An Auburn Themed Christmas Tree

My 7-year-old lab, Delta, posing with her destroyed duck.  War Eagle!

Creating a themed Christmas tree can be a fun thing to do with family and friends.  What kid (or kid at heart) doesn't love a fun, whimsical Christmas tree?  This Christmas, I decided to pay tribute to my favorite team on the planet by building my Christmas tree around an Auburn football theme.  Now, I must confess to the Bammers out there that, as I thumbed through the holiday craft bins for orange and blue ribbons and navy Christmas balls, I was envious that it was a heck of a lot easier to find red and white Christmas decorations than orange and blue ones.  Plus, I found a gorgeous spool of houndstooth grosgrain ribbon that would have made a stunning tree bow; however, the throw up in my mouth resulting from the sheer utterance of that idea is enough to make me take that comment back.  Anyway, without further adieu, here's the tree.  And I've included some how-to tips so that regardless of the theme you have chosen, the following Christmas balls can be modified by color scheme and used as templates for any fun tree:

Basic geometric shapes such as circles are staples in craft projects.  Adding a swirl pattern on top of the circle creates a whimsical Christmas ball that is both eye-catching and fun.  For this ball, I started with a cheap blue Wal-Mart glittery ball and painted (with paint pens) the design.  I finished it off by tying a simple orange grosgrain ribbon.

Names and phrases such as "Noel" or in this case "War Eagle" always look great painted on Christmas balls.  For this ball, I started with another cheap Wal-Mart ball (Navy matte finish) and used paint pens for the lettering.  Use a fine tip paint pen for outlining the letters; otherwise the paint will bleed onto the letters.  Tiny white polka dots add dimension and a touch of whimsy.  Again, I finished this ball off with a simple orange grosgrain ribbon.  Hint:  let lettering dry thoroughly before outlining or adding the polka dots.

This ornament began with a matte navy ball.  Instead of using paint pens, acrylic craft paint was used.  My mother and I worked on these tiger paw balls together. This ball took longer to paint because of drying time.  Wait until the orange is completely dry before outlining with white craft paint.  Hint:  coffee cups are the perfect size to prop your ornament in while drying.  You can paint both sides of the ball (if you are really patient) for a finished look.  This time I tied a pretty bow with the ribbon. 

A little word of encouragement!  You do not have to be an artist to paint, so don't be scared of trying your hand at this type of craft.  Snowmen (again, basic geometric shapes) would be really cute painted on a matte ball with white craft paint.  Simple shapes can be painted by anyone.  Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect if you are happy with it.  And it's nice that Wal-Mart sells these balls in packs of 12 for around $5 per pack.  You can mess up and still have enough ornaments left to work with, without breaking the bank. (Thank you, Henry Ford, and the assembly line)

I must say these 3 plaid fabric ornaments were my favorites to make.  They added a pop of color to the tree and also gave it a rustic, woodsy feel.  I made a total of 16 of these ornaments, mainly because the styrofoam balls come in packs of 8.  Each ornament began with a styrofoam ball.  For the orange plaid ball, I recycled old plaid pajama pants.  The blue plaid ball is made of an old plaid shirt.  I bought the fabric for the navy check ball.  I felt that these three patterns complemented each other.  Polka dot fabric also looks pretty for this project. 

To make a fabric ornament like this, you will need: 

styrofoam balls

Strips of fabric (cut to 1/4 inch longer than the circumference of the ball)

push pins

grosgrain ribbon

Styrofoam balls are easy to work with because they grab onto the fabric while you are covering the ball.  Start with one strip of fabric and wrap it tightly around the ball.  The next piece of fabric should criss-cross the first piece to form an x.  You should make the ends of each strip "meet" in the same place on the ball.  After you have the initial "x", you can begin adding fabric strips in an asterisk pattern, criss-crossing until you cover the entire ball.  After you have covered the ball, fasten the part of the ball where the ends meet with a push pin.  Finish it off by tying a grosgrain ribbon and attaching a loop of ribbon to hang it from the tree, using push pins to fasten the ribbon to the ball. 

