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25DaysChristmas
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How to Make a Pine Cone Christmas Tree

November 13, 2013

This weekend I decided to knock out a few Christmas crafts, which started with one... and ended with burnt fingers after a marathon of a pine cone project. 

A few IG friends asked me to post a tutorial, so I thought I'd go ahead and photograph and it and share it here with y'all! 



On a Pine Cone Tree side note, I also finished my yarn wreath. Once spring hits I'll show y'all my spring changes to this wreath. 

I'm a sucker for a wreath that will last for several seasons. 

Or at least the one that I just took off my door from two years ago made that statement for me. 


Here's a close up of my bow that I was so proud of! 

I'll probably add out initial in green. 


 Now, back to the pine cone tree.

It's crazy easy, here's all you need:
-Several Pine Cones in several sizes (I used 2 Target bags full of small cones)
-a hot glue gun
-many, many hot glue sticks


 I had read several tutorials using a tomato cage, chicken wire, and every a foam core.

I just couldn't spend the money on those, especially seeing that the foam core was going to cause more work.

Turns out this is totally doable with just hot glue, you just need patience and a lot of time.

I started out by gathering my larger pine cones and making a circle in the floor about the size I wanted the base to be.

Then I took it apart and started glueing the cones together, I jabbed them together a bit then glued anything that was toughing.

Between layers I let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour, and I also let the first pine cone in every layer sit for a little while after being glued.

Yes, I used enough glue to need to wait a while before adding more.

It's crucial they are dried before moving on, it takes a lot of jamming them together to keep from having to cut them down in the beginning.

 (Keep scrolling to get the rest of the directions)


Here's the final product in it's little home in our living room, the lighting just wasn't good enough to justify taking more pictures.


 As you get closer to the top you will need to start peeling the petals, or whatever it is you call the parts of a cone, so that they fit together better. I have a couple gaps that I will probably be filling in later.

Definitely sort through your cones so that the larger are on the bottom and the smaller are at the top. I had a easy go of this, the pine cones I took out of the neighbors yard were all pretty small.

Also, the closer you get to the top, make sure you're moving the pine cones slightly inward. Just enough to create a tree look.

I definitely had to step back a few times to make sure it wasn't tilted.


Other fun ways to do this would be to dip the cones in white paint, spray paint, use spray glitter, or glue on some pom pom balls. 


I seriously think it would be fun to do a full size tree version of this. 

The only issue would be storage, buying Hobby Lobby out of hot glue, and stealing enough pine cones. 


I was definitely warned by Jeremy that I should be happy that the cops weren't called.

I'm sorry, but what kind of a world do we live in that someone can't clean up your yard for you?


Here's a little up close shot so you can see the glue well.

I literally just glued anything that was touching and then glued it some more to make sure it didn't budge.

This actually turned out to be a lot more sturdy than I expected.

So tell me, have you ever made a faux Christmas tree? 
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Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2012

Since we weren't able to send out cards this year I thought I'd just share what I wanted to send out here on the ole blog! I hope everyone is havinga  great Christmas and spending time with family. We've spent the morning laughing at a 2 year old while he opens presents and eating breakfast casserole. The picture is from the top of the Castle Sant Angelo with the Vatican in the background...we don't take a whole ton of pics together lol. I think Jeremy is allergic to flash, or like the Amish is afraid his soul will be stolen. Alas, merry Christmas and we love y'all! 

 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 
Luke 2:16-21


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25 Days of Christmas//Traditions

December 24, 2012

**Meal Pinning Monday is being skipped this week...since I'm not really cooking meals aside from our Christmas Eve snacks and Dinner. 
We never had a ton of traditions in our family. Every year we drive on Christmas Eve we have a little party (not near a big as it was when I was a kid) and make a ton of our favorite apps, afterwards we load up and drive around town looking at lights while drinking hot chocolate. As kids Mom would read the Cajun Night Before Christmas at some point, being that she is a teacher & Nanny was a librarian it is no surprise that we were always literacy focused. When we were young we would go to my grandparents house on Christmas Eve and open presents from them. My cousins always quickly left, so it was always some nice quality time with them. Every year we left out cookies for Santa. Mom just threw this in, but we always made presents for our teachers, we never bought them. I was always involved in children's choir, so everyone always came to watch me sing and dance in tacky 90's Christmas sweaters! 

