Charlie Brown Tree

Every year we head out to Santa's Pride Tree farm in Bruce Twp to cut down our fabulous 12-14 foot Fraser Fir!  Sam found the the of an old tree laying on the ground.  He used it as a sword and a gun while we hunted from our tree.  I thought it was the perfect specimen for a CRAFT project!  ONE YEAR LATER, it appears to be done!

Materials and Technique:

1.  Martha Stewart glitter and Mod Podge.  I LOVE both!  I painfully applied glue and glitter to the tree.  I managed to get it all over my nice granite counter tops too.  Next time, lots of newspaper!

2.  Floral Foam at the bottom of the pot.  I shoved the tree into it, but not all the way through, as it will not stand straight.  I learned that on my first attempt.  Good thing I bought 3 bricks!  (I also met the nicest Meijer employee that day!)

3.  Fish Tank gravel filled in the empty spaces around the floral foam.  It provides weight and beauty!  

4.  Pottery Barn ornaments that I got on super clearance last year!  They are perfect for the delicate tree.

5.  Hot Glue gun, LOVE that too!  Glued pine cones to the pine tree!  I think it adds a lot to it!

5.  The pot was sitting in the garage collecting dirt and dead bugs.  My husband did not like the pot and it's original off-greenish color.  I got out the SPRAY PAINT, which I also LOVE!  Rustoleum Colonial Red is it's new color.  Rustoleum is the ONLY brand to use.  Not much dripping and great coverage!  

6.  Sandpaper.  It was used to 'antique' the pot.  It brought out some of the original color.  I love making things looked aged with sandpaper and stain!  However, I knew stain would not dry fast enough (or at all?)!

7.  We put rocks, pine cones, glass stones etc inside the pot to add more fun elements!  

Time to DISPLAY!  It turned out pretty good, but not quite as I had imagined!  I think my husband thinks I am crazy!  Crafting is great therapy!

Pita Bread

Missing Photo. These are the large pitas. Some puffed better than others!

Homemade Pita Bread!

Aaron found this recipe in the Detroit News. It was so easy and fun! Catie came up with a GREAT idea the next time we make it...Cut it out w/ cute cookie cutters! I'm going to try it for sure!

Mercury Glass Votive Holders

$4 glass containers from Micheal's have been transformed with a just a few coats of mirror glass spray paint!

Merc

Terraniums

My husband saw this too! I am busy making, just got to remember to water!

Mercury Glass

My husband saw this project on www.instructables.com. I went out the next day in search of Looking Glass Mirror paint, which is spray paint. I took quite a while for me to work up the 'courage' to spray something. It was fast and it was simple! I think it looks great! I bought three medium/small glass containers today. They will get sprayed very soon!

Etching Cream is FUN! Need to make the letters a little thicker, or etch the entire glass instead of the letters!

Sam

The weather people were predicting a HUGE snow storm the night of 2/23/12. It definitely was not as GRAND as they predicted but it was certainly enough to cancel school. The kids were so happy! We haven't had much snow this winter. This snow was perfect for snowman and fort building. I got the idea when I saw two empty shoe boxes in the garage. They ended up getting too wet and fell apart. We used Sam's toy storage bins. After two hours of packing and moving heavy, damp snow, this is what we made! We came inside to dry off, have hot chocolate (with marshmellows!) and eat lunch. Not an hour later, the fort crumbled! What was perfect about this day, we all worked together SO nicely! Everyone treated each other so kind (I am referring to Catie and Max). There was not one moment of unpleasantness. I truly cherrished the few hours we all played together!