DIY Tripod Christmas Tree

      Today I noticed it was already the 3rd of December and after dealing with the inevitability of time constantly passing I thought to myself "should I do a tree this year or not?'

      Last year I bought a sad 2 foot tall, pre-lit tinsel tree at a dollar store and it was so dumb. The year before I tacked up string lights to the wall in the shape of a tree. That was much cooler, but man.... did I leave some holes in the wall. Sorry landlord.

      So for this year, I wanted something a little more grand, but that was still doable in our teeny apartment. Oh, and also cheap. Like dirt, cheap. Nothing says the holidays like being flat out broke.

      My solution at first was going to be to go out and buy dowels. But that requires money! Instead, I went outside and found sticks on the ground. For free!

      You obviously can use dowels if you want. And the length depends on the  height you want the tree to be. I wanted something decently tall, so these are about 6 feet long. 

      It's been raining here for the past few days so the sticks I found were yucky and damp. It you find nice dry, pretty sticks, you don't have to go to the troubling of whittling them unless you like that look. This took me a long time! But I wanted to get this done today, and I like the lighter wood underneath the bark. 

      I am no perfectionist, this is what I ended up with. I did some light sanding, but I'm sure with more effort I could have smoothed them down much more.

      Now you can choose your spot, and prop the sticks up against each other. Using some string, I then wrapped it around all three sticks at the top, and tied them together. 

Make sure to pull tight!

      Then I wrapped the string around, under, and over the sticks in varying ways. This will make it nice and sturdy. It might wobble a little bit, but as long as nothing is pushing or bumping into it, it won't fall down. 

Then I added a string of lights. I tucked in the end of the cord into the top of the tripod, and then wrapped it around, keeping to the outside. I tried to keep the lights taut, but don't pull too hard or you might collapse the tripod into itself. 

      Then you can really decorate it as you see fit! I stuck with a silver and gold motif since I used only white lights. A vintage string of pearls from my childhood also added to the metallic look. 

For a tree topper, I just made an origami paper star and hung it. 

I used this tutorial, here. 

So for a grand total of FREE (sticks were found, and everything else was on hand) I have an impressive little display. What I like most about this, is there's room for presents inside the tripod formation as well as around it. So more space saving for apartment dwellers!

      I guess it's a little more bohemian than the average christmas tree, but I think it'll suit us just fine this holiday. 

DIY Owl Chain (from TP rolls!)

 

      Way back when I was in college, I worked at an uptown art and glass store for a crazy lady. (I mean that in an endearing way of course). One time I was helping her sort through this huge box of vintage necklaces she had gotten a good deal on, but they were all super tangled. She was looking for all the ones that had an owl pendants. "Owls are going to be big" she claimed. Well flash forward a few years and of course, owls are everywhere! And somehow I've been roped in, and my apartment is covered in them. 

      Now I'm not claiming the idea of using TP rolls to make owls. I've seen it done before, but mostly as a project for little kids, just coloring them or jazzing them up. Here I tried to make a more involved project with a home decor type of result. 

You'll need:

Toliet Paper Rolls (I used 5)

Scissors

White Paint

Paint in the color of your choice

A foam brush (or a normal brush)

Scrap fabric or string/yarn

A paint marker

      The first thing you want to do is collect some rolls! Before you shape the ears, cut a nice size notch on opposite ends. This will help when you need to string the fabric through. Then fold down the sides, and shape them into pointy owl ears. 

      Then you want to paint the rolls white. This acts like a primer, and will help the color of your final paint really pop better. After they dry, paint the rolls in whatever color you like. I did 3 in a metallic silver, and 2 in a metallic gold. 

      I did some silly sketches just to prepare for drawing on the faces. Since I was using a Sharpie paint pen, I didn't want to blindly start drawing. I made a different face for each owl, but you can use the same face for them all. This is a very customizable project. :)

      After drawing on the faces, I went back over the lines a second time to help it stand out better. 

      Plan your attack with how you want the owls to line up, and how much space they'll have in between. I used an old curtain for my fabric, and just cut out one long strip. 

      Starting at the bottom owl, use a safety pin, or some kind of object to help reach the top of the owl through the bottom. You might have to open the folds a little bit to ease the fabric through. I used my fingers while doing this to keep the shape of the ears. Continue down the line until you reach the top owl. Tie a loop using the extra so you'll be able to hang the chain up. 

      Now hang those owls up! Originally I was aiming to hang this on a doorknob, but I made it too long, so I found a nice spot on the actual door itself. 

      It feels like owl themed stuff really gets popular in autumn, but owls are a year round thing around my place. So I'm sure these guys will hang around for awhile. Have fun with this easy project, you can totally change what material you use to chain them on, the color of the body and faces, and you could ever go horizontal and make a garland! Whatever your decision, I'm sure it will be a wise one. ;)