Christmas Crafts: Christmas Tree Decorations and Wrapping Paper
The first project is a light up Christmas tree.
For this project you will need the following materials, and tools: 3/4 inch piece of plywood, (1/2 a sheet will be enough), a jigsaw, a drill, screws (4), paint, sand paper, a clear top coat, (such as a spray on polyurethane), and a water sealant if you are going to put this decoration outdoors. The first thing you will need to do is draw out your Christmas tree on your plywood. You also need to make a base for the tree. I drew out two rectangular pieces of my plywood, cut those out, sanded, and screwed them together.
After that, use you jigsaw to cut your tree out. Remember, if you want a star on top of the tree, you will have to draw that at the top, at the same time. Next take your sandpaper and smooth out all the ruff spots. You will need to go around the entire edge where you cut, and make sure it is very smooth.
Now you will need your drill. You are going to drill holes for the Christmas lights to go through. Make sure the drill bit you use, is about the same size as a Christmas light, so that the lights will sit in the hole nicely, but not too big either, or they will fall through. Drill holes all around the edge of the tree, I spaced the holes out first, putting a pencil mark where I wanted them.
You can find light sets that have twenty five lights, or fifty if you ant a lot of lights. Dust your tree off after you have drilled the holes, and apply your water sealant, (if you are planning to put this decoration outside). Let that dry according to the directions on the package. Apply your second coat, and after this is dry you are ready to paint. I used acrylic craft paint, but since my decoration goes outside, I used the outdoor craft paint. I painted my entire tree green.
Then I painted the bottom tree trunk brown, and the star yellow. I also painted my base at this time. After the paint dries, you are ready to decorate your tree. I used stencils, freehand, and also some wooden craft pieces, (I used round circles and just glued them to the tree to give it more dimension.) I painted on decorative Little touches and also sprinkled glue and glitter over the tree, very lightly, just enough to give it a little shimmer. in the sun. After you are done decorating your tree, you will need to screw your base on, and then apply your clear coat of polyurethane. After this is completely dry, add your lights, and your done! (see photos)
This next project is another Christmas tree.
The materials you will need are: a tomato cage, artificial pine garland, a few zip ties, or tie ties, and a strand of 100 Christmas lights. All you do for this project is flip the tomato cage upside down, then secure the four stakes together with a zip tie, so that when the stakes are together, the shape of the tomato cage resembles a tree. Next, take your artificial garland, and starting at the top, (where you tied the stakes together), start wrapping the garland all around the cage, making sure to leave no spots.
Do this all the way around until you get to the bottom. After you have the entire thing wrapped, you can start ‘fluffing’ the garland. Now just add your lights, and if you want, ornaments, and this project is done. I secure the tree to the ground outside with some metal BBQ skewers, (the kind that have the round top, with a little opening), this works well.
This final project is actually wrapping paper.
The supplies needed for this project are: potatoes, ink (pads for stamps), a knife, and a roll of brown paper that is used a lot for wrapping boxes for shipping. You can find this at Walmart in the same isle with the bubble wrap, and other shipping supplies. This project is very easy and a lot cheaper then buying wrapping paper. You can even have your child, or grandchild, etc..help! If you have small Christmas stencils, those can be used to cut out your ‘stamps’ as well. If you do not have stencils, you can easily freehand a snowman, tree, ornament, snowflake ect…The first step is top cut your potatoes in half. One potato will make two stamps after being cut in half.
The next step is to cut out your stamp, either using your stencil, or doing it freehand. Cut out the entire inside of your design. After you have your stamps cut out, you can start stamping your paper. You can also make matching cards if you wish using the same technique. Be sure not to apply too much ink to the stamp. I like to apply the ink, and then blot it out on a piece of paper before adding it to my wrapping paper, just to make sure of the thickness of the ink. This project will ave you some money on wrapping paper, as well as ‘personalize’ your gift a little more!
I hope these fun projects bring some holiday cheer to your home. Remember to use your imagination, and add anything you like to any of these projects. Make them your own! Happy Holidays!
