Family Jewelry Christmas Tree

    Family Jewelry Christmas Tree

Frontgate Jewelry Tree with Pedestal

Did you see the 2012 Christmas issue of Frontgate?  It featured a Jewelry Tree with Pedestal (no longer available) that contains "more than 60 brooches and metallic buttons that are hand-set over shining gold paillettes, making each tree a one-of-a-kind masterpiece."            

When I looked at that tree, I thought about my mother's costume jewelry that I've had for nearly thirty years, and that of my mother-in-law, and the broken and damaged jewelry that I own, and the jewelry I no longer wore or wanted. My sister's and niece's jewelry - jewelry from the family.  This would be a perfect way to use the pieces of jewelry I had accumulated.

I got to thinking that it actually doesn't look like the jewelry tree would be too difficult to make.  I already had a 16 inch styrofoam tree,  a little ceramic urn for the base, gold paint, beads and rhinestones for filler, pins, glitter glue and a glue gun.

I really forgot to take pictures at the start.  This was a labor of love and I wasn't really thinking about photos. To begin, I needed to paint the white stryrofoam tree using FolkArt pure gold metallic paint. It really didn't take much to cover.

Next, I randomly glued the larger jewelry pieces all over the tree.  I broke down the necklaces and bracelets into smaller pieces before gluing.   If any pieces looked too bulky, I pressed them into the foam after gluing. I used pearl beads cut from necklaces (I had lots of these) as fillers around the tree. For a final touch, I used glitter glue to fill in any spaces after I had finished adding all the jewelry pieces.  This gave the tree a sparkly effect. 

This is a photo brooch that belonged to my mother (center with a bow on top)

I added a picture of her to the brooch .   .   .
making this tree very special.

The width of the opening on the urn was the same width as the base of the tree so I had to place the finish tree on top of a little silver dish that I had before putting it onto the urn.

This is truly a keepsake that I will treasure and perhaps pass along  .   .   .

Enjoy!

                                                    

DollarTree Ornament

Deck the Walls with   .   .   .

 We all love crafting with DollarTree items.  They are so festive and whimsical!  I love my red wall decor that I made from Christmas items I found at the DollarTree.  Here is a picture tutorial on how I put it together.

                             Plain felt red ornament

                                            Decorated it using silver glitter glue

       Made a bow out of ribbon from DS, added greenery and whimsical fillers

Fa la la la la     la la   la la!

Enjoy! 

DollarTree Christmas Glitter Trees

   
Calling all DollarTree Crafts: Coming up with something to be a part of the Holiday Link Party!


Oooh-la la. Fa-la-la.  Chic Glitter Trees! 

These trees are made entirely with everything from the DollarTree store. Cheap and easy - that's the way to go.

I remember checking out Christmas items at Pier1 recently, and these colorful beaded cone trees caught my eye and I thought I would try to make this for the dollar tree link party.  They were basically made from cardboard, glitter and beads.  Although the trees were festive, I didn't want to make it in the same color.  I wanted something more christmasy. Besides, I couldn't find those colors or seed beads at the DollarTree store and I wanted this to be done entirely with items from the dollar store.

Pier1

Anyway, I got some poster board (2 for $1.00), glitter glue, and shake-on glitter (3 packs) from DollarTree.

To make the tree I rolled the poster board into a cone shape,

Roll your green piece of poster board into a cone shape and use hot glue to hold it in this shape. You may have to try a couple of times before you get a good cone shape. Trim the bottom of your cone so it is level.

Read more: How to Make a Christmas Tree From Poster Board | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5744874_make-christmas-tree-poster-board.html#ixzz2CmutC3rA

Roll your green piece of poster board into a cone shape and use hot glue to hold it in this shape. You may have to try a couple of times before you get a good cone shape. Trim the bottom of your cone so it is level.

