This is the Year of the Homemade Ornament.
You know that gorgeous tree on the front of the Pottery Barn catalog? Gold and bronze and white and perfect?
Yeah, that's not our tree. Not even a distant cousin.
Our tree is garish and bright and mismatched. It looks like Buddy the Elf got drunk and decorated. It's a real tree that's a little droopy and has some great big holes. It is perfect.
So, the handmade ornaments. It has been Arts and Crafts Central around our house. Here are the older boys proudly showing off some of their handiwork:
First they painted about 7425 wooden beads and put them on strings for garland. (Thanks, Grandma Jeri, for the artistic supervision. Oh, and the 5527 beads you personally painted.) (And also, thanks to Mr Lady for the superb idea, which somehow inspired me to do all the rest of the homemade stuff.) It looks like this:
Then they made candy canes out of beads and pipe cleaners. I remember these from when I was little. I thought they were beautiful. Still do:
Then Jensen went over to Grandpa Bill's workshop and used a (gulp) jigsaw and made some wooden ornaments for us. As an added bonus, Jensen returned home with all of his fingers. And some of these:
Then we made these cinnamon and applesauce cutouts that made the house smell so strongly of cinnamon that our eyes watered and the baby sneezed uncontrollably. These are another Blast from the Past; I remember making them with Mom when I was little:
Then we put it all together, and it is perfect. I know, I know: the tree leans. Perfect. And we don't have anything at all on the lower branches, because the decorations are so beautiful that Caleb cannot resist eating them. Again, perfect. The kids? love it. I? love it. Jeff? um, doesn't really say much about it, but I'm just sure he loves it too. (He's just reserved....)
So, behold: The Most Beautiful Christmas Tree Ever. Oh, and Pottery Barn? Yeah, you wish your tree looked this good.
If you have any ideas for handmade decorations, please leave a comment. We're definitely making more next year.
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Oooh, last year I cut out felt shapes (Illinois and then the generic ornament shape where it's round in the middle and pointy on both ends?), cut a small slit for ribbon, and then my friends cut out pictures from US weekly and other inappropriate magazines and glued them on. You could cut out shapes from Christmas-y paper and stuff, though. And they were drunk at the time, so it's easy enough for kids, ha ha ha.
ReplyDeleteThe tree is sweet! That garland idea is genius, but sadly, we'll have to wait a few years before we make it with Andre.
-cjc
Dip the edges of pine cones in glue and then sprinkle silver or white glitter on it. You don't need to hang them on the tree, just throw them into the brances, and there they stay!
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