I got a tree! And I made ornaments to put on it. It’s my first ever as a grown up and it’s a living potted tree- a Norfolk Pine. I hope it’s happy here for a long time. I also hope deciding to live with a tree in my tinyish Brooklyn apartment wasn’t a mistake. I like plants and they seem to tolerate me well enough – I think we’ll be all right.
Full disclosure, the holidays aren’t my favorite, I don’t exactly look forward to them but I decided to dive into the parts I can get enthusiastic about. I like making things – I like making presents for people and I do love a Christmas tree. I pulled out my box of saved Christmas treasures, some that I made as a child and I created some new things. I’m so happy with my little tree it has nearly unscrooged me. Some of the handmade ornaments are below and I included links to the patterns or tutorials where possible. The first is a little clothespin ballerina I made as a child – she magically reappeared last year.
Find the cardboard horse pattern here and the paper mache teacup here. The ballerina is part of a set I designed for Crate and Barrel – they are sold out online but still in some stores.
(click the tumbnail for a larger image)
The little soldier above is another childhood clothespin creation – his arms are coffee stirrers and his hat is a pom pom. The silk bird has a fluffy, lace wired tail that winds around the branch – she was made with this pattern. The little blue bird is a gift for my sister Catherine. It’s embroidered with her wedding date and made from a blue vevet dress that was our mother’s. It’s made from the merry wobbler pattern. The little white whale pattern is here And the pattern for the felt boat is here. Or for another boat ornament idea you could print the template for my free paper mache boat at about 50% of the original size.
merry merry!
