make: wood bead garland

i'm in love with all of the colorful felt ball garlands available this holiday season (if you haven't seen them, you must have gotten stuck under a rock).  here are some of my favorites: 

1_Crate&Barrel Felt Ball Garland

2_Horchow Arcadia Home "Artisan" Felt Ball Garland

3_Land of Nod Goody Gumball Garland (Hanukkah)

4_FeltFoxes Felt Ball Garland Rainbow Party

while they are generally affordable, i'm most definitely on felt overload. after making the scalloped felt trees and completing a ruffly felt wreath care of designsponge, i decided i wanted something a bit heavier and, with so many colorful ornaments on the tree already, with a largely neutral color palette.

i scoured the web for the best selection of round wood beads and found Woodworks, Ltd.. i ordered a bulk bag of 1" diameter natural wood beads, painted about half of them in either metallic gold or raspberry red paint, and strung them onto a cream 1/2" wide grosgrain ribbon. i'm so excited with the result and think they look great on the tree. and perhaps the best part, especially for a change-craver like me - i can unstring and re-paint the beads different colors in a few years when i want something new!

happy making!

make: hanukkah tree

i was raised catholic but my husband was raised jewish, and while his family always had a christmas tree growing up, i still wanted to come up with our own traditions to merge our religious rituals for the holiday season.  modernica has come up with a fabulous superstar holiday tree made of birch plywood panels featuring connected cutouts of stars of david.

unfortunately, we have neither the space or the $229 to spare, so i decided to craft a two-dimensional tree with this beauty in mind.  one thing we do not have a shortage of in our house is glass area - the number of windows in this house is actually a little ridiculous.  i chose a pair in the dining room for the installation and got to work.  i first printed an outline of a star of david from the internet (thank you google image search) and traced it onto a thick piece of chip board to create a sturdy template.  i then headed to my basement to try and locate the remainder of a large roll of white shelf contact paper left over from when we moved in.  the rest of the project was a simple trace and cut endeavor until i had enough stars to form a tree, complete with a star topper.  the contact paper will peel nicely off the window after the holiday season has ended and i have made my husband one happy guy!

in the making: starry garland

my sister pinned an image of a rustic, white paper star garland several months ago that i thought would be a perfect decoration for the holiday season.  so how perfect it was that, when she came to visit after thanksgiving, we spent an evening cutting out stars and chatting into the wee hours of the morning in order to make one (or two - who knew we could actually produce that many stars in just a few hours)!

i spent the next day stringing them onto pieces of twine, knotting it both above and below each paper star to keep it in place along its length.  the results now adorn our entryway into the dining room and my poor husband hits his head on them every time he walks into the room.

in the making: scalloped felt holiday trees

about a month ago i spotted these fabulously neutral holiday trees at one of my favorite stores, land of nod.



i immediately knew i wanted these on my mantel for the holiday and thought it would be easy to make them myself. and to give me the extra push i needed to get them done before Christmas, i chose to host a craft night with some great friends and provide all the materials to make them. i stuck with a neutral color story, choosing oatmeal and ivory for my two trees.

here are all the instructions to make a pair for yourself.

supply list:
felt, 2-3 9x12 sheets for each tree
styrofoam cones, 9" and 6"
felt glue
fabric shears
x-acto knife
permanent or fabric marker
chip board or other sturdy paper material (for template)
pins and/or rubber bands



to make:
1_begin by creating a template for yourself for the scallops. i simply drew a 2" diameter circle with a compass onto a small piece of chipboard and then two lines running tangent to the circle to create a raindrop shape, then cut it out with an x-acto knife.
2_trace the bottom of the styrofoam cones onto the felt with a marker in a corresponding color, cut out with the fabric shears and adhere to the bottom of the cones with felt glue. let dry.
3_trace your scallop template onto the felt with the same marker, carefully cut out with fabric shears. note: make sure to leave yourself about a 5" square portion of felt to make the tree topper.
4_when you have a good stack of scallops ready, you can begin gluing them to the styrofoam cones. start at the bottom of the cone and place the first scallop cut-out, making sure to overlap the bottom edge just enough to hide the styrofoam, about 1/4". continue gluing the scallops in place, overlapping them as you go.
5_work your way up the cone, gluing scallops row by row, overlapping as needed. use the rubber bands or pins to hold them in place while they dry. much of the placement of the scallops is up to you and your individual tastes. if you feel more comfortable, the scallops can be pinned in place prior to gluing to allow you to visualize the final product more easily. this is especially helpful if you will be using multiple colors of fabric on one tree.
6_to finish off the tree, trace three scallops onto your remaining 5"x5" piece of felt. the scallops should be touching each other along their straight edges, creating an open clover shape. cut this out as ONE piece. roll the piece into a cone shape and pin to hold. apply glue to the inside and place atop your tree.
7_place on mantel (or other location of your choice) and enjoy!