Let's just get it out, shall we? In the wine....
Okay. All better?
One of my family's traditions at Christmas is that small Christmas trees appear in the kids bedrooms late at night while they sleep,magically decorated and all lit up. It's the work of the Christmas elves! (The real version, of course, is that B drags them down from the attic and he and I have furious fights in whispers over who left the strings of lights so horribly tangled and where in hell are the little ornaments meant for these trees, and then we (I) commando crawl into the bedrooms where my cherubic children sleep with their heads full of sugarplums and hunt for the plug and back out again, swearing that next year I'll remember the flashlight.
Bear and I go up to our bedroom and pound on the boy's wall, then fake sleep when he runs in to tell us that the elves were here! The elves were here!
Stoopid elves get all the credit. Sniff.
This year I had the idea they could help me make ornaments for their trees. That didn't turn out to be the case for this craft (a lot more gluing and waiting than I thought originally, but we'll be making paper ornaments for next time. You'll see.
These, though, were fun. Let's make some tiny baubles.
You'll need:
a box of clear glass balls
assorted geegaws - craft gemstones,
glitter,
white glue
glitter glue
paintbrushes
a candleholder or cup
and a paper plate.
Working with one half of the ornament at a time, dot glue and place gemstones.
The candleholder makes a great place to hold your ornament while you're working on it.
Oh! And another tip! If you're working with small gemstones or sequins, sort out which ones you'll be using. Then place them in a rough order as you want them to look. Dab glue on your ornament. Lick the end of your finger and use it to pick the gemstone up from the table - works much better than the old thumb and first finger bit.
It finishes up quickly, doesn't it?
Next, make a leaf pattern with glitter glue, brushed on with a paintbrush.
While this dried, it kind of looked like blue slime attacked it. Elf snot? It looked mystical and sweet, though, when it was done.
Make a broad stripe with glitter glue and use that for a bed of sequins, jauntily stuck at an angle.
Or use the glitter glue and swirl it into shapes.
Or, Or, Or... at this point, your imagination should have kicked into high gear. Try using tiny dried flowers or lacy decorations (craft store - wedding section) for a Victorian look, or go modern, and use squares of tissue paper to create the look of stained glass. Use white paint to make a frosted look.
There's an awful lot you can have fun with on your (or someone else's!) tree.
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