Pyramid Christmas Trees: Or, "How to Have a Christmas Tree Without Having a Christmas Tree"

I promise that I do crafts that DON'T involve Christmas or felt. You guys just caught me on a series of weeks where felt was on sale and CHRISTMAS IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! Can you believe that we are almost there already?

These felt trees were a cinch to make; it took me less than an episode of Glee to complete all three of these little guys, and I love the mod shapes! All I needed for this craft was two (12"x18") sheets of stiff felt, yarn, small scissors (or something else that's sharp and pointy), and an embroidery needle.

Start out by cutting out three triangles of the same size. They need to be pretty precise, to keep from being lopsided, unless you're going for the Dr. Seuss look.

Stack two of the triangles on top of each other, and use the scissors (or your own choice of sharp and pointy objects) to poke little holes at regular intervals through both pieces of felt.  This will make it much easier for you to get the embroidery needle and thread through. 

Sew up the tree!  It's a little difficult to describe, but just remember that you're making the three triangles into a 3-sided pyramid.  You'll need to sew up all of the sides that meet. 

Ta-daa!  You've made a little tree!  I made little pom poms (again, I know) to go on top of each tree, and grouped them together with a vase full of branches (which I glitter-painted), threw some ornaments up, and called it a day!

I'm a pretty big fan of this set-up: no pine needles all over the place, no sap, and I can use every single bit of this again next year!  Also, I made some bags in which to wrap my gifts, and how much fun is that fabric?! 

I promise that the next how-to will be felt-free and fabulous! 

It FELT A Lot Like Christmas!

Do you like that pun in the title? Because this is a felt garland?? Get ready for a lot of that type of comedic gold, my lovelies!

These little sheets of felt are quickly becoming my favorite craft supply--they are only 34 cents each and I only used two full sheets for this whole garland. This glitter glue has lasted me through a lot of hard times and crafty adventures, and comes in a close second on the "Favorite Craft Supply" list.

I cut a whole bunch of different Christmas-yshapes from the felt, and embellished with the gold glitter. I made holly leaves and berries, Christmas trees, ornament shapes, and used little red pom-poms that I had on hand from a previous ill-advised project.

Once the glitter had dried, I threaded the pieces using an embroidery needle and red yarn, then hung it on up! This is really my kind of decorating, because I'm not wild about the bright green and red, store-bought Christmas look. I much prefer the handmade look, and I think this fits the bill perfectly! Are you making any of your own decorations this year? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

 

Fall Leaves Garland

This year, JP and I will be making the trek over to the great midwest to spend Thanksgiving with mi madre and Brent.  I've said it before, and will say it again, I love road trips!  We've got audiobooks, tasty treats, and I'm finishing up some knitting on the drive; what more could you need for a lovely day?

Because of the lengthy drive (somewhere between 12 and 14 hours, depending on traffic), we got out of food duties for Thanksgiving dinner.  Instead, I'm in charge of the table decorations, and bringing plenty of candy cane Joe-Joes (Trader Joe's makes CCJJ each year, just during the holidays, and we hoard boxes for the off-season.  They're so terribly delicious!).  This garland acted as my inspiration, although my colors aren't quite Thanksgiving-only; I bought felt last year for a Christmas craft, and didn't use it.  Regardless, I think they look cute together!

I've got two garlands, and I plan on using them as simple table runners down the middle of the table, and will also put together some napkin rings with leftover leaves.  Combine this with some squirrel placecards bought at Paper Source and a list of things we're thankful for, and we'll have a lovely table!  I'll post pictures next week of the final product.