Howdy: Ms Craftyjanjan: Oh girlfriend...... that little thing is to die for.... I just totally adore it !!!! and thank you sooooooooooooooooooo very much for the instructions..... YOU make it sound so easy...and fun !!! and I think gathering up the pieces must be fun to.... I'm so trashy !!!!! but the thing could be produced and SOLD.... it is GREAT !!!! I am just so proud of you for sending it on.... that is very commandible or what eeveeerrrr that word is... IT IS VERY VERY NICE OF YOU !!!! YOU ARE A BIG PERSON>>>>> you know what I mean... I am saying... that is so like us alll.......... we make things... that we LOVE.... cause that's what us JUNKERS and Crafty people do..... we love the making and gathering.... but to do it as a "Labor of Love" that is special!!!! and sometimes... the things... are "ONE OF A KIND" and can be replicated... but not the same... SO>>>>> My Hat's off to you Ms Janet....... (but not for long cause I'm FREEZing to death up here in the FROzen Klondiac!!!) So H A P P Y NEW YEAR TO YOU 2008 !!!!! God Bless !!! SusieSunShine ************* you just keep those IDEAS rolling in a send the pics and instructions... and we Appreciate YOU!!

deborahnj - Ar first I thought that I was seeing things - I hadn't posted pics of my tree yet! I can't believe all those ornaments have survived all these years (esp. the paper ones). Are you going to give those all to him once he's got a place of his own? Anyway, we finally put the tree up last night (after seeing Princess and the Frog and buying teacher gifts, making cookies). Ta da! I'd like to say that *everything* on the tree was made by a loved one, but we've got some store-bought wooden beads that look like cranberries, some Mardi Gras beads that were in the box and DD wanted them, some big pinecones that used to smell like cinnamon, and candy canes we bought yesterday (of course the kids had to sample them). We do have the reindeer with "hand" antlers DD made 3 yrs ago (grownup - grandma? I forget - helped with the eyes) Some stars we bought at Michaels and DS painted (blush - I confess I forget what year - maybe 2001?), several "cookies" he has made in early grades (strange combination of applesauce and cinnamon?). He wants to make gingerbread (no time today - did 3 dozen chocolate cookies and then put a roast in, the power went out half an hour later! Thank goodness it came back on after cycling a few times. Next year's big gift - a generator!) Ceramic stars my cousin made for us (1 big one and 2 small ones) as wedding favors when she got married in 2005, glass ball with small gold beads another cousin made one year (DS wanted red glass ornaments - maybe next year), a buck and a doe we bought at one of DS's school bazaars a few years back And my favorites - knitted skate, stockings, sweaters, etc. that my grandma made about 10 years ago (she died in 2001). I also have some "stained glass" ornaments my siblings made for me about 25 years ago, and a stuffed gingerbread man I embroidered when I was a teenager. I was telling DD that DS had a jump on her, she'd better get crackin' so she made a few more ornaments today - incl. the star on top of our tree. DS actually thought of that one after seeing the straw angel was kind of blah, I was thinking DD could make a yellow paper 5-pointed start but DS wanted a Christmas star (18 points but we were lucky to get 10), and DD wanted glitter but I said foil would be easier (then regretted it as I was the one folding the foil as she taped it). Oh and for zipdee, the stand we got (along with the tree that Mom decided was too big for their house) from my parents last year (though I think your glossy red one is prettier) So much for the elegant blue and silver tree I wanted (and bought all the ornaments for last Dec 26). But I figured DD was still little, we had all these special family ornaments, I might as well let the kids enjoy decorating the tree for a few more years. Yes, we have multicolor (LED) lights! I have to find a Walmart with them in stock tomorrow since it's a new tree and new lights I'm short by about 20 ft.

A little late, but this is our last tree from our favorite tree farm before the cornfields take it over completely. The tree skirt is, quite literally, a skirt! My quilted maxi-wrap skirt from that fashion in the 1970s (think Emily on the old Bob Newhart show). I simplified the mantle in keeping with this year's color scheme of green and gold and natural. The handsome deer are from a bottom shelf at Walgreens! The bells on the right are from the renaissance fair last summer. The little trees have battery-operated lights, carrying the light over from the tree. (Oops the cords are visible today, someone must have been fiddling with them) The Tom Thomson above it all is there all year, but the snow field is especially fitting this time of year! Where are the stockings, you wonder? They hang on the kids' bedroom doors so Santa can fill them and slip them onto the beds, keeps them busy for a few more minutes on Christmas morning!

My father was a chef way back when French cuisine was the thing. He came home one day with a set of castanets that were some sort of holiday party favor. We put them in the tree. I have them. They are all beat up. I must have played with them as a child. I treasure them. I gave the mask ornament to my daughter the year she won in an art show in middle school with her mask. ETA. This is the driest, droopiest tree we ever had. It was slim pickings this year. I keep having to move ornaments around. Really...it’s a perfect 2020 tree.