Pine Scented Car-Freshener Wreath

"...freshly cut Christmas trees and smelling of stars and snow and pine resin-inhale deeply and fill your soul with wintry night..." -John Geddes, A Familiar Rain


Having a fake tree means I miss out on the smell of a pine tree.  I saw a wreath made out of air fresheners while searching the web recently, and decided I could do that, and make it Christmas-y.  Now my apartment smells more like pine than house with real trees probably get. 

Materials:

• Cardboard
• Pine Scented Car-Fresheners
• Bow
• Scissors
• Hot Glue Gun

Directions:

1. Cut out a base for the wreath out of cardboard.  I went with a circle a little bit bigger than a dinner plate.
2. Hot glue the car-fresheners around the wreath frame.  I pointed all of my tree tops to the center.
3. Hot glue the bow to the bottom of the wreath.  
4. Use one of the already attached hangers to hang the wreath up.

Looking for an interesting Christmas tree book?  Try the Christmas Tree Ship by Carol Crane.  It is a story set on Lake Michigan about how Christmas trees were delivered to Chicago and other cities on Lake Michigan by boat.  

Pac-Man Garland

""In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank.  People passing each other on the streets and say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'"  -Dave Berry

The initial idea for a geeky Christmas tree came when I found my perler beads and thought, "these would make great Pac-Man and ghosts.  Since I didn't want a bracelet or necklace, I decided to string them on some embroidery floss to create a garland.  Add a few white beads in-between for the Pac-Man to eat, and you've got an amazing garland.

Materials:

• Perler beads (yellow, black white, blue, red, purple, and green).  
• Perler bead peg board
• White pony beads
• Embrodery floss
• Iron
• Sewing needle
• Hot Glue

Directions:

1. Make 20+ of ghosts and Pac-Mans out of perler beads.  Iron together.
2. Using your sewing needle attach altering Pac-Man, beads, and ghost along the floss.  Use hot glue as needed to hold the beads into place.  

Add little bows to the Pac-Man to create Ms. Pac-Man for a variation. 

Angry Birds Ornaments

"Something about an old-fashioned Christmas is hard to forget." -Hugh Downs

If you didn't know, I love Angry Birds.  So, of course the Angry Birds made their way onto my tree.  The red bird and the pig, specifically, made the cut. 

Pig Ornament

Materials:

• Green Bulb
• White Paint
• Dark Green Paint
• Black Puff Paint

Directions: 

1. Paint an oval nose on with dark green paint. With the same paint paint a smaller half oval right below the bigger oval.
2. Paint two white circles for eyes. Let dry.
3. Outline the eyes and nose in black puff paint.  Add a dot for the pupils and two ovals in the large oval for nostrils.

Red Bird

Materials:

• Red Bulb Ornament
• Gold Paint
• White Paint
• Black Puff Paint

Directions:

1. Paint a large white oval for the belly and two smaller white circles for the eyes.  Let dry.
2. Over the larger oval and between the eyes, paint a gold triangle for the beak.  In the same color, paint a small semi-oval directly below the triangle. Let dry.
3. Outline everything with black puff paint.  Add dots for pupils and draw in eyebrows to make the bird angry.

Although sometimes during the Holidays I feel as cranky as the bird, or as bloated as a pig, I just can't help but smile knowing the ornaments are part of my geeky tree.

Peppermint Candle

"My first copies of Treasure Island and Huckleberry Finn still have some blue-spruce needles scattered in the pages.  They smell of Christmas still." -Charlton Heston

This is the first of my smells of Christmas posts.  There is nothing like peppermint: in candy canes, hot cocoa, or cookies.  It screams Christmas to me!  This candle looks the part of Christmas, but hopefully, when lit it smells like it too!

Materials:

• Small Pillar Candle
• Peppermint Candies (unwrapped)
• Hot Glue

Directions:

1. Hot glue peppermint candies onto candle.

It really is as simple as that.  Enjoy the candle and the leftover peppermints!

