (also from DT) that I put on the branches.

Notice the DT sundae glass and plate I used to make a cake stand.

I love the way the icicles sparkle in the sunlight.



So there you have it; my "fake" SoCal winter, all for just a few bucks. For other creative ideas, tips, and tricks, head over to We Are THAT Family and check out her Works For Me Wednesday posts.