Christmas Tree 2022

Finally finished my daughter's tree! I used some of the ornaments I made last year and more of what I made this year. She wanted a boho Christmas tree. I wasn't even sure of what that would be when I started. I searched  for boho and found a lot of stuff with macrame. I think I may have made a macrame pot holder when I was a teen (Years ago). I watched a lot of macrame tutorials on youtube. I wasn't completely satisfied because there were not that many varieties of ornaments and they looked very similar. That made me get busy and start creating. I started out making the ornaments with white string and wooden beads. Those are on a previous post. Today I will share a video of the finished tree. And then I will add pictures and videos of other ornaments I have made. I has been a learning experience. I actually really enjoy making them!

You can find me on instagram too: holidayknights

Hope you enjoy!

Christmas 2021 Ornaments

I decorated a tree for my daughter last Christmas. The tree was done in silver and red. I also wanted to make some ornaments that would be special for her. We also added on some Cherished Teddy ornaments that she had since she was little. This was a lot of fun for both of us. I wanted to share this before I went any further with the tree I am planning for her this year. I hope you enjoy.

And here are a few more including the Cherished Teddies.

Here are some pictures of the finished tree. I love the red and silver together. It really pops!

If you would like to see more of my work, I'm on instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/holidayknights/  

Hoping soon to have stuff to sell on etsy.com 

Thanks for reading!

Boho/Macrame Christmas

Here is a video of the ornaments I have been making for my daughter's Christmas tree 2022. She likes macrame and boho look, so I'm putting that together in a natural looking tree for her. I will be using white, silver/grey along with natural looking ornaments. They will have macrame and use natural looking beads and ornaments. I can't wait to get started putting it together. I watched tutorials on how to macrame, so these might not be the finest! I think they will look good on the tree through. 

I have been making all kinds of ornaments using different kinds of thread. I put them in a video on instagram and they were well received! I want people to know they can have these types of decorations up all year. They look great with indoor plants!

This one was also quite popular!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this blog. Stay tuned for more to come.

Making boho ornaments for a Christmas tree.

 It has been a while since I posted. I have been teaching and that takes a lot of time. I have started a hobby though which I want to share. I have started to do macrame and have started to cover clear glass Christmas ball ornaments. Here are a few I have made. I really find it enjoyable and relaxing so I think I will try to make time to do this occasionally. I have never done this before so I feel quite proud of what I have done so far. I know there are many people better, but I think the idea is a little unique. I will try to add more as I go. Thanks for reading and looking!

Here is a couple that I made for fun and can be used any time of the year! Hope you enjoy!

 

Using Bead Garland in Your Tree

There are many ways to use bead garland in your tree. I wrote a blog about it, and now I'm writing another blog about it with video's. A picture is worth a thousand words, but video is even better. First, here is a link to view some of my Christmas trees. Notice how almost all of them have bead garland. Bead garland just adds to your tree. It adds color, shine, and elegance. Here's the link to my Flickr channel: 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/63808310@N08/  Take a look at these and then read this blog: )

There are many ways to put garland in your tree. One way is to twist it. You can use a single color or several colors of beads to do this. You can make thick ropes of garland or thin ropes. I show it several ways in the following short clips.

 

In this clip, I used bead garland that is 18 feet long. I found the half way point, used that as one end and started twisting there. This is a very thick rope garland. I used two gold, two silver, and two iridescent strings.

 

For this garland, I only used two green and two iridescent strings. The rope garland is much smaller but still very elegant.

In this last twist video, I used red and green garland. I made a thicker rope. When you use garland to make a thick rope, you should tie it to sturdier branches in your tree. The sturdier branches can support the weight of the heavy bead garland.

Another way to use bead garland is to braid it. Yes, just like you would braid a girl's hair. Choose your colors and braid. Again you can make it thin or thick. To make a braid thicker just increase the number of bead strands you use.

 The first thing you do is find a place to secure your strand. I find the knob on a chair works, when you can't find a person to hold the end. In this video, I used four strings of red and two strings of green. This makes a thicker braid. You can use any color combination you wish. I used 6 strings so that each strand would have two strings. Braid the garland until you run out of bead garland, then you can use wire to tie it closed at the end. 