Below is a more traditional holiday plaid ball that I incorporated into a swag of magnolia leaves and holly berries.  Again, I used a pair of old plaid pajama pants and a simple grosgrain ribbon:

To tie the tree together, I wanted to create a special ribbon that would complement my ornaments.  I needed a wired ribbon so that it would hold its shape in the tree.  Grosgrain ribbon is heavier and denser, and without a wire, it will not hold its shape on tree branches.  I couldn't find a ribbon that I liked in a store, so I decided to make my own.  I used a 3 inch sheer orange wired ribbon and hot glued Auburn themed grosgrain ribbon in the middle of it.  To hot glue grosgrain ribbon onto sheer ribbon, you need to work quickly and use the cool melt setting.  Dab a single drop of hot glue onto the sheer ribbon and attach the grosgrain ribbon.  Every 6 inches or so, dab another drop of hot glue.  Do not use more than a dab or the ribbon will pucker.  Also, it is important to work on a hard surface.  That is, if you have newspaper underneath the ribbon, it will most likely stick to the ribbon. For me, it seemed to work best to stretch the ribbon out on the floor. 

The plaid pajama pants I used for the orange fabric ornaments pulled double duty as a tree skirt.  The AU was part of the pajama pants, so I just cut each section to the same width and sewed them together.  I ran out of orange plaid and had to finish the backside with orange polka dots.  Although I was a little bummed out about that, it actually ended up looking cute.  My mother helped me sew the orange plaid ruffles onto the navy check fabric.  Since I usually get into cussing matches with the sewing machine when circular shapes are involved, I was thankful for my mother's guidance on this one.

No Auburn football-themed Christmas tree would be complete without football ornaments. 

I bought these wooden footballs at Hobby Lobby and used white glitter paint to outline the existing white part of the football.  I used a fine tip white paint pen to write the names of the Auburn offensive and defensive starters on footballs.  I finished off the ornament with an orange satin bow and hot glued ornament hooks on the back.  Simple and cute.

The finished product.  The tree topper is a tiger ornament in the middle of an orange and blue wired bow.  I used white, blue, and orange lights and I wove orange and blue satin ribbon through the tree along with the sheer/grosgrain ribbon I made. I always say that you can never have enough pretty ribbon!

For those of you who don't follow Auburn football, we are playing the Oregon DUCKS on January 10 for the National Championship.  I bought this toy duck to use in my tree, but before I could, my lab grabbed it and ripped it to shreds.  She was so proud of herself that I had to put her in my Auburn jersey and snap a picture.  WAR EAGLE Y'ALL!  And Merry Christmas!

Curb Negativity with Creativity

"Creative thinking is much more than using your imagination to crank out lots of new ideas. Creative thinking is a lifestyle, a personality trait, a way of perceiving the world, a way of interacting with other people, and a way of living and growing."  ~Gary Davis

While most of us prefer to think happy thoughts on a daily basis, we have all felt negative emotions at some point in our lives.  No one has the perfect life.  Negativity can creep in from time to time and ruin our plans.  Everyone deals with tough times in their own way.  Some of us have healthy coping mechanisms; some of us do not.  Dealing with negativity is especially hard for people who have an idealized view of how life should be.  When life is suddenly imperfect, many people just shut down.  If you are like me, you prefer to internalize these negative thoughts and withdraw from the rest of the world until things are better.    Although this makes my life easier, I’ve realized that it’s definitely not the healthiest way to deal with negativity!  I recently read a very interesting piece about how to use your inner creativity to overcome these negative emotions.  It was eye-opening for me.  It can be found here: 

http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/creativ/muse/omemot.htm

