One of the best parts about living in New York City during the holiday season are the sidewalk Christmas tree vendors. Every few blocks, you walk through a tunnel of yummy pine air, over a temporary, trampled carpet of green needles. And you see people walking home with a tree slung over their shoulder, just ripe for the decorating.

To give the tree it’s best chance at a lasting through the month, the vendors will slice off the bottom of the trunk (kind of like cutting your roses before putting them in water). So the sidewalks are often littered with small tree stumps that are just tossed out with the trash. Tree trash is a crafter’s treasure.

To make these lovely, glossy candle stands, I primed then spray painted pieces of tree trunk with bright spray paint, and then topped it off with a gloss varnish. (Here are the colors I used: Ketchup and Frozen Strawberry by Montana Gold, and Prussian Blue by Liquitex) Use these as place cards, food markers, candle stands, dessert stands…you name it!

Well, dear readers, this craft marks the last in my 10 day series of projects leading up to Christmas. I hope you were able to keep yourselves (and your kids) busy with creative pursuits over the last ten days. And if not, I hope you will pin them for next year!

Have a very merry and bright Christmas!

xx

‘Twas almost the night before Christmas and…you have to stuff some stockings, mass produce crafty gifts for your book club, or keep your kids busy and away from the television. Here are 3 fun crafted gifts that satisfy all of the above.

I call these gifts “Half Craft” because they are just dolled-up basics. A little paint, a little bling, and they feel special and unique! Here’s how they started…

And here’s what I did…

Necklace: I painted 1 whole bead (beads from Oriental Trading) in pink nail polish, and 2 half beads to match. I let them dry, then twisted a very thin gold wire around the center one. I strung them on simple white cord and there you go! A pop of color for a dreary day (and a fun, homemade gift).

Paperclip tree: Ok, I had to buy this little paperclip tree from Muji when I saw it. It seemed like it had so much potential! Mostly I was thinking that it would hold my daughter’s eventual colorful hair clips. Here, I wrapped it in yarn and then unfolded a gold paperclip and reimagined it into a star. Cue the awww……

Yoyo: So I’m sure you don’t have one of these raw wood yoyos hanging around (no pun intended), but you can paint one that you do have and then glue on some sequins to bling it up. I added little dots of glitter glue in the center of each sequin to fill the hole. And to take it to the next level, I replaced the string with pink yarn to match.

At this point, you’re either…

• Wrapping gifts
• Scrambling for that last minute gift
• Needing something to keep the kids entertained during the start of winter break.

Here’s a craft that satisfies all three of those needs. You can use it as gift wrap, as an actual gift, or as a distraction from the fact that it’s only 3 days until Christmas and your kids are bouncing off the walls!

Here’s how you do it…

What you’ll need:

• Small tote
• Fine tip Sharpie
• Tape
• Paint pens

1. Print out a cross stitch pattern to the size that you want it (leave a few inches on each side of the image for a border on your tote). I used a snowflake from Made to Treasure.
2. Cut out the cross stitch grid pattern and tape it to your tote.
3. With a fine-tip Sharpie, poke through the paper and make a dot onto the tote. Keep going until you’ve completed the whole grid. Don’t forget to make a dot around the outside border of the grid.
4. Following your pattern, use paint pens to draw x’s in the shape of your pattern. Use colors that are contrasting enough that you can really see the design clearly.

Here are a few pics of the technique in progress…

I bought these cork coasters from Muji the other day, and I felt immediately inspired! Ornaments, gift tags, pictures frames…but, with Christmas crafts being my main focus here, I stuck with the ornament theme. The options are literally endless, but I wanted to use the cork as the material calls for…to be poked.

So first I did this really easy one with colored brads from Oriental Trading. (I’m obsessed with colored brads, but I rarely actually use them to fasten two things together.) So simple!

And the stitched snowflake one took a bit more time, but I printed out a line drawing of a snowflake and chose points to stitch. I then marked up the coaster with a pen where I would insert the needle and went to town. More detail to come (including a pattern)…I promise!

Mention the word garland and I’m all ears. Bunting has the same effect. I even have a whole pin board dedicated to my love of the swag. Honestly, I think I could start a blog solely on the topic of DIY garlands. Hmmm…there’s an idea in there somewhere.

Anyway, back to Christmas crafts. I really wanted to make some dipped wooden beads (I got these from Oriental Trading…just $6.25 for 24 beads!) and so I decided to combine them with my garland obsession.

First I started by dipping them horizontally, and then thought it would be fun to turn the bead and dip them the other way. Below are photos of how I dried them. The green grass thingy is a bottle rack by Boon from when my kids were babes, and then I needed more space so I grabbed this foam pumpkin and used it as a pin cushion. I used watered down acrylic paint, and they dried pretty quickly. (I’d say let them sit for 2 hours to be safe.)

I doubled threaded them onto silver string…I think i want to try a more vibrant cord, but mixed with a tree of bright ornaments, it will look pretty rad. Or framing a mirror. Or wrapping around the walls of a kid’s room. Endless possibilities!

I love these beads so much. I love them just sitting on a plate on my mantle. Maybe there’s a necklace in my future.