12 Days of Christmas (Day Ten)

 

Welcome back to the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop (Day Ten)! This hop will take place  November 24th through December 5th. Each of us will be posting something Christmas related each and every day at 8:00am, Eastern time (so for my Pacific Time Zone peeps... that's 5am... But don't worry, you can sleep in, and we'll all be here waiting for you, too!)... for 12 WHOLE DAYS! Let us inspire you to finish up that layout, make some special Christmas cards, or wrap that gift in a fun and festive way. If you've already started, you probably came from Barbara. She always has something great to share, doesn't she? Let's continue this 12-day crafting party... after today, there's only 3 more days to go!

Alrighty now and again...  I've said in Day One, I'm starting my portion of the hop with paper things. Things that are simple and easy to do. I've strayed quite a bit... going in all sorts of directions. But one thing has always been on point... I can always ADD paper to whatever I've shown you. Hahaha. Stretching it enough? Just thought I'd keep you on your toes, as I'm sure it was starting to read/sound like a spiel. As with Day Two,  Day Three,  Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven, Day Eight, and Day Nine... We are still with the Christmas theme meaning all things Christmas! The hop is entitled "12 Days of Christmas," is it not? and still again with simple [nor so much in the paper today] crafts. Today, I'm making you a garland. I made it a while back... so I don't have pics from beginning to end, but I believe you'll get the gist. And it is very VERY simple.

Let me set the scene... Maybe I should've taken a picture of the scene. Hmmm. Next time. I buy stuff. Lots of stuff. And I don't use it. And that makes me a hoarder. We all have fabric, right? Lots and lots and lots of fabric. Most of mine is Christmas fabric. I took a couple of yards of coordinating/contrasting fabric. Yes. It can do both at the same time. Duh. Think the negative or flip side of the fabric. Open your mind!!!! And I ripped it. How? I cut the edges (at the selvage) into 1-1/2" increments then grabbed the fabric on both sides of the cut and LET 'ER RIP! Um... Excuse me! *Giggle* pulled. It will make a sound. You are doing nothing wrong. And it's a totally great way to get out your holiday aggressions. Who needs road rage? That chick took your parking spot at the mall? RIP! That man took the last Hover Board (that you really couldn't afford anyway)? RIP! Pretty soon you'll have a huge pile of strips. Now... wash them. You read right. Wash them... no fabric softener, please... Now dry them. It kinda goes without saying... Again, no fabric softener sheets. Now pull them out and untangle them. Hahaha! Yes. They will tangle. Do not put them in a "bag" prior to washing or drying... We want them frayed. When you put them in a bag, they don't get bumped around and beat up.

They're untangled? Good. Now separate them out into "like" piles. You know... where it's all about the fabric print. Only exact same prints go in each pile.

While the fabric strips were washing, you should've been doing the following: Grab out those wire hangers from the dry cleaner. No. We are not making s'mores... Get a pair of gloves to protect those crafty hands of yours and a good set of wire cutters. Snip off the "hang" portion. That's what I call the little curved thing that hangs over the closet rod. I'm sure it has a name, but I don't know it and am actually too lazy or forgetful to look it up. If you know the name... feel free to sound off in the comments. I thank you ahead of time. Now snip of segments of 6-9" each. If you have a left-over bit, after you've "met" the ends, simply snip off the remainder of the wire. Do this to all of your hangers, depending on how long you want your garland to be.

Bend each segment into a tree form. Some may have two tiers, some one, but none of them should be exactly alike and unless you are totally strong, because this IS the hard part, and totally perfect, the sides won't even all be the same and that's okay. And just a little fyi... mine only have one tier because IT WAS REALLY HARD and I wasn't going to ask anyone for help. I knew I could do it on my own. Homespun. That's what I call it. Do not connect the trees.

Starting at the split but meeting up portion of one of the trees, begin wrapping a set of strips around the wire. Yes, I know it begins to be tedious, but you will see the end of the strip at some time. And when that happens, you'll simply add on another strip, because you want that wire covered. When it's completely wrapped, dip your finger in some glue and tack it to the underside of the fabric.

