Guys, I am bushed.  I’m trying to finish up handmade gifts for my entire family and I’ve got a huge project to tie up at work before I head over the river and through the woods for Christmas.  Although my camera is working again I’m gonna have to pass on doing the holiday video tour of the house – you’ve seen the projects, from parts one, two, three, and four of the Christmas Tree Disaster of 2010, to the cute Yarn Trees vignette to my new entryway bookshelf and my temporary tree branch stocking holder.

There’s a few more odds and ends to share real quickly, like the way I displayed our Christmas cards around the stocking branch:

And the Christmas pillow shams I whipped up from the same Michael Miller holiday fabric as the stockings.  (Yes that’s a white blanket tucked over our sofa cushions.  It’s kind of tacky and collegiate, but until I recover the sofa I’ve got to protect it from myself and my hot cocoa.  I’m klutzy.)

And these holiday towels are jazzing up my stove – they’re from Crate and Barrel.  I love holiday dishtowels, because they’re one bit of holiday decor that’s totally functional, and takes little space to store.

There’s one more quick Christmas DIY I did for my kitchen island, and I’m going to share that and then sign off for about a week of vacation from technology.

Have you seen the glittered sparkly Christmas candles that were all the rage this year? I did, and though I was loving glitter I didn’t want to shell out any dough for them.  Instead, I rifled through my candle drawer and found two unused white pillar candles. Here’s how I transformed those plain old candles into a glittering glowing holiday candle scene:

1. Lay down waxed paper on your work surface.
2. Using an old paintbrush, apply a thin coat of Modpodge to your candle.
3. Sprinkle glitter over candle, liberally.
4. Roll candle back and forth on wax paper, applying slight pressure to ensure glitter adheres well.
5. Repeat process until all of the outside of the candle is coated.

Total cost?  $1.00 for glitter.  Take that, $10-a-piece glitter candles!!

It’s that easy.  Aside from the glittery mess I made on the wax paper, it was easy as pie!

For bonus points, nestle them in some fake snow, and add a sprig or two of pine branch.

Well, that’s it for me, time for a computer vacation.  I’ll have one more post tomorrow (already written) to share my January projects.   I’ll be checking my email once a day to keep tabs on my Etsy shop, but for at least a week – maybe until Jan. 1 – that’s it.  But when I come back, oh boy, you’d better watch out.  And not because Santa Clause is coming to town, but because next week I’m on vacation, and I’ve got a long list of projects that I can’t wait to tackle.

Finally, after many trials and tribulations, our Christmas tree is up, fully decorated, and lit.  Oh, and drinking water – which I am remember to replenish daily.

I love my collection of vintage glass ornaments, which I obtained mostly from my parents’ collection.  They go more for contemporary and ethnic ones.  My vintage ones aren’t the most coordinated on the tree, but as Ryan reminded me – it’s not supposed to be about creating a perfectly matchy-matchy showpiece, it’s about family and joy.

However, I did try to pull the look together a bit with my glass and sliver balls.  That first one on the far left is handblown iridescent glass.  My most favorite of all time.  I unfortunately only bought two last year. . . and have been looking for more ever since.

Well, that’s it for today.  Gonna keep it short and sweet.  I’ll see you all back here Monday for a video tour – yes, I said video tour – of our home all decked out for Christmas.  I’m not sure why I’m inspired to do it, but I thought it would be fun.  Even though I hate to hear myself talk.  We’ve got little seasonal touches tucked everywhere.

But until then, I’ve got a ton of present-making to do this weekend.  The last weekend before Christmas? Ack!  Hopefully my second attempt at a handmade doll for my niece will be more successful. Happy Friday from a snowy abode!

I had no idea there would be so many parts to the saga of the Christmas tree.

We came home early from work today, excited to get ready for tonight’s holiday party.  We opened the door, only to be greeted by this:

Closer inspection revealed one of the potential culprits teething on the tree stand:

He looks defiantly guilty, don’t you think?

However, the dogs are cowering on their beds in the bedroom.  They have yet to emerge, and we’ve been home about an hour.

Sigh.

You just can’t make this stuff up!

On the up side, Ryan has taken the tree out back.  No, not for a beating. (What is wrong with you people?)  But to cut the end off [again] so we can attempt to set it up [again].  Hopefully this time we’ll actually remember to put water in it!  Third time’s the charm, right?

Last night I came home, and before dashing out the house to a friend’s place], Ryan and I hauled the tree back outside (dropping needles everywhere in the process) to saw off the end of it so that it could drink water.

Mission accomplished, we hauled it back inside and set it in the stand.

Everything is cool, right?

. . . Except this morning, I woke up and realized:  We didn’t put water in the base.  Again.

!#$#$!^%#$%^

Crap.  I seriously give up at this point.  If we cut the tree again, it is going to make a mess.  And be a pain in the *ss.

On a much brighter note, tonight we have our company’s black tie Christmas party at the Air and Space museum.  And I am wearing a fantastic silver Vera Wang gown.  We’ll end the night by coming home and decorating the “damn tree.”

I’ve sorted my collection of vintage ornaments

And our Christmas cards are in the mail

And I have created one more tiny yarn-wrapped tree display for my new “entryway” table – which you’ll get to see on Monday.

So despite our shared blatant inability to actually feed a living tree which we have brought into our house, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas over here.

Today I’d like share a handy little how-to on putting up a Christmas tree, Borrowed Abode style.  And yes, you read that right.  This is only part one.  Uh-oh.

