Patty Jo

I'm a silly person and love a good chuckle! I believe I am a bit on the ditsy side but who's keeping score?! ha On a more serious note: I love the Lord with all my heart, mind and soul! And my husband and children (family) are the most important things in my life! Hope I can be a blessing to those of you willing to torture yourselves and read this blog! LOL

Disclaimer:
Silly blogspot has issues with comments. If you can't comment on my blog don't worry "YOU're not alone"!!! haha It's nothing personal or not that I know of. Because I can't comment either! BUT... If you choose the option: "Name/URL" and enter your name and if you have a website or blog you "can" but don't have to enter it. THEN you CAN comment. This is a just so you know. I don't wanting anyone going away without sharing their thoughts! Or thinking that we have something against them! We LOVE you! :)


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Homemade Advent Tree Tutorial

Here is a short tutorial on how I made my Advent Tree.

First I cut some branches from the tree in the front yard. I looked for one that had forks in them so I knew there would be many places to hang the little packages.

Then I went to the Dollar Tree and bought a ceramic flower pot. I wanted one heavy enough so it wouldn't fall over with all the top weight.  I also found the floral foam and moss there as well.

I had red spray paint at home.
Total so far I've spent $3.00 plus tax.



I cut the branches to the lengths of my liking.  You can cut them long and then shorten them as needed.
I spray painted my pot as it was yellow and not very Holiday looking.


I used a kitchen steak knife to trim away the foam so it would fit into the pot.  This is the messy part.  LOL



I added small pieces back in the sides to make it a tight fit.



We then glued the moss onto the foam.


Below is the semi-finished product. 



Below you can see I bought a silver charger plate from Walmart for .99 cents.  And used Handy Man glue I already had to glue the pot down as my pot wasn't very wide at the bottom and was easily tipping over.  Easy fix!  And now that total is $3.99 plus tax.


As for the little boxes I bought those at Dollar Tree as well.  You can find several different ones but I preferred them to be white or silver.  They came in packages of like 6 to 8 for $1.00.  I have 26 little boxes. (silver and white)  So I spent maybe $4.00 on these.

I used a heart punch that I had from previous yrs. of scrap booking.  And card stock.  Had that too.  For day "25" I used a piece of red construction paper.  Had that too.  LOL  I used a fine tip Sharpee to write each number.  It was the most economical way.  And then glued each one on with Tacky Craft glue.  I also had the white curl ribbon from gift wrapping and balloons from who knows when.  Imagine that I had that already too!  haha


Here is a view of the little nativity Gabriel bought for me last year at the school sale.  It's perfect for the bottom of our tree.  And of course the final gift!


These boxes are from Dollar Tree as well.  They came together inside of each other.  I have 4 boxes total for $2.00.


One other thing I purchased was tiny little zip lock bags I found in the office/craft supply at Walmart.  I paid something like $1.40 for 100 of them.  I had to use these for the candy.  Since I have three children and wanted each one to enjoy the prize for the day. 

I bought small bags of candy from the check out lane.  Keeping it cheap!  ha  M&M's, Skittles, Mini Reeses, Almond Joy Minis, Hershey Kisses, Mini Hershey drops, whatever your heart desires.  I also bought Whales and Dunkins!  :)  Found them in the cracker and cookie aisle at Walmart.  These little bags made it possible for me to put small amounts in them for each child and stack the little folded over bags into the little boxes.  Everyone has something.  And I didn't have to buy all that in $3 and $5 bags of candy.  I spent way less.  More like $1 for some and less for others.  I am not sure how much I spent on the treats but I was frugle and you can be too.

You could put little notes in them for instance that say a hug or whatever little things that would make your children smile! 

I bought an Advent cardboard type tree and booklet last year from the school.  It was a fund raiser for PTO.   We never completed it.  So we are using it to read from everyday to remind us of why we are even doing this and to point us to HIM everyday!

I juggles ideas around before I decided to do the tree.  We like to focus on those in need during the yr and especially during this time of yr.  It's cold outside and people are homeless.  I just felt in my heart that my children needed this special time between us to make those special memories.  We are still serving others and Praise God for His leading in that area!  We don't like to share too much about what we do as we feel it's God's glory not ours.  But our hearts are for people!

God Bless you all!  May you have a Merry Christmas!!

If you have something special you've made or a tradition you'd like to share we'd love the hear about it and even share it here if you'd like.  Be sure to comment and let us know and if you have a blog and want us to post it here be sure to include the blog address below!

**If you have trouble commenting, please use the Name/URL option.  I have to use it.  For some reason blogger has issues with this.  I even have to click to submit it twice sometimes.  ;)>