Wily Wednesday: Paper Christmas Trees

Welcome back to Wily Wednesday. If you weren't here for last week's edition, take a look!



I found these adorable sparkly newspaper trees on the Martha Stewart site. I have to admit, they do take a while to make and are kind of messy, but I really think the end result is worth it. Martha does have a very helpful tutorial video, but I made quite a few changes when I made mine to make it cheaper.

Here's what you'll need:
paper cutter
scissors
3"x3" square of foam (I used the kind for flower arrangements)
paper plate
white glue
glitter
tree topper (I used buttons, but you can use whatever you wish)
wood skewer
newspaper

Step 1:
Cut newspaper into squares of the following sizes (about 20 of each): 1", 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3", 3.5", 4", 4.5", 5", 5.5", and 6".

Step 2:
Cut out 2" circle from the paper plate.

Step 3:
Glue circle onto bottom of foam square.


Step 4:
Stick skewer into the foam square.

Step 5:
Skewer the newspaper squares you cut out before, beginning with the largest squares, and continuing through to the smallest squares.


Step 6:
Pour out a puddle of glue, and use your fingers to 'paint' the tree with glue. This is where it gets messy ;)
Step 7:
Sprinkle the tree with glitter.

Step 8:
Glue on tree topper of your choice.


I also made these trees to go with my sparkly trees. I did them exactly as the directions say, but I added some cute little button toppers. I love how they turned out!


Now get crafting! You won't regret it.

Wily Wednesday: Dove Gift Tags

Welcome to the first edition of Wily Wednesday, where I will present my wonderful readers with what I like to call "grown-up crafts."

If you're like me, you love crafting, but don't really like the "little kid" crafts. There are more blogs out there than I can count that cater to moms who are looking for crafts to do with their toddlers, but what about us? What about the people who love crafting, but aren't yet blessed with the gift of children of our own?

This is my solution. I've looked and looked and looked some more for inspiration, and I have found quite a few exciting crafts to try.

So if you're as wily as I am these days, feel free to join me in celebrating Wily Wednesday each week (or, more likely, as often as I get the chance).

Dove Gift Tags

I was inspired by Skip To My Lou's Little Birdie Advent Calendar to create these cute dove gift tags. You should really check out her tutorial; it's adorable, but I don't have access to felt right now, so I went in a different direction.

Materials:
Card stock or construction paper (preferably at least two different colors)
Glue
Scissors
Pen or Pencil for tracing
Marker
Little Birdie Template

Step 1:
Print out the Little Birdie Template.


Step 2:
Cut out the patterns.

Step 3:
Trace patterns onto either card stock or construction paper.


Step 4:
Cut out the pieces.


Step 5:
Glue together the pieces of the dove, as outlined on the Little Birdie Template.

The rest is up to you! Have fun with putting on a name, and attaching it to a gift however you want.

Happy Crafting!