Doing something creative is an amazing stress reliever.   Plus, it's definitely healthier than downing a liter of Jack Daniels or eating an entire chocolate cake.  Or shutting off the entire world for that matter.  Creative projects work in the same way that exercise does.  They stimulate your endorphins and awaken your senses, making those negative emotions shrink.  Doing something that requires the use of the creative thought process is an excellent way to work through your negative emotions.  Some people can find their greatest inspiration in the middle of a tragedy.  Over Christmas break, after finals were over and I actually had some free time, I read this article and decided to deal with the negative emotions that had infiltrated my life by throwing myself into an Auburn Christmas tree of epic proportions.  (I will include pictures in a separate post either tomorrow or next year.  Blogging really takes a lot of time.  Wow.) 

Anyway, after reading the piece, I started thinking about the Christmas that my brother and I both had Chicken pox.  This was way back in the 80's before the advent of the chicken pox vaccine.  I was supposed to be a Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker and I knew every step by heart. Plus, our costume was pink tulle with white sequins.  Who would want to miss that?  I remember being so upset about it, and I remember my mother turning this negative into a positive through creativity.  She pulled out the contents of the Art Closet and said, "Wouldn't it be fun to make an entire Christmas tree devoted to the Chicken Pox?"  My brother and I ran wild with the idea.  We made all kinds of ornaments out of construction paper, ribbon, glue and glitter.  Every single ornament had its own case of the Chicken Pox.  We accomplished this by putting dobs of glue and sprinkling red glitter over each ornament.  This was certainly a fun diversion and before long, I had forgotten about the Nutcracker.  

I’ve always done artistic things, but I never really took the time to think about the benefits of using art and the imagination for anything other than fun. Now, after having to deal with the first truly tough situation in my life, I look at creativity in a whole new light, and I challenge you to do the same.  I challenge you to find a creative outlet for negativity.  I believe that God gave humans creative capacities to help us in MANY ways.  But the one I’m most thankful for at the moment is the ability to KEEP enjoying life in spite of tough situations.  J

The Art Closet: My Unofficial Blogging Statement of Purpose

Growing up, I just assumed making crafts on a regular basis was normal. We had a closet under our staircase that my mother stocked full of art supplies and objects like coke bottle tops, egg cartons, ribbons, etc.  This closet was dubbed "The Art Closet."  Little did I know that most closets under staircases simply held brooms and winter coats.  It took me years to realize that not all houses had Art Closets.  Almost as long as it took me to stop picturing Robin Hood as a jolly red fox during AP European History in the tenth grade.  I’m pretty sure I failed the Middle Ages unit because of that. 

During the late 70's and early 80's, it was becoming more normal for mothers in the South to work outside the home in fields other than teaching and nursing.  My mother, then, wouldn't be classified as "normal."  My mother spent four years at the Loveliest Village and got her degree in Child Development in the late 70's.  The best thing I suppose you can do with a Child Development degree is raise children.  Especially if you were a little girl who grew up in a small town in Alabama in the 60's.  The 60's in Alabama was no Woodstock.  It was basically a continuation of the 50's Leave it to Beaver era.  They weren't burning their bras or the flag.  The only thing girls were burning was pot roast in Home Ec class.  She had a June Cleaver of a mom who made every meal from scratch and sewed nearly every piece of clothing they owned.  She also married her high school sweetheart at age 20.  Roots run deep in rural Alabama.  So my mother taught me the same things that her mother had learned from her grandmother.  Very little social change regarding gender roles had occurred in her opinion, so I assume this is why my mother chose not to work outside the home.

As the world started to change, I'm sure my mom caught some flack from other mothers for not working outside the home.  But my mom never judged them for choosing to work.  Well, okay, maybe she made a few comments.  That's only because other mothers would just assume that my mother had time to "watch" their children for them.  Since my mother "had the time" to come up with all of those creative ideas, they felt like she didn't mind letting their children join in the fun.  And most of the time, my mother didn't mind at all.  She's one of those people who loves all children. Everyone knew that the Heard house on Magnolia Crest was where art projects were born.