Read more: How to Make a Christmas Tree From Poster Board | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5744874_make-christmas-tree-poster-board.html#ixzz2CmvL1z5N

Roll your green piece of poster board into a cone shape and use hot glue to hold it in this shape. You may have to try a couple of times before you get a good cone shape. Trim the bottom of your cone so it is level.

Read more: How to Make a Christmas Tree From Poster Board | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5744874_make-christmas-tree-poster-board.html#ixzz2CmvL1z5N

Roll your green piece of poster board into a cone shape and use hot glue to hold it in this shape. You may have to try a couple of times before you get a good cone shape. Trim the bottom of your cone so it is level.

Read more: How to Make a Christmas Tree From Poster Board | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5744874_make-christmas-tree-poster-board.html#ixzz2CmutC3rA

                     forming the point or tip of the cone.

I then glued the poster board cone inside and at the seam with white glue and secured the roll with masking tape until the glue dried.

                                Next, I trimmed the bottom of the cone so it was level.

                        It looked pretty good so I made three different sizes.                                                               

 To add the glitter, I diluted white glue with a little bit of water to make it brushable. I then divided the cone into sections and brushed the glue over the top section with a sponge brush.  

Working over a tray, I sprinkled the silver shake-on-glitter over the entire top area and allowed it to dry before moving on to the next area.  Skipping the second section, I repeated the process, applying glue, sprinkling silver glitter and allowing to dry. I did this every other section until the silver glitter sections were completely covered and dried. I collected all of the silver glitter that fell into the tray and put it back into the shaker bottle.

Next, I repeated the same process for adding the red glitter. I used the glitter glue to fill in missed areas.  It takes a long time, usually overnight, for the glitter glue to dry.  Next time I'll use white poster board or paint the areas first the same color of glitter.

Overall, I think the glitter trees look very festive!  But these photos don't capture their true glittery beauty.  Not bad for a Dollar Tree Craft!

Oooh-la-la. Fa-la-la!   DollarTree!  


Enjoy!






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Ribbon Angel Ornament

My mother-in-law was very talented.  She could make and do just about anything pertaining to DIY.  I wasn’t into crafting back then (she inspired me) and often marveled how she could create such lovely items.  I remember her making a ribbon angel ornament for Christmas years ago.  It was made out of what seemed like heavy taffeta.  I’ve tried to re-create what I remembered as the ornaments have long since disappeared and I’m sure the materials have changed as well.                                                      Ribbon Angel Ornament                                                Materials Needed: 2 1/2" wide wired ribbon (at least 2 yards) 10" long x 2 1/2 wide wired ribbon 1" gold glass Christmas tree ball (head) 3"- 2" piece of gold colored wire (cut from        edge of ribbon) to shape into a circle (halo) Fabric tac glue  Glue Gun Decorative trim Hanging thread                                                  To Make: Cut five (5) pieces of ribbon, 7 1/2" long into trapezoid like shapes, triming the ends at angles so that the top is 2 1/4" long and the bottom, 7 1/2" long.  Bring edges to form a cone shape.  Over lap edges about a 1/4” leaving an opening on narrow end to accommodate the shank end of the Christmas tree ball.  Glue together the ribbon. Repeat for all five pieces. Glue the ball onto one of the cone shaped ribbon body for the head.   Glue one cone on either side of the ball cone together matching points.   Glue a fourth cone half way into middle of center cone of the three.  Glue a fifth cone half way into middle of fourth cone, making sure to line up the seams and points   Glue 10" long ribbon together and shape/tie into bow and glue to the base of the ball (center) behind the three cones for the wings Glue decorative trim to neck of angel.   Glue trim cord tied into a knot to back of angel at the base of the ball for the hanger.       Assembly Recap: I tried different ribbon  and trim   And I had to make another Purple  Angel  .   .   . These are really cute little Angels  .   .    .  I hope my mother-in-law would have been proud of the way they turned out.                    Ribbon Tree(made last year) with Ribbon Angel  Enjoy!