By Alionie Georges
Christmas is quickly approaching us. People are experiencing the soothing feeling of love and excitement of the holidays. Families are gathering together to decorate their houses with captivating garlands, dazzling lights, extravagant gifts; some are even getting ready for trips to far warmer places, experiencing different Christmas traditions. Christmas is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated holidays in the world and in celebrated in many unique ways.
Michael Heller, photography teacher, said that his family together at his in-laws to celebrate Christmas. “We really don’t travel too often. My wife makes chocolate candy with her mom; my kids get together to make gingerbread houses and we decorate the Christmas tree.”
Hernajen Tundag, senior, said that she celebrates the holidays at home with her family by having dinner together on Christmas Eve, and they then stay up until midnight and exchange gifts. Later on they then later on play games and do Karaoke. “We also decorate our Christmas tree and we put lights everywhere around the house along with Christmas leaves.We also tend to go all ou and even put fake snowmans at our doorway.”
If you’re staying home this holiday season and are looking for creative ways to decorate the Christmas tree this year, here are a few ways to reinvent your Christmas tree…
Penny Ornament
From pinterest.com
The Supplies You Will Need:
- 14 Stray Pennies
- E600 Gel Adhesive
- Hot Glue
- Red or Green Ribbon
- Black Hair Elastics
Instructions:
Make a circle with 7 pennies (each with a little space between). Then use the additional 7 pennies to layer over the others, filling in the empty spaces left in between them. Once you are satisfied with the placement of your pennies, use E6000 glue to secure the pennies into position and let sit to dry for 30 minutes. Once it is done drying, use colored ribbon of choice to loop it through the penny wreath and make a bow. The last step is to take one small hair elastic and glue one end of the elastic to the bow, while keeping the other end of the elastic open to hang on the tree branch.
Candy Canes Ornaments
From: https://www.marthastewart.com/271314/pipe-cleaner-ornaments
The Supplies You Will Need:
- 3 Different Crafts Pipe Cleaners (chenille sticks)
- Hot Glue (May Be Needed)
- Hot Glue Sticks (May Be Needed)
- 1/8” Colored Ribbon Of Your Choice
Instructions:
Take three 6-inch lengths of pipe cleaner or chenille stick in contrasting colors (like red, white and pink) and cut them to your desired length.Twist uniformly to make neatly spaced stripes. Bend the top of the pipe cleaners into a hook to make it into the shape of a candy cane. The last step is to take the ribbon of your choosing and cut it long enough to be able to wrap around the candy cane and tie a bow (around 4 ½” inches). To secure the bow around the candy cane add a dot of hot glue on the hook of the candy cane.
*If you want the pipe cleaners to last longer you can use hot glue to glue together the pipe cleaners once twisted*
Heart Candy Cane Wreath
From http://www.picrevise.net/edit.php
The Supplies You Will Need:
- Pack of 1-60 Candy Canes
- Hot Glue
- Hot Glue Sticks
- Ribbon
- Small Plastic Snowflake Decoration
Instructions:
First, make the shape of a heart by putting the candy canes face-to-face symmetrically. Then want to cut your ribbon to your desired length, and pass it through two candy canes that are back-to-back from each other (not symmetrical) and tie a knot. Once you have created a knot with your ribbon, glue the ribbon down where it is touching the two candy canes. Then, glue the curve of the candy cane that is connecting to each other to form a heart, and glue all the candy cane hearts together back-to-back in a circle formation to create your wreath. To spice up your heart candy cane wreath, use a small plastic snowflake decoration at the center of your wreath.
Zakiyyha Allsup, senior, said that during the Holiday season she and her family usually travel to her aunt’s house to celebrate Christmas. “We barely put up any Christmas decorations at my house; we keep it to the bare minimum.”
Now, if you’re planning to travel away for Christmas, but still want to make your house feel festive without putting up the Christmas tree, here is a way to decorate without setting up an actual Christmas tree and still keep the Christmas spirit flowing through the house.
D.I.Y. Light Up Christmas Tree
From http://xmasangle.com/extraordinary-christmas-tree-made-of-lights-on-wall-photo-ideas/image-result-for-wall-tree-for-christmas-holiday-pinterest-2/
The Supplies You Will Need:
- A Blank Wall
- Pencil
- Tinsel Of The Color Of Your Choosing
- Christmas Lights
- Twist Ties
- Command Hooks
- Christmas Trees With Hooks.
- Christmas Ornaments
- Outlet
Instructions: In order to determine the size of your tree, draw dots on a blank wall with a pencil as to where you want your tree to have it’s corners. Place the command hooks sideways on every dot you drew so you can wrap your lights around them later on. Each command hook should face opposite of each other at every dot to keep the tinsel/lights from falling off. Take the tinsel you chose and map out the length you will need by following the dots you drew on the wall and cut it accordingly. Take your Christmas lights and wrap it around the tinsel using twist ties to secure them together. Once you’re all done securing the twist ties around the tinsel and the Christmas lights, you can start wrapping the tinsel/lights to each hook to create the zigzag motion of the two dimensional tree. When done, you can start decorating the tree with Christmas ornaments and insert the lights into the outlet & let it shine!
*For extra precaution you also wrap some twist ties around the command hooks and Christmas lights to make sure that it stays intact.*
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TJ Chronicle 