This video is part of the first clip. It just shows the braid more finished and close up.

These next two clips are showing how to make a Swag. Think about how a lady might wear several gold chains around her neck. She wants them to be slightly different in length so that each chain may be seen. Well you can do the same thing on a tree. I don't like to put the "swags" on the tree so that it looks like a cake. I go a little crazy with the "swag". I may tie one end and have a long swoop with a short swag. Do this all over the tree and it looks elegant. Remember, don't tie the "swag" off, swoop it, and tie off again on the same level, tie it off on different levels of the tree. By levels I mean tree layers. The tree has all it's branches put on in layers, except the very top of the tree. 

These next video clips are very easy and pretty self explanatory if you watch the video.

This first video is "tying the knot". If you use "tie the knot" and "swagging" at the same time...your tree will look absolutely elegant.

This next video clip shows how to add a string of lights to your bead garland. You might want to use white strings if you add to gold, silver, and white. I didn't have any on hand so you can see the strings. Or use the green strings, but use green and red beads. Anyway, I think you know what I mean. 

This last video is how to combine bead necklaces to make a garland with a "knot". Putting these on the tree with a swag would be very nice. So if you bought a ton of bead necklaces and don't know what to do with them...watch this.

Well, that's all I have for now. Maybe this next Christmas I can show you how to put these on the tree. Till then...Happy New Year!

2014 Christmas Tree

2014 Christmas Tree

Well it's been a while, a year in fact since I have been here to blog.  Let me start by saying that I miss writing about Christmas. But since it only comes once a year, I'll have to be happy with it for now. Next year I hope to do more.

I like to change the look of my Christmas tree every year...but I don't like to spend a lot of money doing it. So far I average around $25 every year to give it a new look. I don't change the ornaments, because those are special and I put them up year after year. The basics on the tree is what I change. This year instead of just showing pictures of what the tree looks like, I have decided to go through the process of decorating this tree step by step. 

To begin, I set up the tree (pre-lit) in the area where I want it. This year because I wanted a different look, I went and bought about 2 sets of green mini light sets. I added about 200 green lights to the inside of my tree. I just wind them up and down through the middle of the tree. This helps to add depth to the tree.

 

After I have added the colored lights, next I put in some colored bulbs. Other years I have added glass bulbs. I find that older glass bulbs start to lose their color, and they don't look as good the following years. I found some plastic bulbs in assorted colors a few years back and they have stayed nice. They are what I use now. 

These still look great even after 5 years of use. Well I add these bulb ornaments throughout the inside of the tree. Along with the green lights, having these on the inside added a lot of depth to the tree. After all the lights and bulbs you want to use are distributed throughout the tree, I was now ready to put on some time of garland. I like the sparkle of bead garland in a tree. I also wanted to whole color scheme of my tree to change. I know that Poly Mesh material has become very popular for people to use in wreaths. I decided to use it in my tree this year. Walmarts had them for $4.77 for a roll. I think that's a great price. I bought a couple of rolls. I liked the green and white striped poly mesh. I twisted the mesh as I unrolled it. Then I added bead garland which I twisted around the mesh. I wrapped this through the tree from the top to the bottom. I used the left overs for a tree skirt.

I used two green and one iridescent bead garland strings. I found them at Sear's black Friday sale. They were priced at $2.99 and they were marked at 50% off.  I found more at Walmarts after Christmas sale. They were $1.99 marked at 50% off. Needless to say, I bought quite a few in different colors. These bead garland were 18 feet in length. I will be doing another blog about bead garlands and how to use them. Look for it along with videos. After the garland was put into the tree came the next part of creating a different look. I like to put large items in the tree and throughout the tree to give it a theme. This year I used 18" diameter snowflakes. I found these amongst a bunch of stuff that was donated to the teacher at the school where I teach. I pulled about 23 of these snowflakes from the pile of stuff. One of the other teachers asked what I was going to do with all those snowflakes. Put them in my tree of course!

