It can be all too easy during the busy run up to Christmas to be content with purchasing expensive decorations for your Christmas Tree. Why not make a change this year and make your own. There are lots of stunning ideas to help you to create a tree that reflects you and your family and can become a special feature in the Christmas celebrations
Here are a few ideas to get you started and to help you to have a tree with an individualized theme
Pinecone Ornaments
You will need
* Pine Cone
* Paint
* Beads, glitter or sequins, yarn and small buttons to decorate
* Ribbon
* Glue
What to do
* Cut a 6" length of ribbon.
* Tie into a circle and glue the tied part to the pointy tip of the pine cone.
* Paint the cone green
* While the paint is still wet sprinkle with the glitter.
* Once the paint is dry you can decorate with beads and sequins to look like ornaments on the tree.
* You can paint the tips white to look like snow.
You can hang on your Christmas tree as an ornament or you can place it on a shelf by putting it into a small clay decorated pot. Alternatively you can use it as part of a table decoration.
Ice Cream Cone Ornament
These are fun to make and anyone over 3 yrs of age can make these.
You will need
* Either the cake or the sugar ice cream cones
* A solid colored ball ornament big enough to sit on the cones
* White acrylic pain
* Tiny glass beads
* Glue or hot glue
* Spray acrylic
* Ribbon
What to do:
* Hold the cone by the base
* Place glue all along the inside rim of the cone.
* Place the ball ornament on the cone with the hanging side up
* Make sure the ornament is dry before doing the next part. (hot glue works faster).
* Drizzle white paint on top of the ball
* Sprinkle glass beads on top of the wet white paint.
* Let this dry overnight
* Lightly spray the cone part with acrylic.
* DO NOT GET TOO CLOSE TO THE CONE WHILE SPRAYING as this may melt the cone.
* This will seal the cone.
* Tie a colorful ribbon through the loop of the ornament
Balloon Tree Ornaments
You will need:
* Balloons that are small and round
* Liquid Starch
* Newspaper cut into little pieces
* Corn seeds
* Glue
* Gold paint
* Matches
* Lace
* Pin
What to do:
* Blow up the balloons until they are the size to fit into the palm of your hand.
* Smear the starch all over the balloon (you can use paper mache if you want)
* Put the pieces of newspaper all over the starch and then let dry
* Repeat this procedure until you have 3 layers.
* Once the newspaper is completely dry you can use a pin to pop the balloons.
* Decorate using the seeds and glue.
* Paint it with the gold paint.
* Tie lace onto the match
* Put the match inside the ornament to be the hanger.
Tie the ornament onto the Christmas tree.
These are just a few ideas of homemade Christmas ornaments to get you going
Thursday, 5 November 2009
The Tradition Of The Christmas Tree
Traditions nearly always begin for a reason that is long past. We often keep up these traditions with little knowledge of where or why they originated
During the winter long before Christmas became a holiday as we know it today, branches of evergreens were used to decorate the home because people believed they would keep witches, ghosts, evil spirits and illnesses away from homes where they were displayed.
The tradition of bringing a live tree into the home and decorating it at Christmas time started in Germany. It is believed that Martin Luther, the 16th century Protestant reformer was the first to add lighted candles to the tree. He wanted to recapture the sparkling stars on a dark night and how the stars illuminated his walk home, so he brought a tree into his home and placed it in the center of the room. He then wired the tree branches with lighted candles.
Of course it wasn’t too long before America got involved. By 1890, Christmas decorations were arriving in America from Germany and the Christmas Tree became a feature in the U.S. In the early 20th century most Americans were decorating their trees with homemade ornaments. The Americans tended to prefer trees that reached from floor to ceiling, whereas in Europe the preference was for something less ostentatious.
The homemade ornaments were simple yet effective and included strings of popcorn that had been dyed bright colors and in addition were laced with berries and nuts. Lighted candles soon gave way to the safer option of electric lights and the Americans soon developed this well established tradition to include Giant Christmas Trees in town squares in addition to those now found in most American homes.
The Christmas Tree today is a very important part of the celebration of Christmas. The tree symbolizes life.
During the winter long before Christmas became a holiday as we know it today, branches of evergreens were used to decorate the home because people believed they would keep witches, ghosts, evil spirits and illnesses away from homes where they were displayed.
The tradition of bringing a live tree into the home and decorating it at Christmas time started in Germany. It is believed that Martin Luther, the 16th century Protestant reformer was the first to add lighted candles to the tree. He wanted to recapture the sparkling stars on a dark night and how the stars illuminated his walk home, so he brought a tree into his home and placed it in the center of the room. He then wired the tree branches with lighted candles.
Of course it wasn’t too long before America got involved. By 1890, Christmas decorations were arriving in America from Germany and the Christmas Tree became a feature in the U.S. In the early 20th century most Americans were decorating their trees with homemade ornaments. The Americans tended to prefer trees that reached from floor to ceiling, whereas in Europe the preference was for something less ostentatious.
The homemade ornaments were simple yet effective and included strings of popcorn that had been dyed bright colors and in addition were laced with berries and nuts. Lighted candles soon gave way to the safer option of electric lights and the Americans soon developed this well established tradition to include Giant Christmas Trees in town squares in addition to those now found in most American homes.
The Christmas Tree today is a very important part of the celebration of Christmas. The tree symbolizes life.
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