Finishing Up Christmas Crafting
/I started actively working on Christmas projects back in August. It’s been a time intensive crafting season for me. I had a couple projects of my own that I really wanted to complete but wasn’t sure I would have the time or energy to get them done.
Last week I had a day all to myself and decided to see if I could complete one of these projects. I love the look of vintage Christmas decorations and have filled our home to the brim. Ronnie loves it too because it reminds him of his Grandpa Peterson’s Christmas decorations from when he was little. I’ve been gathering vintage ornaments and reproduction vintage ornaments for a few years now with the intent to make this Christmas tree decoration.
I started with a Styrofoam cone from Hobby Lobby. Then I wrapped it with ½” mineral green colored tinsel made by “Ragon House.”
Because I knew I would be gluing the fragile glass ornaments onto the tinsel-wrapped cone, I hot glued the tinsel on as I wrapped. This way there wouldn’t be any loose pieces of tinsel, and the ornaments would adhere securely to the tinsel.
I was surprised how much tinsel I ended up using!
It took 2 full spools of 72” long, ½” width tinsel to cover my 18 ½” tall Styrofoam cone!
In order to attach the ornaments as symmetrically as possible, I printed a pie shaped grid with 8 lines and set the tinsel covered cone in the center of it.
From there, I began gluing each row of ornaments onto the cone.
I quickly discovered that even though the ornaments in each row appeared to all be identical in size, each one was slightly different.
I did my best to make the rows as even and symmetrical as I could, but if you look closely you will see it is far from perfect.
It’s a bit kitschy, but that’s what gives it more charm don’t you think? It turned out much larger than I anticipated, but that’s ok too!
My only regret is not wrapping fairy lights on the cone before I glued the ornaments on. Everything is much better with LIGHT!
This could easily be used as a stand-alone decoration, but a couple weeks ago I went to “Noble House” in Bountiful, Utah to see what Christmas items they had. Noble House is an interior design store that also sells furniture, decor and gift items. They sell “Volupsa” brand candles. My favorite thing about these candles is the gorgeous glass jars they come in. Every time I go into Noble House, they have an extremely large 5 wick candle burning as you walk in the door. I’ve often said how I would love to be able to purchase just the jar without the candle. I was in luck that day.
I looked inside the jar and it had burned all the way to the bottom of the large jar. I asked if they would be willing to sell me the empty jar. After checking with the owner, she told me I could have the jar for $24! I was so excited because the full price of this candle is normally $265!
I brought it home, cleaned out the remaining wax, removed the wicks and then had to decide how to arrange it. It sat here for a few days, and then as I crafted my ornament tree, I decided it would be so much fun to place the tree on top of the large candle jar. It fit perfectly! The jar is so pretty with LIGHT shining through it, so I went to Hobby Lobby and found the perfect clear jar to fit inside the large candle jar. I wrapped the clear jar with fairy lights and tucked the battery pack inside the clear jar. I will only use fairy lights that have a remote control and/or a timer. I had hoped these would wind around the interior jar in a more random way, but in the end the lights formed slanted lines of light. Sometimes we just have to be ok with things turning out a little differently than we imagined.
I set the ornament tree on top of the candle jar vase and secured it with my new favorite “Clear Museum Putty.”
I love how this project turned out! Taking a day to create something for our home brought LIGHT and renewed energy into my tired soul. Some of the old vintage ornaments I used have great sentimental meaning to me. I might try to figure out how to wrap some fairy lights in between the ornaments, but for this year, it will just be lit up from inside the candle jar I used for the base. There’s so much you can do with thrifted and found items. Sometimes you just need to ask the question. . . like asking if I could purchase the empty candle jar at Noble House. I’m excited to go back in and show them what I ended up doing with it.
My wish for you this week is to find some time to slow down and do something you didn’t think you would have time for before Christmas. It doesn’t have to be a craft. Maybe it’s going to breakfast or lunch with a friend or treating yourself to a nice long bath with your favorite bubble bath, or reading that Christmas book that’s been sitting on your nightstand un-opened. Whatever it is, give yourself some time and grace to enjoy the season. As I finish up the last of my Christmas preparations, I will be making a special trip to Salt Lake City this week to buy a goat at “The Giving Machines” located at City Creek Mall. Afterward, I will be taking time to go to one of my favorite eating establishments in Salt Lake for lunch. It’s important to give and to serve, but it’s also important to take care of yourself at the same time. All these things bring LIGHT into your life as well as those around you.
Love Ya, Les 😊