In high school I dated a guy whose family is from Honduras, so I got the hispanic influenced holidays that my Granny Aida never let us have. (But that is another story for another day as to why my Puerto Rican family never held to tradition) On Christmas Eve I would go with the family to Midnight Mass, while I was always Baptist, I did experience a small stint as a Christmas Catholic haha! We would open presents on Christmas Eve and just hang out and shoot fireworks. I actually met up with his sister, brother, and their spouses to hang out last night and we talked about how they celebrated in Honduras. The big thing to do there is everyone have Christmas parties all night long and to go from house to house visiting and celebrating with everyone and eventually eating dinner at Midnight. The only downside was Santa. It is hard to follow the Santa tradition when no one goes to sleep all night. I was cracking up when my friend's SIL mentioned that her parents would send them to the store for something and when they got back Santa would have already made his visit. 

I can't imagine staying up all night, at least not after our lock-in, but it seems like it would have been such a fun way to celebrate. 

Jeremy and I haven't yet made any big traditions, more will probably come with kids one day. As of now we usually open or gifts to each other before leaving town to visit family. We always know what our actual gifts to one another are, but we wrap them anyway. The surprise always come with stockings. We give each other one filled wtih fun goodies we know the other would like, never anything too expensive. We also make a habit of going out one night and looking at lights together before we leave town. This year we actually went to Celebration in the Oaks in NOLA . 

Since I do have a Puerto Rican heritage I would like to eventually mix in a few of the fun hispanic traditions into our family. It would also be a lot of  fun to incorporate some traditions from around the world, here are a few I found:

Great Britain-
On the 4th Sunday of Advent they attend a Christingle Service where they sing carrols and children recieve an orange and candle wrapped in red ribbon. The candle represents Jesus and the ribbon stand for the blood of Christ and the love of God embracing the world. Chrildren also write letters to Father Christmas and toss them into the fireplace so that they will float up the chimney and fly to the North Pole. If the lists catch fire first they have to rewrite them. 

United States-
Reindeer food (oatmeal, red sprinkles, and hay)is sprinkled in the yard on Christmas Eve so that Santa's reindeer have something to eat. (We actually did this a few times)

Sweden-
On Saint Lucia’s Day, December 13, in the first light of dawn the oldest daughter of the house dresses in a white robe and places a ring of candles in her hair. It is then her job to wake the rest of the family and serve them coffee, buns, and cookies.

Belgain-
Here children believe Santa rides a horse, they leave our hay, carrots, and water for him on December 6th. 

Denmark-
Children leave our rice pudding and saucers of milk for the elves called Juul Nisse. 

France-
Pere Noel brings small gifts in the beginning of December (Dec 6) and comes back to deliver more on Christmas. In France the children get to open their gifts on Christmas, but the parents and other adults have to wait until New Years.

Italy-
It Italy, the main exchange of gift doesn't occur until January 6th, the day traditionally believed that the Wise Men reached the baby Jesus. Italy has La Befana who brings gifts to for the good and punishment for the bad.

Germany-
A Christmas pickle ornament is hidden deep within the tree, the first child to find it recieves and extra gift, the adult who finds it is supposed to have good luck for the following year. 
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25 Days of Christmas//Christmas Candy

December 23, 2012

Every year my mom makes fudge, does that mean I can make fudge? Not one bit. Apparently that skill wasn't passed in the gene pool. I can make fudge sauce that stays at a sauce consistency even when in the freezer for hours...yeah I'm that good at fudge. There are a few things I do, and can make. It just irks me that a person can make a souffle ands gets their butt handed to them over fudge. Fudge! 

