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Our homes are made up of lots of working parts — bedrooms, redecorated kitchens, upgraded baths, ogle-worthy renos, ticks and tricks for cleaning and organizing, and real home tours all live here to represent the spaces of your Offbeat Home.

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Smell the holiday decorations: DIY orange and clove pomanders

I’m not much of a baker, and during the holiday season I really miss the smells that were produced from my mother’s kitchen. When I first saw these pomanders, I loved how pretty they looked — but then the amazing smell hit me and I knew I needed to make some to help fill my house with awesome aromas.

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Monsters ON your bed: a DIY duvet cover

Maybe monsters under the bed aren’t so cool, but what about on top? Offbeat Homie Sully gave us the heads up on this awesome DIY duvet cover from the blog JenThousandWords. Jen took her kid’s artwork and traced it onto a duvet cover with a fabric marker. The results of this labour of love are super cute for kids and adults alike.

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Custom chalkboard mug gifts

Still looking for the perfect DIY gift? Offbeat Bride has a great wedding party gift idea that you could steal for anyone this holiday season.

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Make a cuddly fleece blanket with NO sewing required

While browsing the web and day dreaming of a sewing adventure actually turning out awesome for once, I found a no-sew pattern for a baby blanket. After a few size modifications, I was able to make one that actually fits a king size bed.

It’s incredibly cuddly and very easy to make. The project takes about an hour and a half (without any kitty interruptions) and it can double as a homemade gift for friends.

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Use tube-free toilet paper to cut down on waste

If you are like me, throwing the cardboard tubes in with the bathroom trash is not an option because they go into the recycle bin. So a line of empty tubes line up on my windowsill, and it’s just not pretty. We switched to the tube-free kind of toilet paper, and that problem disappeared.

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Makeshift ornaments personalize your tree on the cheap

This is my first Christmas away from home, and while my family suggested I bring some of their ornaments with me, I thought it would be nice to leave them there for their tree. When it came time to decorate, though, my partner and I realized we didn’t have any sentimental crap for the tree at all. So how do you make a tree special when you haven’t yet collected sentimental ornaments? You use the keepsakes you have around the house!

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DIY glittery Death Star holiday tree topper

This year, my fiance and I welcomed our very first full-size Christmas tree into our lives! I took advantage of the opportunity to craft this Death Star tree topper. AND IT WAS SO EASY. And now you can do the same thing, if you want!

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Before and after: Craigslist buffet-turned-TV-console

From the Homie who brought us the re-usable paper towel roll, and the Craigslist chair makeover comes this GORGEOUS buffet table-turneed-TV console makeover. This just might have you re-thinking that old buffet — or even dresser — that you’ve been thinking about giving away…