Inspired by overly priced Christmas stuff? Ever make it yourself?

[putrid]

A few years ago I was in Dillard's checking out the glass ornaments. Happened to see some gold pine cone Christmas trees. They wanted, if I remember right, around $50 for the smaller one. Pine cones can be had all over the place. And if you ask folks don't mind ya picking them up out of their yards. So I made one. It's just as nice as anything they had at $40+ less. LOL This year we happened to be walking threw J.C.Penney's and seen they had some cool fruit topiary. $50 bucks a piece????? Half the height of the things was the plastic urn they were in. So that'll be this years project. I went to Big Lots and picked up for 50% off,
2 boxes of fake fruit. =$5
One evergreen garland with 3 big pine cones. =$4.50
1 bush of big dark read poinsettias. = $2.50

Going to use some of the red berries I got last year. The rest of the red apples I bought over the summer to finish the kitchen garland. Pine cones from my one back yard. A 'bush' of holly with red berries I bought last year. I'll also be using some bits and pieces of fake evergreen I have as fillers.

I'll have to pick up a styrofoam cone and either use a planter I have or buy one that looks like an urn and paint it up. This will be a bit more expensive of a project than the ones I've done in the past. But it'll be a LOT cheaper than $50. LOL

I'll take shots of it as I go. I'm guessing my success average is about 50% when it comes to doing something I've never ( no idea how to do it ) done before. It'll be a how to or what not to do when it's done. LOL

Have any of ya'll seen something and decided you'd be better off making it yourself?

[Sickie Ickie]

That's where I get many of my ideas. I see something, the decide to do it for myself. Lately I've been getting into electronic props (motors, LEDs, etc), so I have hopes of creating things entirely diff for next year than I have before.

I love Whisper's elves for instance, so that will be in my mind as I build.

PS Don't forget to take pics of your steps along the way for your how-to!

[putrid]

Remember those glass Santa heads I covered with oil base paint thinned with linseed oil? The ones that took about 4 months to dry? This project is headed down that road....LOL I've poked so many holes in that cone that if I don't stop and figure things out I'll need a new one. They look a lot easier when they're done. LOL Yes I'm taking pictures. It'll be a 'how not to do' by the time I'm done with it. LOL

[Sickie Ickie]

We learn by successes and failures. :confused:

[putrid]

Learn by failure? But I like kicking a dead horse till it moves. LOL I'm thinking the cone is to big for the amount of fruit I've got. Making a smaller cone by glueing a few pieces of scrap styrofoam together. I'm not cutting the cone I have down. I might need it for something else. Going from a 18 inch cone down to a 12. Might end up painting it green so the white doesn't show threw.

[Sickie Ickie]

Not a bad idea on th epaint. Use H20 paint or latex so it doesn't eat the styro. If you have any left over scraps of extruded, you could make a pyramid or triangle and trim the sides...or maybe a cardboard cone?

[putrid]

I thought about a cardboard cone. Easy enough to make. But because this is the first one I've ever attempted I would like to have something I can move things around on. This project has to be put on hold for a bit. It's below 30 in the garage. And because of that 4 inch by 30 ft gap in the basement it's not much warmer down there. Really looking forward to getting that wall pulled back in place.

I've got pics of things I have done for this project that has worked. When the weather turns for the better I put up a how-to.

Another project I did was the garland for the kitchen. No way I'd been able to afford buying already made garland. Even at after Christmas prices the stuff was way out of reach.

http://www.christmasfanclub.com/picture.php?albumid=29&pictureid=363

And the fake feather tree. Plus all the paper scrap ornaments on it. And the poinsettia tree. And all the wreaths.........all things i wouldn't have if I didn't take the time to learn or figure out how to do it.

[Sickie Ickie]

What's nice is that each knowledge adds to the next project.

[theedwin]

Very true Sickie!

E

[WanderingStar]

Ohhh yeah, that's where a lot of ideas come from... All the pillows we use in our house, my grandmother made them! And they're absolutely beautiful... I'll have to post photos once we start pulling them out of storage.

And you know that recessed colored running lights you can purchase? No no, use those old fashioned outdoor big colored light bulbs... they work just as well, and actually give off a much more fun look! We have these high cabinets in our kitchen, but there's about a foot of space between the ceiling and the top of the cabinet, so I took our old outdoor lights and put them all along that area - you couldn't see the strings (except on the edges, which can be covered with garland) and you could only see these great colors lighting up the top of our kitchen. It looked great, and didn't cost nearly as much.

[chris]

Putrid I just see what you made looks really nice!

[Just Whisper]

putrid, that garland is gorgeous. I am sure your projects will eventually come out just as beautiful as all the stuff you show us. I know you probably have stuff you hide from us (I do) LOL but so far it has all been very nice. I can't wait to see how it turns out.