Really, looking back, what 8-year-old kid wouldn't want to be in a house where he was allowed to make a mess and have fun?  Most of the children who lived around me were not allowed to make any sort of mess in their houses.  (Visions of "Todd, why is the carpet all wet?"  "I don't know Margo!" are floating around in my brain right now as I remember the yuppie 80's parents who would not let their children have fun in the house)  My mother had rules, but she also understood that children learn best by making messes. 

It's really a lifestyle choice.  You can still be a working mom and create a fun learning environment for your children.  The fact that these moms worked corporate jobs had very little to do with them not taking time to do creative things with their children.  Instilling creativity in your children is a conscious choice.  Don't pawn your children off on someone else.  Take the initiative and build your own creative memories with your children.  Anyway, here I am rambling on a tangent as usual, but the point is: my mother made a choice to maintain a traditional home for her own children, not everyone else's children.  She made a conscious choice to prioritize creativity.  Anyone  can create a creative environment for their children.  You don't have to be an artist, or a stay-at-home mom for that matter, to foster creativity in your children. 

Looking back, I didn't realize how much of a time warp I lived in.  While other moms were doing the corporate 8 to 5 and hauling their kids to and from daycare, my mother was busy pouring her heart and soul into running a household and raising a family with traditional, sterotypical Southern values.  Every waking hour was devoted to family.  Visions of Ralphie's mom (A Christmas Story) are flooding into my brain right now as I remember my childhood. The only thing wrong with this picture is that my dad still does not know how to boil water.  Actually, I'm not sure if my brother knows how to boil water either.  I will have to ask his wife.  I know for a fact that he has no ability to put dishes in the dishwasher because I had to live with him for a year in Auburn.  I hope I cured him of that by putting all the dirty dishes down in his bed sheets.  (I'm not as nice as my mother).  But really, in spite of the absence of male elbow grease in household chores, I have to give my mother major kudos for choosing to be a stay-at-home mom, because I didn't realize how hard it was for her to defy the social pressures of the "Me Decade" to do this.

Quite simply put, my mother made childhood magical with the Art Closet.  Use of the imagination was a requirement from a very young age.  Our art projects ranged from magnets to tree forts.  My brother and I would search for pine cones, moss, rocks, and objects from the natural world to aid in our creations.  My mother encouraged us to look at everyday objects in a different way and try to imagine all the possibilities for them.  On rainy days, my brother and I would pull out the contents of the closet and pile it onto the long butcher block table in the kitchen.  We would work for hours gluing, glittering, cutting, and creating anything our hearts desired.  We made Christmas presents for our grandparents and it was always expected to make our own cards.  Just yesterday my grandmother texted me and told me that the Christmas ornament I cross-stitched for her when I was 10 was still her favorite.  Creating art projects to give as gifts was a way of life for us.  Even my dad would join in when the use of power tools was required.  I remember making bird houses, train displays, and all kinds of other woodcrafts.  These are the memories I will treasure and the same kinds of memories I want to make with my own kids.

The fact is today, most mothers are not stay-at-home moms who have the time or the desire to make time-consuming, messy crafts with their kids.  The clean up alone is enough to make a working mom run for the hills.  Plus, kids today would rather download apps onto their iPhones and play virtual reality games on the Wii.  Is it even possible to hold a child's attention with construction paper and glitter anymore?  Yes!  And it's so important to expose them to simple crafts like these.  As a teacher, I've realized that public schools today discount the value of imagination.  This is partly due to the rapid expansion of technology.  It still boggles my mind when I give a kid a sheet of construction paper, glue, buttons, and glitter, and they ask me, "What am I supposed to do with this?"  When I say, "Whatever you want to do with it.  Use your imagination." in response, they look at me like I've just backed my SUV over their new puppy. 

