Fun Jar #29: Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Today on Fun Jar Friday~

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Raise your hand if you love A Charlie Brown Christmas? I do!  And I make my kids watch it whether they want to or not because I'm mean fun like that!  So today I'm going to show you how to make your very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  Makes a great center piece!

What You Need

A small branch from a pice tree

Two long, thin pieces of wood

light blue material

a long nail (must clear both pieces of wood and at least 1/2 an in. out the other side.)

red ball ornament

First off, place the two boards together and hammer the nail through the middle and out the other side.

note: hammering is a great activity for kids.  Put a few nails in a piece of scrap wood for them to practice on.  For little guys, use a cardboard box instead of a piece of wood for easy practice.

Fold the blue material in half.  Pinch the middle of the folded edge and fold in half again where you are pinching.  Cut off the corner you are pinching.

Open up the material and place the hole over the end of the nail.  This is the blanket Linus wraps around the tree.

Cut the bottom of the branch off so it is flat.

Screw the end of the branch onto the end of the nail.  

Now all you have left to do is hang your ornament!  

How cute is that?

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12 Wreaths of Christmas

For the month of December, I'm switching 5 for Friday to 12 for Christmas.

First up ~ 12 Wreaths of Christmas!  I'm a sucker for wreaths, are you?  I love making them!

I rounded up 12 inspirational beauties for you to feast your eyes on.  Enjoy!

1)Burlap Holiday Wreath

@ Chic on a Shoestring

Oh it's burlap goodness, with pine sprigs, bells, and plaid.  Perfect!

2) Yarn Ball Christmas Wreath

@ Diary of a Crafty Lady

Yarn balls = win.  I love the little sprays of colored berries tucked in there.

Tip - I read once that you can wrap styrofoam balls to 

get the thickness of a yarn ball while using less yarn ; )

3) Pinecone Wreath with Cardinals & Ornaments

@ Better Homes & Gardens

I think spray painted pinecone wreaths are so pretty!  I shared one last year that had pink, aqua, gold colors added with a few painted cones, acorns, or twigs tucked in.  It was so lovely!

4) Jingle Bell & Rope Wreath

@ A Dose of the Delightful

This wreath knocks my socks off!  Nuf said.

5) Scarf Wreath

@ Craftberry Bush

All white.  So soft and lovely - she wrapped a scarf around the wreath form.  Smart!

6) Fabric-Covered Ornament Wreath

@ Love of Family & Home

This wreath is delightful!  I love how she wrapped some ornaments with plaid fabric. 

The textures and colors are fantastic!

7) Embroidery Hoop Snowflake Wreath

@ House of Noise...I Mean Boys

Snowflakes are always a win in my book, and I loved this simple snowflake wreath.  Great project!

8) Striped Yarn Wreath

@ The Diary of Dave's Wife

Candy cane stripes!  I saw some of these on etsy with a burst of fake berries and snowflakes.  Beautiful!

9) PB Knock-Off Ornament Wreath

@ A Little McD

Here's a great tutorial for sprucing up a plain, fake greens wreath with some ornaments.  She did great!

10) Santa's Keys Recycle Sweater Wreath

@ Under the Table and Dreaming

LOVE coming across new creative takes!  I've never seen anything like this before and it's delightful!

11) Picture Frame Wreath

@ Just a Blink

Can't go wrong with ice skates!  I saw one with red painted skates that had a snowflake decal

on the ankle, hanging with some greens and bows on the door.  Beautiful!

12) Wreath Snowman

@ Sew Many Ways

I shared this one last year, but I'm sharing it again because I loooooove it!

If only I had twelve front doors ; )

Currently {v.22}

watching, wishing, waiting, wondering, worrying

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Jaimee is...

CURRENTLY watching... my Little Men be out of sorts.  All a result of our recent long travel, big slack in daily therapies, upcoming holiday, school stress, colds...it's a tad dramatic here this week.  I have to say though - I'm proud of Junior Man for navigating this time without major regression.  A bumpy week is still an improvement over where we used to be.  Trying to herd them along, back into the swing of things...and the drama will turn back to crazy ease up ; )

CURRENTLY wishing... that my etsy shop was moving a little faster than it is.  I'm trying to be patient with myself.  Major Motherhood Shift on the horizon - this is the last year of having a preschooler at home part-time.  Next year Little Man will be in kindergarten.  I will be putting my baby years behind me, officially.  I will have all three boys in full-day elementary school.  I will probably cry...but then...I  will have uninterrupted (*gasp*) and more consistent hours for blog and etsy work.  I currently wish that more sales were moving through the shop, especially during the holidays, but soon...soon I will be able to balance all of this more efficiently....right?