 

These are the assorted snowflakes that I used in the tree. I put 10-12 of these snowflakes into the tree. The lights of the tree made them glimmer and shine. I added some acrylic frosted reindeer to the tree using the snowflakes as a back drop. This gave the tree a woodsy look.

After I placed these snowflakes around the tree and on the tree top. I added my usual ornaments that I use every year. After the glass ornaments, I put the special ornaments that mean something to the family. These are ornaments my daughter made when she was young. Special ornaments that were given as gifts, and picture ornaments that have pictures of people close to us.

These are the same ornaments that have gone on my tree for 15+ years. Everyone should have ornaments that are special for their tree. They are memories and keepsakes.  Finally, the last thing I put on the tree was tiny snowflakes. I put about 3+ dozen mini snowflake ornaments all over the tree. They were less than $3 for a box of 12 at Walmarts. I bought probably about 5 dozen, because I will use more of them throughout the house in other displays. 

These snowflakes put the final touch on the tree. I call them fillers. (Read my other blog about fillers.) These tiny snowflakes had glitter on them that just set the whole tree alight! I think this tree turned out to be my husbands favorite tree. Here are a couple of pictures. One during the day and one at night. This new look cost about $25 and I had a tree with a whole new look.

               Day Time                                                                            Night Time

This is my blog about my 2014 Christmas Tree. Hope you enjoyed it.

2013 Christmas Tree

Sometime you might feel like, "Gosh, I hate the tree ornaments I have...they're the same old ones I've been putting up for years." Well, at least I feel that way. I used to decorate 20 to 30 trees a year. Now I only have time to do one (my own). I started teaching a few years ago and that takes up most of my time. I love teaching, but every now and then I feel like doing something creative with arts and crafts. So I put a lot into decorating at Christmas. After I'm finished remodeling the house, I'll be able to do more. So, here are pictures of my 2013 Christmas. I didn't throw out the old ornaments and get new...who can afford that. I did change the theme a little bit. If you were to look at the last three years of Christmas trees, you would see that I kept the same colors but changed the look by changing just a few items on the tree. If you keep this in mind and shop after Christmas when items are marked down you can get a new looking tree for just a few dollars. Make sure you buy enough to decorate other items with the same theme. It makes your house have a classy rich look during the holiday season.

 

I bought red poinsettia flowers at Walmarts after Christmas in 2012. They came in a bunch and they were $5.00 each. Each bunch had six large beautiful flowers. I used wire cutters so cut the bunches apart. As I made a garland with bows out of ribbon to put on the tree, I added poinsettia at the same time. Some are around the bows and there are also some single poinsettias throughout the tree. This changed the look enough on the tree that I felt like I was putting up a different tree. 

At the top of the tree I put three large bows. In and around the bows I put three or four poinsettias. The bow at the front has a very long tail, so I loosely swagged it down and went right into another bow. This is the garland I used to go around the tree. I also bought some new balls. They were red with a matte finish. Some of the older gold balls I placed close to the bows so that they brought out the gold edge on the ribbon.

These two pictures show how the bow garland looks as you put it on the tree. I didn't go around the tree so much as I swagged the ribbon and went from top to bottom. Make sure you have at least three ribbons going down your tree.

I didn't do this but, the tree would look pretty if you added red berries, or gold berries. Just add them in any were around the poinsettias. Some dried flowers that painted gold would look great as a filler.








I added the poinsettias to other places where I put decorations. Here is a hutch where I point Christmas decorations to carry the theme into the dining room. It doesn't have to be a hutch it can be any type or piece of furniture.

I used single poinsettias to go across the greenery in back which helps to give depth. I arranged the Santa and other items in front.

 

I found poinsettia flower candle rings. I bought three. I put two of them in the light as you come in the front door. Cut the ring in one place. Gently place it around the pole holding the light. I will just rest around the lights. Make sure non of the flowers touch the lights. They might melt if touching the hot light bulbs.

Well, this is what I had time to do for Christmas 2013. For 2014 I may go back and use Candy canes, or perhaps something brand new. If you the public have any ideas, let me know. Take care and see you around Christmas. Urbanchristmas