It dawned on me in my second year of teaching that children without the background in creative projects must be taught how to be creative.  You have to guide them through the creative process a few times before they get the hang of it.  Can we teach older children how to be creative?  Yes, we certainly can.  And we should. Research indicates that America is behind Asia in science and mathematics.  Teaching children how to find creative solutions by using their imaginations (without being aided by Google or technology) is one way that we can improve in this area. 

That random Robin Hood comment I made actually has a point:  we always remember our first encounter with something.  It sets the tone for the rest of our experiences.  The children who asked "What am I supposed to make with this?" probably never were given the opportunity to create something without boundaries.  So instead of giving a 3-year-old a piece of paper and telling him to draw a brown dog with a yellow tail, we should give him the paper and let him make whatever he wants.  Let his creativity blossom, even if you can't tell what the heck he's making.  

Using the imagination should start at a very young age, but even high school age students can benefit from a lesson in creativity.  This blog will be devoted to helping busy moms, teachers, and anyone who wants to tap into his or her creative juices.   Some of us have personalities that are more inclined to be creative, yes.  But I believe inside every human being is the ability to create beautiful things.   

Even if you feel that you do not have a creative bone in your body, try the old Art Closet idea.  If you have kids, I think you will find that this is an excellent bag of tricks to have on hand, especially when the Wii and the Dora the Explorer DVD's start to get old.  You don't even have to use a whole closet.  A basket tucked away under the bed would work fine.  You can start your own well-stocked Art Closet for less than $20. 

Here are some items that will make your Art Closet a treasure trove of creative possibilities:

Multi-colored construction paper

Patterned craft paper (scrapbook paper)

Elmer's glue

Pipe cleaners

White paper plates

Markers

Crayons

Chalk

Craft Paint

Glitter

Popcicle sticks

Cotton balls

Ribbons

Random buttons

Scissors (pinking shears are always fun to add)

Egg carton (to pour the paint in)

The most important thing you can teach your children about art projects is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  If your child wants to paint a turtle orange, let him.  This is where creativity is born.  Don't hold your child to unreal standards.  For heaven sakes, don't make him use a ruler to draw a straight line.  It should not be focused on symmetry and perfectly straight lines.  Many an architect and engineer started out as a finger painter (my brother started out painting the refrigerator with yogurt and he is now a systems engineer).  Symmetry and straight lines will come later.  It's the creative process that's most important, and it should be focused on fun.  Also, craft projects are the perfect time to teach your child how to clean up messes.  Mothers, don't do this task by yourself.  I will post specific projects in future blogs.

Last Minute Gift Ideas, Anyone?



Jazz Up a Corkboard for a Personalized Gift

Fabric MemoBoard

            

Dry Erase/Corkboard

Corkboards and fabric memo boards the perfect gift for someone who already has everything else.  It is also fun for kids to create their own boards to hang in their rooms.  Little girls especially love these boards.  I have made several of them for gifts and they are always a hit. Kids love to help with these projects, but watch the hot glue gun!  There’s really no wrong way to make these boards, so dig in and have fun:

To make a Dry Erase/Corkboard like the one in the picture above, you will need:

1.       Corkboard/Dry Erase Board

2.       Ribbon (1/2 “ wide and 2” wide) of your choice

3.       Wooden cutouts of your choice

4.       Smallish coordinating buttons

Your corkboard can be completed in as little as 15 minutes with minimal mess involved!

Directions: 

1.   Start by hot gluing the ribbon on the outer rim of the board.  Most corkboards have a ½” rim, so ½” wide grosgrain ribbon is perfect.  Just use a steady stream of glue.  Don’t gob it on there or it will not look good.  To finish the corners, cut the end of one piece of the ribbon on a diagonal and glue it on top of the other ribbon end.

2.   Make a bow with the 2” ribbon.  Gluing a coordinating button in the center is a cute added touch.  You can glue the bow in the center of the board or in a corner. 

