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[Disclaimer: We have partnered with Painters to bring you this post. All opinions and photography are our own and are not influenced by Painters. Thank you for supporting the brands that help support this blog]
Now that Thanksgiving is officially behind us, it’s safe to blast that Christmas music, whip out those holiday decorations, and dive into the holiday season head first! A big part of getting into the holiday season is getting that Christmas tree up & we have fiiiinaaalllllllly entered the “safe zone”. Ya know, the time where it’s safe to display your gorgeous tree in the window without fear that your neighbors are secretly judging your extra enthusiasm for the season. #sorrywerenotsorry
Even though we posted about our dream tree awhile ago (yes…this was waaaay back in early November!), we certainly didn’t dive into all of the special touches we added to this holiday look (probably because the “holiday safe zone” was nowhere in sight).
Now that we’re in the much anticipated “safe zone”, we figured it was about time to chat about all of those easy things we did to really take our holiday look to the next level. We’re all about making a big impact without spending a ton of time or money (especially this time of year) and these three simple tricks will help you do just that. 
The one and ONLY supply you’ll need for ALL of these mini projects? A paint marker! Invest in a paint marker this season (maybe a few different colors while you’re at it), and we promise you it’ll be a game changer. You can pick up a Painters paint marker at many retailers including Walmart & Meijer.
1. Monogram your gifts
We are pretty obsessed with the monogram gift logos this year… and even MORE obsessed that recreating this look is so darn easy. Forget buying gift tags, all you need is a wrapped gift and a paint marker (we used gold here).
Monogram Instructions: We traced a shot glass with a pencil onto the gift, this helped guide us in drawing a perfect circle. Then we added the letters of each of our monograms, making sure the middle letter was larger and the two side letters were the same size as each other (and a bit smaller than the middle). We traced that pencil design with the paint marker and we were done! It’s a high impact look that literally took us less than 30 seconds each. Plus, it makes the presents under your tree look classy & preppy!
2. Personalize Ornaments
Ornaments are another perfect way to add personality and decor to your tree. Plus they make great gifts, great accessories for wrapping, and even could be the perfect keepsake. Making sure your ornaments are stylish and personal is key this holiday season, yet these DIY ornaments don’t have to take a ton of time to look high end.
We DIY-ed a lot of the ornaments on Maggie’s tree simply by using a paint marker to draw the design of our choice. Some ornaments were polka dotted, some striped, some had messages, or doodles, and others even Mag’s initials.
We got our hands on some white ornaments (any color ornament would work!) and used silver and gold paint markers to doodle right on there. Literally, each ornament probably took about 1 minute or less and the whole process of doodling and creating the look of the tree’s ornaments from scratch was a fun little challenge!
We think this simple craft could be perfect for your next girl’s night in, the perfect teacher/hairdresser/friend/boss/co-worker/etc. gift, or even just a fun way to get the kids involved in decorating the tree. What mom wouldn’t love handmade scribbles that they could look back on years and years and years later?! DIY ornaments — an absolute must this season!
3. Dress up your hostess gift
We don’t know about you, but often times our go-to hostess gift for the holidays is a bottle of wine… or 3. It’s easy and everyone loves wine,
… especially when it comes with a personalized gift bag. We bought a dozen of these wine bags last year (for super cheap!) and love personalizing them for holiday hosts. A Christmas message, a last name, a super easy monogram (!!), the possibilities are really endless on this one. 
We used a black paint marker for this one… and outlined the letters in a little silver to make it a little more festive. We added a few bells & a bow and before we knew it, we had a standard bottle that now looked personalized and ten times more thoughtful
So what do you say… is it time to add a paint marker to Santa’s little workshop?! We’d love to hear how you add (or plan to add) personal touches to your holiday decor and gifts this year. And if you’re inspired to craft this holiday season, it’s the last month for the Painters DIY contest where a monthly winner gets a prize valued at $500!
Bridget&Casey
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