DIY Christmas

So I'd really been going to town creating and being inspired by pinterest.  I still have some gifts I will be working on to come.  But here are a few projects I've dabbled with.

This was an old faded bamboo wind chime.  Here I had replaced the weathered string and spray painted the wood white.

I made a template on masking paper of a star to match the star on my Santa Claus (see below) that I was going to hang in center.  I cut star out with an x acto knife and spray painted the star onto the top on four different sides.

this is a wooden Christmas ornament that was in our Christmas ornament collection.  it worked perfectly, since I'd lost the middle piece of wood that was on the chime.

Here is the completed chime, even though the stars are not as visible in this picture.

This shows the stars but not the santa claus.  Can't have everything! 

 

Another pinterest inspiration.  branches I cut from a bush, spray painted with the fake snow paint, added to a clear vase, with ribbon and a few small red ball ornaments. Ta da...Easy!

a basket I got as a gift last year.  most of the year, it's in a cupboard holding my small lids to my glad wear but here i brought it out and added just some silk poinsettias, some gold ribbon and a pretty embroidered heart ornament.

 

this too was a pinterest inspiration.  however, I didn't want to make it too complicated.  I just used some red ribbon and looped over each section of chandelier, tying a ball ornament to each end.  I cut at different lengths, but didn't measure (just eyed it)  I hope to add more balls (which I hope to get at an after Christmas sale) next year for a wider span.  I used a combination of red and gold with one glass ornament that was a gift.  Definitely a simplified version but still took some time and patience. 

Easy no water snow globes.  Save either glass or plastic jars.  I used  plastic for my grandsons to play with, and glass for my own decorating.  I spray painted lid, bottom and inside either gold or silver.  I glued little miniatures with hot glue onto lid.  I then used some fake snow that was also sparkly (so I didn't need glitter too) Put lid on and shake up. Some of the glitter/snow sticks to the sides of jar because of static.  Really cute and easy.

Homemade ornament wall Christmas tree.  I didn't want to put up a big tree this year.  I actually only put up the top of our artificial and sat it on table top on deck in front of picture window.  I do not like the hassle of a big tree.  It seems my tree gets smaller as I get older.  Especially since my daughter who loved to decorate has her own home and tree to decorate.  And the boys in my family don't seem to get the joy from putting one up and decorating ...basically it is like pulling teeth.  So since the homemade ornaments are my favorite part I cleared a wall and started taping ornaments in a tree shape to wall.  It turned out kind of cool, I thought.  Only thing is almost everyday I hear a kerplunk as one falls off.  Nothing is breakable...thank goodness. I have tried masking tape and double sided tape, more masking tape and they still fall.  I just rehang them when they fall :)  I also filled in some empty spots with pretty bows. 

12 days before christmas tins, altoid tins with mini donuts(cheerios with icing and sprinkles), ornaments, candy, bugs, pet prayer rocks with instructions. etc.

 

I made these with my two grandsons for their parents.  I made salt dough ~ 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup water (as needed to make a soft dough)  roll it out, make hand impression. Next cut around edges of hand impression, use a straw or pen top to put a hole at top.  bake at 200F for 3 hours.  I let it continue to dry out overnight, then painted.  don't forget to have child write name (or do yourself) and year on back.  put a ribbon for hanging at the top.  My grandsons were so excited to give these to their mom and dad! 


 



Giving

Somehow, not only for Christmas
But all the long year through
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
THE POOR AND LONELY AND SAD,
The more of you heart's possessing
Returns to you glad.

-John Greenleaf Whittier

I am overwhelmed by the gifts I hear people are buying at Christmas. I feel obligated to keep up with the Jones'. I worry that Erik will return to school and upon comparing Christmas gifts with the other kids he will feel shorted. But I refuse to give into this material pressure. It is not the gifts that will make him happy. But the time spent with his family. As I watched him pogo around the cabin we rented for Roger's birthday or as he and Roger play the video game Erik bought him we are creating a memory that the toy itself cannot compare with. Toys, and things get discarded, we get bored with them. If we could just give a little more to the poor, lonely and sad and a little less to ourselves I believed we'd receive more joy. I have a family that is blessed with all their needs and then some. I know there are so many without. There are so many I wish I could just share with. Still I cannot fix the world's problems: the hunger, the abuse, the sad, the lonely, or even global warming. But I can try and make a difference in small ways. In the end it is God who is in control and no matter how much man tries to fix things we can't. We all play just a small part in this great big world.

Luke 14:12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

It is fun to give to our loved ones, especially little children whose faces light up when they open a present. It is great to show our love through thoughtful gifts. I enjoy preparing a special meal for friends and family. I think there is so much pressure sometimes with the buying, the preparing, and it is harder and harder to find the perfect gift. I think the perfect gift I could get from my children would be a letter each year from each of them that tells me of the happy memories from that year, or what they appreciate and are thankful for. I wish I'd thought of it sooner so I could of started sending one to my mom each year. Only a mom could appreciate a gift like that. Or maybe we all could???