3.  Take a look at the wooden cutout you have chosen.  If there’s any way that you can add buttons or ribbons, it will give it a personal touch.  This is where kids can really get involved.  (On Jaylee’s owl, I decided to add pigtail hairbows, buttons, and eyelashes.)   Once you are happy with your cutout, use hot glue to secure it to the board.

4.   Monograms always look cute on boards.  For this board, I just used a clear sticker with a “J” on it.  Wooden cutout monograms also look really cute.

5.   Add magnets or pushpins for an extra special touch. 

Bottle cap magnets.  For the first one, I used a glitter flower sticker and a button.  2nd one:  zebra sticker with a "J" sticker and two glitter flower stickers.

Bottle cap magnets are easy and fun to make.  Bottle caps can be used to make necklaces, earrings, belts, and all sorts of things, but magnets are the easiest thing for kids to make out of bottle caps.  Kids love this craft.  Although it's not necessary, it will make your life easier to purchase a 1" round hole punch.  Here's what you'll need:

1.   Bottle caps

2.   Clear stickers of your choice that are big enough to cut into 1" circles

3.   Buttons

4.   Monogram stickers

5.   Round magnets

6.   Hot glue gun

Directions:  Choose your sticker and cut it out to fit the size of the bottle cap (1" round).  The hole punch in the picture above can be purchased at Hobby Lobby and it makes this craft so much neater and easier.  After cutting the sticker to the right size, peel off the backing and carefully place it on the outside of the bottle cap.  Add buttons or monogram stickers or anything you feel like.  The possibilities are endless with this craft.  Hot glue a round magnet to the back of the bottle cap.  Be careful because the metal bottle cap will be H-O-T-T hot! 



Fabric Memo Board



I made this memo board to coordinate with the Owl corkboard for the same person.  Had I been making this board for an adult, I would have used “calmer” pattern combinations.  I just fell in love with the hoot owl fabric and the busy ribbons.  I thought it would be perfect for a sassy 6-year-old girl.  Plan to spend around 30 minutes on this project from start to finish. 

Things you will need:

1.        1/2 yard of fabric (you will have a lot left over)

2.       Corkboard

3.       Ribbon of any width

4.       Large Buttons (or bottle caps)

5.       Staple gun

6.       Hot glue

Directions:

1.   Lay your fabric right side down on the table.  Place the corkboard on top of the fabric and position it so that 2” of fabric overlaps on all sides of the board.  Cut the excess fabric off.

2.   Starting with one side of the board, fold the overlapping fabric onto the back of the board.  I like to tuck the raw edges under so that I have a clean edge to staple.  Clean edges on the back also make it easier to hang the board.

3.   Hold the folded fabric down with one hand and staple in a straight line until you get to the end of that side.

4.   Move to the side opposite the side you just stapled.  It is important to pull the fabric taut.  Repeat the folding and stapling process.  Finish the other two sides.  It should look something like this on the back:

5.   Before I staple any ribbons down, I like to lay out my outer ribbon border first so that I can judge how long the interior ribbons need to be.  Don’t glue the outer ribbon on yet.   You are just eyeballing it right now to make sure that your ribbons are parallel to one another.

It's a good idea to lay your ribbons out first before stapling or gluing anything down.

6.   The interior crisscrossed ribbons should be stapled down first.  After you are happy with your pattern, remove the outer ribbon border from the board and staple the interior ribbons.  The staples will not be visible once the board is finished.

7.   Glue the ribbon border down and finish the corners by cutting one edge on a diagonal. 

     8.   Lastly, glue your buttons to the ribbon intersections.  For Jaylee's, I decided to use the same bottlecaps I used for the magnets.

Finishing Touches

If you are giving these boards as gifts, it is thoughtful, but not necessary, to include a pack of dry erase markers for a dry erase board or a pack of pushpins for a corkboard.  When giving a fabric memo board, you could place a few pictures on the board of you and the gift recipient.  Any personal touch you can add will definitely be appreciated by kids and adults alike.  Happy crafting and Merry Christmas!

Corrie