Kirby Ornament

"Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store." -Dr Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

I love the splash of color this Kirby ornament adds to the tree.  It definitely grabs my attention when I wander by.  I always played as Kirby when playing Super Smash Bros., so he needed to be a part of my tree.

Materials:

• Bulb ornament
• Pink, blue, white, and red paint
• Black puff paint
• Blush
• Paint brushes

Directions:

1. Paint the whole bulb pink.  Let dry.
2. Paint two blue ovals for eyes and a red half a circle for the mouth. Let dry.
3. Add a small drop of red paint to some pink paint.  Mix together and use this color to paint Kirby's tongue.
4. Outline the blue ovals with black puff paint and draw in a black circle at the top of the eye. Let dry.
5. Using the back of the paint brush Dot two white dots onto the black circle.
6. Using the blush, lightly brush on some colors for his cheeks.

Enjoy another geeky ornament to add to your tree!

Zelda Health Ornament

"Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'" - Bing Crosby


Christmas is a time of heart and soul.  It is a time to count our blessings.  Also, to use that time off to play some video games.  This ornament is based on the Legend of Zelda heart shaped health.  I love this ornament, not sure why.  

Materials:

• White felt
• Red felt
• Polyfill
• Needle 
• Thread
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Cut out two red hearts and a half a heart.  
2. Lay the hearts out over the white felt and cut out an outline around them.
3. Cut out another piece of white felt in the same shape.
4. On one of the white felt pieces, sew on the red hearts.
5. Sew the two white pieces together, leaving some room for stuffing.
6. Stuff with polyfill, and sew the pieces together.
7. Attach a loop of thread in order to hang it on the tree.

Now you will always have health for the holidays.  

Book Purse

"The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live." -George Carlin

Looking for the perfect gift to make for that book loving fashion-ista in your life?  I would recommend this book purse.  All over the internet you can find people making these purse and even giving instructions.  That was great, except for the fact that they actually took the book apart.  That hurt my heart a little bit.  It is alright when I do that to craft books from the 70's.  (Yes, I know macrame was popular once upon a time).  However tearing apart a book just because you like the design on it or (gasp) like the book kills me a little.  I decided that I was going to take the ideas from the hard covers, and use the book jacket to make my purse.  Simple, cute, and functional.  

Materials:

• Book Jacket
• Purse Handles
• Fabric that goes well with the book jacket
• Cardboard
• Velcro
• Liquid Stitch
• E6000
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Cut cardboard to match the size of your book jacket (minus the inside flaps).  Glue cardboard to the jacket and inside flaps to the cardboard. 
2. Cut four strips of fabric and using the liquid stitch, glue them in thirds length wise in order to hide the cut ends.  (If available I would suggest using a sewing machine).
3. Put these through the purse handle attachments and attach the ends together with liquid stitch.  Glue these to the book using E6000.
4. Cut out a piece of fabric the same size as the book jacket.  Glue this to the inside of the book jacket using E6000.  (I didn't, but I would suggest hemming the fabric first for a cleaner look). 
5. Cut four rectangle fabric pieces that will fit the sides of the book and have room for overlapping.  
6. Hem these pieces and glue them together so you have two rectangles with the patterned side of the material on all sides. (Again, if you have access to a sewing machine I would suggest using that).
7. Using E6000 glue these into place on the sides.  I had to let the sides dry over night before I could glue the bottom of these fabric piece into place.  (If you want a less sticky method, try the method I found later at Instructables).
8. Hem another rectangular piece of fabric.  Glue this on the back, middle-top side of the purse for a pocket.
9. Finally, glue two pieces of Velcro on the purse.  This will make sure that it can seal.

This months book club book was The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst.  It was an easy read, at a time of year when that should probably be appreciated.  The female protagonist in this story owns a book store, which holds a dear place in her heart.  Alexa would be proud to tote around such a cute purse, and still have the actual book to read later.