The first one's all covered? Great! Now attach another "tree" to the covered tree. You know... slightly open the "met" ends... and wrap this tree with a different fabric that's why I said coordinating/contrasting fabrics until it, too, is wrapped.

Now repeat until you've got the length you want or give up, like I kinda did...I only ended up with nine before I pooped out... You've now got a beautiful hand-made garland!

And another little fyi... I display this VERTICALLY. Otherwise I get all kinds of cracks (and trust me it happens a lot at my house... they all think they're comedians... about how much they look like arrows and where are they pointing to... But I love it. And I put it out. Every. Single. Year. Yes. I'm that stubborn.

If I had to do it all over again... I'd probably make sure I only had the thinner wire hangers... and maybe heat them so they were more flexible. But... I don't have to do it all over again. I no longer go to the dry cleaners. I only let everyone buy wash-and-wear. Saves me money and gas (to get to the cleaners!).

Don't totally go! There is more in store for you, so hop along and please comment on each and everybody. 'Cause you know we all love a little love... And BE SURE to check out the "other" Lisa, as she's the one with all the blog candy and sponsor info! Have a great time, and don't forget to come back tomorrow!

Here's the Line Up for Day 10:
  1. Lisa P. - http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com <==== the "other" Lisa!
 ** Shawnee- http://www.sunshinythought.com(Guest Designer)
 **Jenny- http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/(Guest Designer)
  2. Madge - http://www.thescrappinlounge.com/blog
  3. Ashley - http://marinewifesscrappinlife.blogspot.com
  4. Sandy - https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/scrapbook-blessings-club-5722003
  5. Elizabeth - http://CraftsByHappyStamper.com
  6. Angela - www.crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com
  7. Alicia - www.goldengoddessdesigns.blogspot.com
  8. Miranda - www.nanasscrapspot.com
  9. Rhonda - craftingwithblue.blogspot.com
10. Charmagne - http://www.sanurascraps.blogspot.com
11. Barbara- http://barbarab3.blogspot.com/
12. Lisa F - http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com/ <=== You are HERE!
13. Sharondalyn - Http://www.clippingsbysharondalyn.blogspot.com <=== Next stop!
14. Jessi - http://www.mylifeinartsncrafts.co

12 Days of Christmas (Day Eight)

 

Welcome back to the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop (Day Eight)! This hop will take place  November 24th through December 5th. Each of us will be posting something Christmas related each and every day at 8:00am, Eastern time (so for my Pacific Time Zone peeps... that's 5am... But don't worry, you can sleep in, and we'll all be here waiting for you, too!)... for 12 WHOLE DAYS! Let us inspire you to finish up that layout, make some special Christmas cards, or wrap that gift in a fun and festive way. If you've already started, you probably came from Barbara. She is so awesome, isn't she? Let's continue this 12-day crafting party!

Alrighty now and again...  I've said in Day One, I'm starting my portion of the hop with paper things. Things that are simple and easy to do. As with Day Two,  Day Three,  Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, and Day Seven... We are still with the Christmas things meaning all things Christmas! and still with simple [paper] crafts. Today, though... I'm jumping away from paper for a day (or two... or three... who knows?) but still staying simple. One of my favorite things about Christmas in my house is the garland spread around my family room. It all started when I saw something so twinkling and beautiful at a really big commercialized public walk-through Christmas display at the Mission Inn in Riverside... It was GORGEOUS!

I flew home, no... ran home, no... drove home  and hopped on the computer to look up this decorated pine garland. I had to have it. I wanted it throughout my house my family room and found out I'd never ever EVER be able to afford that. It was over $75.00 (that's American dollars folks, and this was over 10 years ago... think INFLATION) for nine feet! So I set about to figure out how to do it in a way that wouldn't kill me hurt my budget too much.

The next year... I stalked went to Walmart and other store several times to find the perfect garland. It was still expensive. My husband said I could just buy a bit each year. Um... yeah... Not gonna work for me. I tried to explain to him the stores that be purchase different styles every year and the little spoiled OCD person that I am had to have every thing just so and our chances of having it match were nil. I was so lucky that the day after Christmas... I was fortunate enough who am I kidding, I was SOOOO lucky! Walmart had a huge amount of the less than stellar pine garland you know the fake stuff for purchase at 75% off. It was plain. But it was a start.

