Christmas Crafties

Recently, I was introduced to Pinterest.com.  What a fun website!! I've been having a blast looking at other people's craft posts, and have had fun making up some of my own!

Going along with our debt-free Christmas theme, my hubby's office is having a decorating contest, and the winner gets a neat prize.  So of course, I started thinking up all kinds of crafts and things to put up!  And getting BabyJ and Jellybean in on the action was half the fun!!  We've decided that we're going to decorate his area of the office with homemade Christmas items and we're going to hang this quote from the Grinch:

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons.

It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

-Dr Seuss

So we started today making all kinds of crafts, and we're going to share them with you in a few different posts. 

The first thing we made were Christmas trees. Super fun and easy; G loved it!!

Supplies Needed

Green popsicle or craft sticks

Purple popsicle or craft sticks

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Clear craft glue

Beads, doo-dads, sparkles, glitter

Imagination!!

1.  Take your popsicle/craft sticks.  You will use 3 per tree.  On the first one, place hot glue on each end.  Place your other popsicle sticks on the glue, and use one more dab of hot glue to adhere the final 2 ends.  We used 4 different kinds of sticks.  We used large and small popsicle sticks, small bumpy sticks and large popsicle sticks with holes in them.

2.  Cut your purple sticks into 3 pieces.  The cut edges may be a bit sharp; you may want to use some fine sandpaper to sand off the rough edges.  Adhere to the middle of the bottom stick with a dab of hot glue.

3.  Using the clear craft glue, start decorating!!  We used beads, pompoms, glitter and sparkles, sequins and glitter-glue. 

Some of our finished trees!!

We've got enough glitter and bling to make Elton John proud!!

When we go to hang them, I am going to use some thin ribbon at the top and adhere it with a dab of hot glue.  I find hot glue works better than the craft glue for that type of thing, as it will hold up under the weight of the popsicle sticks and various adornments when it comes time to hang!