Moving on...

Here are some Christmas treats that have recently caught my eye...and I really should be making them sometime between now and the end of Christmas break. 

Chocolate Bark

Easy Fudge with Pretzels

Matzo Almond Brittle

Praline Pieces

Source: epicurious.com via Jen on Pinterest

Christmas Candy Bark

Christmas Lollipops

Source: justataste.com via Dani on Pinterest

Bing Candy

Maple Sponge Candy

Candy Cane Oreo Cookie Bars

Coal Candy

Chocolate Dipped Praline Pretzels

Divinity


Peanut Butter Balls

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25 Days of Christmas//Funny Elf on the Shelf Ideas

December 22, 2012

One of the times I have most enjoyed teaching was last year during Christmas. I was lucky enough to score an entirely Christmas celebrating class and just went nuts. While I taught our regular curriculum, I played Christmas music constantly and brought out a new/yet old tradition...Elf on the Shelf. No joke, it was the best behavior I have experienced out of children in quite some time. I introduced my "not exactly real" Elf on the Shelf (I saved 20 bucks by buying the stuffed doll), read the book to the class, and put that stuffed doll to work. There were a few skeptics, but after a few days of our Elf and her antics they were all in.

The hands down best moment came when I realized one day that the music on my computer shut off whenever it went to screensaver. Ding. Ding. Ding! We had a winner. I came in early one day and set up out little stuffed Elf next to my speakers with her fuzzy little hand on the volume knob. Thirty minutes into a Reading lesson the students suddenly noticed the music was off, and guess who did it...our "Elf". It happened several more times that day, and each time I played it off fussing that she was just interrupting my lesson. The kids ate it up!

When we left a few days before break for Italy I made sure and had another teacher come in and move her everyday, just to keep the magic alive. No sense in thinking it was me all along. A few of those students actually showed up in my room a few days ago asking where our Elf was. I didn't get to bring it out this year, but hopefully I can next year. 

If you have a child who is around 3rd - 7th grade age I suggest you let them read Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever around Christmas. Granted, 5-7th graders won't be in the Santa spirits, but it is a hilarious book! We began reading it as a class a few days after we did the Elf on the Shelf book, and seriously I nearly cried laughing while reading it out loud to the kids. There is one hilarious section where Greg talks about the insanity of their Elf. Seriously it is a must read of kids! 

I'm really hoping to do Elf on the Shelf with my future classes, and even our kids. Here are a few of my favorite Elf on the Shelf ideas from Pinterest. Granted they aren't exactly all kid friendly, but they are funny. 





Source: google.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Paint the kids noses red while they are sleeping...

Source: youfiverr.com via Ray on Pinterest




Source: dailyspicy.com via Sean on Pinterest



Terrible but funny:




Source: wanelo.com via Virginia on Pinterest







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25 Days of Christmas//Tablescapes

December 20, 2012

It is starting to seem to me that this 25 Days of Christmas is a very long post that should basically be titled...25 Days of What I Want Christmas To Look Like When We Are Out of This Graduate School Phase. 

I look around this house and seriously want to decorate, only one problem. There is no reason to. We won't be here for more than 6 months to another year tops. If Jeremy does get an internship in the area I have no plans on continuing our stay on what appears to be Thibodaux's equivalent to Monroe's Fraternity Row. 

We're a little college heavy here people, and I can't take much more. 

All that to say. We are tablescape-less. I've contemplated making things this year, but time has somehow escaped me. Seriously, tomorrow is the 21st! Maybe I haven't been clued in, because, well...we are still in school. Nothing says Merry Christmas quite like a room full of kids...where you work. 

Let's just pretend for a second that Emily has her dream house and the time and funds to decorate. This is what dream in the future Emily would do with her decorating time:










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