O Christmas Tree

I was really excited about our Christmas tree this year. It started when Ethan was playing with an empty baby food jar. I realized that those things are fairly indestructible. Suddenly I was looking at the jar in a new way. With the label gone, it was really quite pretty. I decided to make some ornaments. I didn't have enough time to make all of my ideas, but I was happy with the way the ones I did make turned out.

I hope you like the pictures Terral took for me. I asked him to take them during the day because I love the way the sun looks through the glass. Also, we have LED lights, and the blue just kind of throws everything off. I need to get some white lights.

For the jar ornaments, I spray painted the lids, and then used jute twine and hot glue to decorate the jars. Next year I'd like to gather mini pine cones to put in some of the jars, and maybe do something with glitter or shredded sheet music. But this year I kept it pretty minimal.

I really like the snowflake ornaments. I made some extra for gifts to friends, and I filled them with candies.

I really like the look of this one with the red and white striped candy. I actually didn't hang any like this on the tree, but I had several of them on the piano.

For the bell garland, I got some copied sheet music and aged it with tea. Then I used a bell punch I got at a thrift store for $2 and punched out a bunch of bells, making sure to utilize the notes well. Then I sewed them all together on my sewing machine. I really like the way it looks, but it was kind of time consuming, and is rather fragile. Not the best thing with a babe around. On the up side, it cost next to nothing, and I can always make more.

My mom gave me these violin ornaments several years ago.  I only have three of them, but maybe someday I'll get some more. I love taking them out of the box every year and thinking of my mom, my years studying music, and all the times my family has supported me in that. Music means so much to me. There's a reason why Christmas Carols abound. What better medium could we have for praising our God?