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Deuce Cities Henhouse

Simple Holiday Decor
Friends! Hope the holiday season is treating all of you well. I’m finally starting to get in the spirit, I think the lack of cold weather and snow has really making it hard for it to truly feel like winter is here.

With the help of Ace Hardware, I’ve been really enjoying decorating our new basement for the holidays, it’s making it start to feel like it’s officially christmastime, especially in the evenings. I’ve added lots of sparkly lights all over the place. After realizing the power of LED bulbs in my living room, I was intrigued and curious to start a collection of LED string lights for the holidays (and beyond). Ace offers an impressive supply of many types of both incandescent and LED string lights as well as wired vs. battery powered sets. I went all in this year, buying up a ton of the battery powered lights. I was able to tuck string lights into all sorts of nooks and crannies of the basement to create a magical feel. Micro LED wire lights look pretty awesome wrapped around a bundle of birch logs, twisted around a set of ornaments, or even tucked into a house plant – and not having to find and outlet to run them on has been a sweet bonus! The battery powered lights also include a 6 hour timer, once you power on the lights they stay on for 6 hours and then off for 18 – kind of amazing.

I also created what I’m calling “holiday marquee trees”. Using just a few simple supplies I picked up at my local Ace I was really able to pack a lot of holiday punch for not a lot of bucks. I’m including the marquee tree DIY with photos and instructions below. First though, you gotta check out my wintery basement space!

Simple Holiday Decor

Simple Holiday Decor

Simple Holiday Decor

Simple Holiday Decor

Simple Holiday Decor

Simple Holiday Decor
 


And here’s the DIY marquee proj with lots of pics:

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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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It all starts with a 1/4″ piece of plywood (I cut mine to 24″ x 36″ attached to a frame made of 4 – 1×2’s, miter cut to the dimensions you have chosen.
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Attach the plywood surface with screws using my favorite: 1 3/4″ star drive screw. The star drive bit (included with the scres) gives a much better grip on the screw and allows you drive the screw easily. I’m never doing philips head screws again.
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Using 2″ Scotch blue tape create the outline for your pattern, for mine I choose to use a christmas tree shape. Cut any overlapping tape with a sharp utility knife.
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Use a credit card of a super sweet gift card that you could have the chance of winning (see below) to smooth out the tape and give it good adhesion to the plywood. This helps to prevent bleeding from the stain and paint.
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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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Fill the screw holes, let dry and lightly sand. My go to hole filler is plastic wood, it fills easily, drys quickly and takes stain or paint well.
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I used a ebony stain to fill the interior of the tree shape and watered down some white latex paint to give a white-wash effect to the exterior of the shape.
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After you let the paint and stain dry, carefully peel a way the blue tape. Peel the tape away at a 45º angle for best results.
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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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DIY Christmas Tree Marquee
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Now begins the assembly of the lights. Using a drill and a 7/32 drill bit, drill holes in the center of your raw wood approx 2″ apart.
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Now that your holes have been drilled, insert a string of batter powered LED lights into each hole. Use a piece of tape to secure the string lights to the plywood.
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Continue inserting the lights into the holes until you have them all filled. If you have excess lights just tuck them behind the frame with the battery pack.


Budz, Ace Hardware has you covered for all your holiday supplies, from interior and exterior string lights and timers, to extension cords. They even have garland, wreaths and decor to get your home ready for the holidays too (even if it doesn’t quite feel like it outside).

Together with Ace, I’m giving away a $100 gift card. Entries will be taken between now and December 4th at midnight. You can enter three ways, via facebook like, instagram follow, or just a basic entry. Happy Holidays, and good luck!

I’m excited to be collaborating with Ace Hardware as a part of their Ace Blogger Panel! Ace has provided me with compensation and some of the materials necessary to complete this project! All opinions are my own. Thanks a biznillion, Ace!
24 comments
in Around the House, Basement, DIY, How-To, Sponsored

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24 comments… add one
  • Lisa Brown December 15, 2015

    following on instagram as https://www.instagram.com/lisalubrown/

  • Morgan @ My old yellow house December 15, 2015

    Why are you so cool?!?! Your basement has the perfect post-Christmas dinner nap vibes now! Love it.

    • Scoops December 16, 2015

      Ha, thanks. I’m not really that cool though.

  • Kim // Yellow Brick Home December 15, 2015

    This is AWESOME.

    • Scoops December 16, 2015

      Thanks, Kim! We really like the way it feels down there.

  • So amazing!!! Love, love, love!

    :) Linda

    • Scoops December 16, 2015

      Thanks so much, Linda!

  • CAM December 15, 2015

    Luh it, but you already know that.

  • AnnMarie December 15, 2015

    This is so gorgeous and festive without being an explosion of red and green! (Not that I don’t love that, too.) And I dearly love your marquee trees – so nifty! Thank you for sharing, especially since the only holidaying going on at my house in the string of dollar-store lights draped over my closet door and the foot-and-a-half of snow outside.

    • Scoops December 16, 2015

      I have a big soft spot for red and green too, but the last year or two I’ve really been enjoying toning it down. Where do you live that you have a foot and a half of snow?

  • lisa December 16, 2015

    This is great!!!

  • erin December 17, 2015

    Fa la la la la love!
    (ps…I tried to leave a comment on RAfflecopter but it wouldn’t let me type)

    • Scoops December 18, 2015

      Thanks, Erin. Not sure that Rafflecopter allows comments, I’m kind of new to it, so it could be me ;)

  • emily @ go haus go December 17, 2015

    love it! your basement is so good. peanut butter and jelly over here.

    • Scoops December 18, 2015

      Thanks, Emily! We are so happy with the basement!

  • Elise December 18, 2015

    Love this idea! Would be great if you had a space that wasn’t big enough for a traditional tree!

    • Scoops December 18, 2015

      That was part of the reason I decided to make these trees. Since we have wall to wall built-ins in the basement, there is really no room for a tree unless you were to block access to the cabinets – this was a perfect solution for a limited space!

  • Michele December 18, 2015

    I can’t tell you how much I love what you have done with your basement. It is stunning. It is certainly inspiration for when I come to tackle mine, sometime. And the marquee tree is wonderful. I keep coming back to look at it, with some awe. I definitely can’t attempt it before the new year but I would love to try it. I think in the dark days of winter you have created such a bright inviting spot. Thanks for sharing!!

    • Scoops December 18, 2015

      Michele! Thank you so much, it really feels good to know that others appreciate the hard work I put into this baby! I wish you luck with your basement in the future!

      I was hoping the tree might be something I could have up even after Christmas, as it doesn’t scream Christmas to me, I like the cheeriness it adds to the space during the dark winters. Thanks again!

  • Lizzie December 20, 2015

    This is crazy cute!

  • Maggie December 21, 2015

    i’ve been telling my husband that in our next house, i need a BASEMENT. we live in california – nobody here has basements!! but i realized that its because i’m so in love with yours. total basement envy :)

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