And it sat in bins in my garage rafters for years, untouched.

I added stuff to the bins. I collected shatterproof ornaments... I had over 90 feet I needed to decorate. Don't judge. It takes awhile and I had to get ones that I liked. And remember... I was shopping from the clearance section every year. I collected red ribbons. And I collected lights. I didn't want just any lights. They had to be the pre-programmed chaser lights in multi-color. And lastly, I got a lot of zip-ties cable ties for those of you "have to have the correct name of it type of folk and green floral wire.

And finally, one year...

I clipped the floral wire into 3-inch lengths and looped the wire through each and every single one of those ornaments (it took me a long time!) and then... I stretched it all out the pine garland in case you aren't envisioning like I was, 9 feet at a time throughout the hallways of my house. I laid out a 10-foot strand of lights next to it and zip-tied the lights to the garland (leaving the unlighted end dangling).  I meticulously laid a bunch of ornaments next to it... Yes. They had to be just so. Don't judge me. You know you have POPD, too! Note the meme (picture) from Facebook... if you don't get it...

Then all those ornaments' wires were wrapped around the branches. The next piece of garland was laid out, the lights were plugged in (and the foot of wire was then zip-tied to the preceding set of garland, and then coiled into a bin, completed). And the process started over again. I put four garlands together (36 feet each total, in case you were counting, or adding, or multiplying, or whatever way works for you, because we all know Common Core isn't for everybody. Whatever works for each of us, right?) so it wasn't going to be a pain in the butt to much to handle when "we" (read: my Handy Dandy Husband... I'm short. He's tall. And I'm not climbing up that flippin' ladder to hang it on a 20-foot wall!) put it up. And I did this four times. It was perfect. Again. Don't judge. (See the meme above, if you seriously need to remind yourself.) done and ready for the following year.

I only have the end result in photos. And this is only on here as a project because my 10 year old again pointed out to me it was something I crafted. Duh. I hadn't forgotten, but in my mind it didn't count. And that 10 year old thought other people should know how to save money and do it themselves, too. When the lights go out one year, and you know they will, I'll be switching to LED not because they're economical or energy-saving or anything, but because the brought the yellow back to miniature lights.

See? Now you can do it, too! It only ended up costing me less than $5 for each 9-foot length of finished garland. Because I'm cheap and it took forever to collect it all because I refuse to pay full price for anything. Oh! You wanted to see it lighted? Here ya go!

Just remember, if you do it, too... when you take it out every year, you need to "fluff" it up. The wires all collapse and the garland flattens.

Don't forget... There is more in store for you, so hop along and please comment on each and everybody. 'Cause you know we all love a little love... And BE SURE to check out the "other" Lisa, as she's the one with all the blog candy and sponsor info! Have a great time, and don't forget to come back tomorrow!

Here's the Line Up for Day 8:
  1. Lisa P. - http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com <==== the "other" Lisa!
 ** Anna -http://grumpygrandmacreations.blogspot.com(Guest Designer)
 **Jana - http://www.rhapsodyonpaper.blogspot.com (Guest Designer)...
  2. Madge - http://www.thescrappinlounge.com/blog
  3. Ashley - http://marinewifesscrappinlife.blogspot.com
  4. Sandy - https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/scrapbook-blessings-club-5722003
  5. Elizabeth - http://CraftsByHappyStamper.com
  6. Angela - www.crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com
  7. Alicia - www.goldengoddessdesigns.blogspot.com
  8. Miranda - www.nanasscrapspot.com
  9. Daphne - http://craftyscrapsofstuff.blogspot.com
10. Rhonda - craftingwithblue.blogspot.com
11. Charmagne - http://www.sanurascraps.blogspot.com
12. Barbara- http://barbarab3.blogspot.com/
13. Lisa F - http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com/ <=== You are HERE!
14. Sharondalyn - Http://www.clippingsbysharondalyn.blogspot.com <=== Next stop!
15. Jessi - http://www.mylifeinartsncrafts.co