As we’re previously discussed, the goal this Christmas is handmade, homemade or local. So far, I’ve only made one exception: books for my niece. No matter what the rule is, the exception can always be made for books.
The holiday season can be kind of a weird time when you’re the new person at work or your friends generally fit under the category of “recent”. When you haven’t gone through Christmas together you don’t know what the norm is for them. Do you plan to get them nothing but then they show up in your cubicle with a thoughtful gift? Were you going to throw a few cookies in a red and green bag only to find a gorgeous array of fudge on your doorstep? Best to come prepared. Plus these are all people you want to show affection to- you just don’t necessarily know how much!
This year’s remedy and featured homemade gift will be bell jar style ornaments. I found this idea at My So-Called Crafty Life, a blog I’ve used for guidance periodically. The number one thing you should know about this DIY craft- at no point did I want to give up. It was easy to assemble and fun to watch come together. The second thing you should know- it is not easy to find a lot of the little pieces you’ll want to put into your bell jars. If you’re going to do this project, it might be a good idea to start in November when stores seem inappropriately ready for Christmas. Once you hit December you’ll be very disappointed, staring at empty shelves. (Unless you use the Internet. Word on the street is the Internet has all sorts of fun things.
First things first. Take two-piece, plastic wine glass and shorten the ends. No, I don’t recommend using a hacksaw but that’s all I had. The stems you can just get rid of.
For 5.5 oz wine glasses use a scalloped edge 3″ paper punch to cut out your bases. I took a red piece of thicker paper and used modge podge to glue it to a pretty winter wonderful design on lighter paper. The base needs to have a little heft to it.
Tacky glue did the trick to secure my little guys to the bases. The tallest trees you see here are 3″. Even 3″ was a little high for the wine glasses.
Don’t worry about any glue peaking out from under your figurines. The glitter will cover it up. I just love this little camper from Michael’s!
Use a hot glue gun around the top of your wine glass to secure it to the base. A little homemade paper funnel will help you pour in your glitter. Be generous with the glitter!
Aren’t the books underneath the tree perfect for my book club?!
I hot glued a pearl bead (Joann’s) on top of each wine glass. It’s also how I secured the red twine around the top. So far all seems very sturdy!
I went to Michael’s, Jo-Ann’s, AC Moore, and Hobby Lobby to get all the pieces you see before you.
Michael’s: Better for the more expensive but very different pieces. I also saw a cute VW bug and a little fireplace.
Jo-Ann Fabric: There I was able to buy a mixed bag of mini-trees in a reasonable size. Michael’s only sold them in large quantities. I also found the glitter deer and a couple old trucks I’m going to use for another project.
AC Moore: The first time I went by they had a wonderful selection of tiny deer, trees, snowmen, etc but they never replenished their shelves so I couldn’t buy anymore.
Hobby Lobby: Their Mayberry Street miniatures line didn’t offer many holiday items but I did find the books which I used under 4 of my trees for gifts for my book club members. I also bought the paper punch there which was considerably cheaper than at Michael’s and I couldn’t find it at all at AC Moore.
I really enjoyed this project although I cracked a couple wine glasses, spilled a ton of glitter and had to go back to the craft stores several times. Normally when I find a craft on Pinterest tears and frustration are a component of the end result but I enjoyed every moment of making these.
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