CURRENTLY waiting... with excitement, to start our Christmas Book Countdown for 2012!  Last year was a bit hectic with blogging it every day, but it was SO so enjoyable to do with my boys and made for some great memories.  All of us are looking forward to doing it again.  I'm also on pins and needles waiting to see what Tiffany has up her sleeve for this venture, since we are splitting it between us for round two.  I got all my supplies and am waiting for the go signal! 

CURRENTLY wondering... what the service will be like this week at the new church we started going to.  We are trying out a progressive church.  This week is Open Mic Night for sharing about how God is embodied in our lives and how the advent season prepares us for this.  The last time we were there, it was Open Mic Night for sharing about lost loved ones (All Souls' Day, right after Halloween)...and Junior Man shocked us all by getting up (our first time there as a family), to speak about the loss of his first pet snake.  If you've read much of my special needs blog, you know that he was ALL about snakes.  He carried that loss for a year...but that night, he got up and spoke in front of the group, and they responded with their complete attention, support and encouragement.  It was really incredible.

CURRENTLY worrying... that Mr. Craft, Interrupted will get home safely from his work trip.  I try not to think about it too much when he travels, which has been more often lately.  Holding down the fort solo while he is away doesn't leave a whole lot of room for worrying (can you say "crazytown?") but I do always have this nagging in the back of my mind until he is home again.

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Tiffany is...

CURRENTLY watching... peggies.  The company I buy my unfinished peggie dolls from has been selling out rapidly.  Apparently everyone else is buying them too.  So I've been hounding their site daily for them to get a new shipment of pegs made.  I can't make any more peggies without them!

CURRENTLY wishing...  It were Black Friday again.  Call me crazy, but I love Black Friday!  I know there's a lot of comments about people shopping for things they don't need, but I don't most of my Black Friday shopping for presents.  Because I buy a lot of presents, those bills rack up very quickly.  So I love a good sale.  This year I got two pairs of boots (one for a gift and one for me because my only pair are scuffed and ragged) for a total of $25.  Yes, that was two pairs for $40, then a $5 off coupon, followed by a $10 gift card they gave to the first 100 customers.  Now I got a gift covered and I don't need to buy boots again for the rest of the year.  How can you not love Black Friday?

CURRENTLY waiting... for my oldest to learn problem solving.  My oldest is a special needs kid and one of his biggest struggles is with problem solving.  He goes from 0 to 10 on the anger scale in the blink of an eye and there's no turning back.  So, we've been doing some intense problem solving with him and it's been a very slow, difficult process.  So I am waiting for that aha moment when it all just sinks in.

CURRENTLY wondering... If winter will ever come here in the Utah mountains.  It has been such a crazy November.  We had one snow storm earlier in the month that lasted 2 days with some deep snow.  But then nothing.  And now it's hitting 60.  Which is unheard of.  I'm wondering if this means we are going to have a tough Spring or if it's just going to be a quick and easy Winter.

CURRENTLY worrying... If I'm going to get everything done this Christmas.  Seriously.  I can't keep up.  My days are full to the brim and by the end of the day I am too tired to even remember what I accomplished that day.  I know it must have been something since I was going non stop, but it's all a blur.

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NEXT WEEK'S THEMES: 

MAKING, THINKING, LOVING, COOKING, DREAMING

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Candy Jars (for the snack-aholic!)

Today I have for you another gift idea.  This one is quick, easy and inexpensive.  My brother in-law is a big time candy addict.  And he's also a teacher.  So I wanted to give him a way to take care of those cravings at school.  I made him the perfect little solution.

Candy Jars (for the snack-aholic!)

What you need

jars

cricut vinyl

cardstock

mod podge

To start with, you will need three small jars.  These can be found for pretty cheap at places like Hobby Lobby or Ikea.  I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each.

Using a cricut machine (or whatever personal cutter you own) cut out the words sweet. salty. sour.  Do it twice.  If you want it to look exactly like mine, I used the Cutting Up Cartridge on my Cricut at 1 inch.  I also used the exclamation point for the period.  

Here's a tip:  Cricut mat losing it's stickiness?  Spray it with spray adhesive.  Problem solved and money saved!

Place the words on the jars.  Use the back of a spoon to rub the vinyl on.  Now it's good and stuck.  

Now, you are welcome to stop here, but I wanted to make it so he could see what they were from the top, in case hid decided to hide them away in his drawer from the kids.  

Cut circles out of a matching piece of cardstock.  These should be slightly smaller than the top of your jar.  You can use circle templates or even trace a cup or other circle around the house and cut by hand.

Stick your second set of words on the circles.

Using mod podge paint the top of the jar.  My motto for mod podge is "quick and thick."  Don't be stingy.  Place the circle on the top and let dry for at least 15 minutes.

Once dry, paint over the top with modpodge and let dry completely.  

Now fill with candy!  

You now have an easy treat for all of your cravings!  Perfect for the hard to buy for man or even your snack happy friend!  Anyone who's a snackaholic!

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Linkin' with Lil'Luna