Winter Craft Tutorials

Well this past Saturday I had the pleasure of decorating for my church's (Calvary Chapel Brandon) annual Christmas Ladies Luncheon.  Each year, I always try to change up the decorations to keep things from getting too same ole same ole.  Usually I do red, white, silver etc.... but this I decided to branch out in to the navies whites and silvers - a more "winter" color theme.  As far as DIY projects I came up with three.  One being the 'Whimsy Windmill' centerpieces for ten of the tables (seen in picture numero uno up top), two being similar 'Whimsy Wall Hangings', and three being 'Felt Christmas Trees.' To whip up these bad little babies follow the directions below and prepare to be sitting for quite sometime - an hour if you're quick, and yes that's just for the first one. We (Lauren & I) made ten Windmills, never again I say.  Glad we saved them, we can re-use them again in a couple years when we do the blue theme again.

Supplies Needed for 1 Whimsy Windmill

• felt  - 1/4 yard (I used navy blue)
• white yarn - 5 feet (I used white)
• ribbon - 3 yards (I used really thin, plain, medium blue)
• wire hanger or galvanized steel (you can buy 100ft at Walmart for 4.99 - car department)
• sturdy single hole punch
• silver duck tape

Directions

• Cut out 10 circles, 5 measuring at about 4 inches, and 5 measuring in at around 2.5 inches.
• Punch eight to ten equidistant holes about 1/4 inch in from the edge and punch one hole the center.  Your circle should look something like this plus the hole in the center.   You can either do this to all of the circles or you just some, I did about half and half, the other half only having one hole to attach with ribbon.

• Thread with yarn in a star shape, tying a knot for the first one through the center so that the yarn won't become undone.  Once the last hole is threaded, tie off another knot so that the "star shape" remains.  Do this to all hole punched circles.  They should look something like this now. Notice, I also used white/silver circles to add a little dimension

• Form steel or wire hanger into circle and tape with silver duck tape.  You don't even see the tape, so no worries.
• Attach circles to circle at varying lengths as seen in the picture above.
• At this point you can also tie on fun curly ribbon or just plain ribbon in between the star hangings. 
• Once all circles are attached cut four equal length pieces of ribbon and tie onto top of steel circle to form an "X." This is where things get a little tricky - you maybe have to move the circles around a lot of get the circle to hang level but that can all be fixed once it is attached to the ceiling or light fixture. 
• Tie four ribbons together, while trying to keep each ribbon at the same length, otherwise it will start to look a little lopsy.  From the knot, tie a long piece of ribbon, this will be attached to the ceiling.
• Move hangings around to level the piece.  This is how I incorporated these little felt chandeliers into the decor.  The theme was light of the world so I think they meshed pretty well.

The second DIY project I came up with (Whimsy Wall Hangings) is very similar to the Whimsy Windmills.  It is pictured below and doesn't need much instruction.  The only difference in assembly is that you use one extra LONG piece of ribbon and just keep knotting off each "star." Seems pretty self explanatary but please comment if you have trouble.

Finally we have the beloved felt trees.  I have seen these in high end stores covered in feathers or burlap and decided to try my hand at them - on the cheap.  Here how you do it!

Supplies Needed for 2 Felt Christmas Trees

• 1 4-5in styrofoam cone 
• Joannes for around $3
• 1 12in cone 
• you can buy styrofoam for about 6 bucks, or a plastic hollow cone for 1.99, I used plastic since I'm a bit of a chinsey spender.
• white buttons, glitter, or small white felt circles
• hot glue gun + glue sticks

Directions

• Cut out half-moon shaped (one end being completely straight) long enough to cover the fattest portion of the tree. Attach with hot glue on all edges.
• Cut out several circles of different sizes.  Attach all onto cone until complete covered. 
• The top of the cone gets a little tricky, you just kind of finagle/stretch the circles.
• Attach faux snow! 
• Duplicate for second tree & place around your home for cheap, cute, homemade winter wonder! Here's my little dining room forest!

Anyone else whipping up some fun little DIY projects for the Christmas Season? Anyone going to tackle the trees with feathers for a more high dollar elegant take? Do tell!