The Perfect Tree

One year when my boys were in middle school I was a bit tired of all the holiday season commercialism.  I have always decorated my Christmas tree with beautiful ornaments that I collected over the years and I wanted to do something different this year. Something that would help our family think about what is important during the holiday season.

When my sons came home from school I told them I did not want to get my ornaments out. I thought we should decorate the tree with red hearts. And on each red heart I wanted all of us to write something or someone we were thankful for.

I had a large heart paper punch and I started making hearts. And to my amazement as fast as I could make the hearts they would write who or what they were thankful for. Our tree became full of red hearts which made me smile.  They were so excited to do this exercise and their words were so special that to this day  I still have every heart.

The tree ended up being one of our most beautiful trees. And more people enjoyed that tree then the ones full of my beautiful ornaments. It made for a very special Christmas.

Years later a friend's husband died right before the holidays.  She, also, had collected ornaments throughout their life together. She did not know how she would get through Christmas. So I packed up the heart punch and the red paper and  I explained my idea. I told her to cut out many hearts and invite her friends and family to fill them out with things they loved and remember about her husband. She loved the idea and soon her tree was covered in beautiful hearts. The tree helped her get through that difficult Christmas.

Nutcracker Tea

To see the whole Nutcracker Tea click on the picture below. 

Tarrytown in the Fall

Tarrytown is a beautiful little town on the Hudson River. It has many small shops and places to eat. Fall is my favorite time to visit Tarrytown.  In addition to the beautiful foliage they have scarecrows made by their kids that decorate the lamp posts and a Halloween parade. I thought you'd like to see some of the cute scarecrows.

                                                        To learn more about Tarrytown.
                                                          http://www.tarrytowngov.com

Make a beautiful Ornament

  Supplies you'll need:

Clear glass ornament

Sequins 

Photo copy of clip art cut out

Glitter

Welbond Glue

Acrylic paint to match glitter

Decorative yarn or ribbon 

1) Pick which clip art you'd like to use and cut it out, then cover the front of the image with Weldbond glue . I use Weldbond because I've tested it and it works on glass surfaces and dries clear (if you have another glue that works this way you can use it, and let me know in the comment area I love learning about different glues)

 

2) Take the glass ornament and place the image on to the back then rub the back of the image until it is smooth.

3) Now take the sequins and dip the the fonts of them in glue and stick them on the back and check on your spacing as you go. (Spacing should be visually pleasing)

4) Let dry. You'll know it's dry when you can see your image and sequins clearly from the front.

5) Now spread glue over the entire back, try to keep a smooth glue line along the middle of your ornament. Sprinkle with glitter until the entire back is covered. Let dry. Shake off excess.

6) Paint over your glitter with Acrylic paint, this will seal in your glitter and give a nice finished back. Then finish the side glue seam with a nice ribbon or yarn.

7)  Also use them to tie to on top of your ornament to add more interest cut them at different lengths and let them hang below your ornament on the sides.

Christmas Clip Art

 I'm putting Christmas clip art on this week because next week I'm going to show you how to make this beautiful ornament.

 You'll need to do two things;

1) Print the clip art and then photo copy them at a copy store, because your printer ink will smear when you rub glue over it.
2) Buy or collect the supplies listed below.

Supplies you'll need are:

One or more glass ornaments( I got these at Micheal's)

sequins

decorative yarn or ribbon

glitter

Acrylic paint close to the color of glitter you chose 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving I hope you have a wonderful one shared with friends and  family.

A Thanksgiving Cornucopia Care Package

 My Son can't come home from College for Thanksgiving so I'm sending him a little treat.

The cornucopia is made out of Rice Krispie treats covered with fondant.

                            The oranges are real. The grapes, strawberries and cherries are marzipan.

                                           The acorns are cookies, and the berries are candies.