1. Go merrily road-tripping to a small Christmas tree farm, in an attempt to support local farmers.
2. After several weird turns, including one where the GPS wants you to go the wrong way down a dirt road marked “Private: Do not enter,” arrive at the farm.
3. Discover that neither you nor your boyfriend has enough cash for a tree.  Leave and find an ATM.  Retrieve cash.  {Probably} pay hefty ATM fee.
4. Return to farm.
5. In exchange for losing all sensations of warmth in the extremities, find the perfect tree.
6. Take photos for Christmas card.
7. Watch your boyfriend cut tree down and tie it to car.  Help where you can.
8. Get tree home safely.
9. Put tree outside for a day – because the boyfriend says to.  Put tree in metal bucket of water to keep it “fresh.”
10. The next night, plan to spend a romantic evening with the boyfriend, putting up the tree and decorating it.
11. Move the furniture around in the living room for an hour, trying to find the right way to make the tree fit in the living room without looking wonky.
12. Listen to your boyfriend mock your beautiful Christmas tablescape.
13. Realize that the dining room has no furniture and is perfect for the tree.
14. Frustrate your boyfriend: Move all living room furniture back to original locations.
15. Send boyfriend outside to get the tree, where it has been lashed to the fence to keep it from falling out of bucket.
16. At your boyfriend’s request, go out to back porch, where the tree is standing up in the bucket all by itself.  Can you guess why?
17. Listen as your boyfriend reminds you that he said not to put it in water - BECAUSE IT WOULD FREEZE.
18. Retrieve hairdryer.  Attempt to melt the ice and free the frozen tree.
19. Lose sensation in extremities again.  Where did this cold snap come from, anyway?
20. When hairdryer fails, stand back as your boyfriend swings at the bucket with a hammer.  Forget to take a photo for the blog.
21. Once bucket is loosened, remove tree.  Attempt to melt remaining ice.
22. Hold tree as your boyfriend attempts to saw off the bottom inch of the trunk, which will allow it to drink water.
23. Realize that the whole sawing thing isn’t happening tonight, because between the frozen, icy trunk and all the sap, the saw can barely move.
24. Haul tree inside after you realize it’s ok, the stump has been in ice and water since you cut it.
25. Center tree in tree-stand.   Make hot cocoa, and decide as a team that that’s all you can handle for the night. 
26. The next morning, wake up and realize the tree has been sitting without water for over 12 hours.  The rules are that after 3 hours without water it has to be cut again.  Sigh.  Decide to tackle it later.

You see, this is why this is only part 1.  As I type, it is Wednesday night.  We have decided to put it off more, until tomorrow.  We’re still worn out from last night’s ridiculousness.  This has got to be the most impossible attempt at Christmas tree decorating of all time. See ya tomorrow.

UPDATE:  This morning I noticed that the ice chunks are still sitting on our porch, 36 hours later.  That’s seriously cold for December in Virginia.

Over the weekend I created a simple, sparkly wintry vignette to bring some holiday cheer to my coffee table.  The vision in my head was this:  a magical, sparkling winter wonderland scene, complete with fake snow, a few flickering candles, and a smattering of simple yarn-wrapped trees.

I wanted to create a “scene” on a tray, because no matter how much I try,  I can not seem to create well-balanced grouping on my large square coffee table.  Yet. Therefore, the single winter wonderland scene would be large enough to decorate the table, while still leaving room for guests to place their drinks.

The craft – yarn-wrapped trees – was inspired by this tutorial at One Pearl Button.  Here’s a few tips:

• Instead of making my cones out of cardboard, I used some old poster board that I had on hand.  I thought it was easier to work with.
• It was easier to hold the cone together with packing tape than with hot glue.
• I brushed a section of the cone with ModPodge, then wrapped the yarn around it.

I picked some yarn for just a few bucks, and then grabbed a $1 tube of clear glitter, just for kicks.  Once the trees were wrapped, I dabbed a bit of ModPodge on them and sprinkled on glitter in an attempt to add hints of sparkle.  I tried to glitter it lightly, so that it didn’t wind up looking like a bad kindergarten craft project. The glitter was just the right touch, even though you can’t see how much it sparkles via photograph.

Next, here’s how I assembled my winter wonderland:

*I arranged the trees on the tray in a random-and-natural-yet-attractively-and-perfectly-spaced grouping.

*To create the snow-covered ground effect I used some scraps of quilt batting (or old pillow stuffing).  I separated the batting layers until it was pretty thin, so that it doesn’t look so much like batting, and then I just tucked and arranged around each cone.

*It looked pretty good at this point, but I wanted to use my over-priced fake snow that I bought at Target.  (Yeah, I bought fake snow.  I’m embarrassed to admit it.  I stood in that aisle for probably 10 minutes, debating on it.)  So I sprinkled it on, lightly.  The whole reason for using the batting was so that I didn’t have to use too much snow.)

*I wanted to add a few candles, and I’m too cheap to buy new ones, so I raided my stash.  I had three small half-used red candles in glass holders, but they looked a bit fugly.  I brushed ModPodge on the outside of each candle, and rolled them in the fake snow and sprinkled on just a touch of glitter.  Perfect.  I then set them amongst the trees on the tray.

*Finally, since I’m really into the silver-and-sparkly thing this Christmas, I added two random birds and a few silver pears from my holiday stash.

Finally, I sprinkled some clear glitter all over it to add one last bit of sparkle. Done!  I placed the tray on the coffee table, and asked Ryan if he agreed that it was fabulous!

His response?  “I’m a guy.”  Fair enough.  Silly of me to think he’d share my enthusiasm over a coffee table vignette. Part of me even rolls my eyes at the idea.  But still, I love it.

And while we’re on the topic of easy Christmas crafts, here’s a few more links to projects that I’d love to do: A fabric scrap wreath – from Piccadilly Peddlers, and the Felted Pomander – from Betz White.  We’ll see if I have time.  Tonight I’ve got Christmas Cards to write, and a tree to decorate!

PS: If you’d like some free help with a decorating challenge posed by your rented home, please hop over here!