Simply Homemade: Inverted Christmas Tree

*Another Simply Homemade post! To see the other ideas, start here.

I am a little nervous about this post.

I’m just not sure you all are going to be able to stick with me when I show you my crazy project. I should trust you by now–after all, you’re still here even after I hung a metal mattress spring on the wall and called it art.

But I may have crossed the line this time.

It all started years ago when a woman at our church hung a full-sized, decorated Christmas tree upside down from the rafters in the foyer of our sanctuary. It was all lit up and massive, and when I walked into church the first Sunday after she did it, I gasped because I had never seen anything like it before. It was a Christmas tree chandelier!

That tree caused no small disturbance in our small community. I mean, an upside down Christmas tree? What does that even mean? It could be sacrilegious and since that was before the Internet was really a thing, no one could Google it so no one knew for sure.

Some people liked it and some people hated it and practically everyone agreed that the board should have been notified before a Christmas tree was hung upside down in church.

Personally, I couldn’t wait to grow up and make one of my own.

So this year, I did.

Inverted Christmas tree and mattress art

Now, before you disown me, let me say that we have since arrived in the modern age so I Googled “What does an upside-down Christmas tree mean?” before I actually hung one from the ceiling. To my relief, Google assured me that an upside-down Christmas tree is no more irreligious than a regular Christmas tree. So that’s good. I think.

Also, you will notice that my inverted Christmas tree is ombre. I’m probably about three years too late for the ombre trend, but such is my life. For instance, I have finally made my peace with chevron and I’m pretty sure that trend is over too.

Anyway, I thought the shape of an upside-down Christmas tree lent itself to a variegated color scheme, so I went for it, trend or no trend.

Is ombre over?

Also, I had the little problem of the color scheme in our rental house. I had to pick colors that wouldn’t clash with the mustard-on-terra-cotta look we have going on. So, that’s not hard.

I could have gone with plain gold or silver ornaments, but I wanted something with more impact. So, I decided to start out with rich chocolate ornaments, fade to deep crimson, then copper, gold, and finally, silver.

Anyone want to talk to my landlord about those walls?

You could do an ombre tree in any colors your husband won’t divorce you over. I think deep purple fading to silver would be fantastic (except it wouldn’t look good next to mustard-fading-to-ketchup walls). I was tempted to go with various shades of green, but since I already had quite a few gold, silver, and burgundy ornaments in my stash, I decided to spend a little less on “charitable giving” to Hobby Lobby this year and use what I had.

If you’re still reading this post, you might want to make an inverted Christmas tree yourself. Or, perhaps, you wonder how I convinced my husband that Hobby Lobby is a home for disenfranchised children and all those credit card charges are really donations to charity.

It’s simple (the tree, that is). This is what you’ll need:

An artificial tree (mine is 3′)

Lights!

Ornaments! Go ombre or go home! Just kidding. You can decorate however you like. I’m not a hater. Just make sure you have a LOT of ornaments (see below).

Ribbons!

A ceiling hook. I used two Monkey Hooks because they hold a ton of weight.

Green floral wire

Ombre inverted Christmas tree at night

How to Make an Inverted Christmas Tree

(Ombre Optional)

1) Discard the flimsy little legs that come with your tree and make sure that the trunk has no moving parts that might come loose when you flip the tree upside down. If it does, toss those too. You want a solid trunk, nothing more.

2) Wrap floral wire around the trunk to create a loop by which to hook the tree from your ceiling.

3) Wrap lights and ribbon around your tree. Wrap the ribbon all the way up the trunk to the ceiling to cover the hook so it looks like the trunk is going right into your beautiful popcorn ceiling (see below for a flashback to the ceilings of yesteryear).

4) Now you can start adding ornaments. You’ll need a lot. I mean, somewhere between a bazillion and a gazillion. You might think you have enough when you start this project, but you are wrong. Then you will go to the store to buy some more, but you will be wrong again. Just get them all. All the ornaments you can find.

Fortunately, you can pick up ornaments on the cheap at thrift stores, garage sales, or the Hobby Lobby Home for Disenfranchised Children (wink, wink). Place a few special ornaments in strategic places and they will “hide” the cheaper ornaments.

Wire the ornaments directly to the branches so they won’t fall off. If you secure them well enough, you may be able to store them on the tree when the season is over.

5) Stand back and admire your work! Or, if you’re insecure, stand back and wonder if an inverted Christmas tree is just plain weird.

An inverted Christmas tree and a quiet place to write

I happen to like the way it looks over the little freebie desk I decoupaged. I would even go so far as to suggest that this would be a great project to make for someone who can’t have a Christmas tree because of pets or small children, or for the couple that’s just starting out.

Or maybe it makes the perfect place to sit and spend a silent night. And couldn’t we all use one of those?

*Tomorrow’s Simply Homemade project is not upside-down at all. But it does involve duct tape. In other words, it’s one for the guys.

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Simply Homemade: Craft a Peacock Lamp Shade

Christmas does not have to break the bank. In fact, it shouldn’t. Going into debt or spending more than you should is no way to show people you care about them. That’s why I began this Simply Homemade series. I wanted to release you from the obligation to spend too much by coming up with some creative gift alternatives you can make yourself.

Every single idea I’ve shown you so far can be made in very little time and requires no special talent, fancy equipment, or complicated directions. They’re just simple.

Today’s idea is no exception.

How to Craft a Peacock Lamp Shade

This project is so simple, you really don’t need a tutorial for it.

I purchased a couple of accent lamps at a home store for under $10 each. They are pretty enough, but the lamp shades are kind of eh. Certainly, they wouldn’t make a very memorable gift, not with vanilla lamp shades that aren’t special at all.

Fortunately, it takes very little effort to transform a boring lampshade into something one-of-a-kind. All you need is a bit of ribbon, a peacock feather, and an interesting jewelry finding. If you don’t have peacocks running around your yard, you can order feathers here.

Pre-embellishment

A dear friend of our family gave me a bunch of peacock feathers a few years ago. She collected them from the peacocks that roam about her mother’s property on Whidbey Island, Washington. Every year, the birds molt, and she goes about picking up the long, jeweled plumes because they are too beautiful to leave out in the misty rain.

That’s one of her feathers in the picture above. You’d better believe I moved those babies all the way from Washington to Texas this summer, even when the packers looked at me funny and none of them could find a box the right size.

Using fabric glue, I wrapped the ribbon around the top of the shade, being sure to start and end on the seam that was already there (neatness counts). I tried to use as little glue as possible because my ribbon is sheer and I didn’t want globs of glue to show.

The ribbon was a bit too sheer for me, so I wound it around a couple times, secured it with the clip, and let the glue dry.

Then I created a bow, ran the shaft of feather through it, arranged it the way I wanted, and secured the whole thing with a jewelry finding and some hot glue. The jewelry finding is important because it hides and holds the feather in place, but you could use anything you like, from a button to an old key. I just happened to have a couple of those faceted gems leftover from another project (besides, I kinda liked the added bling).

That’s all there is to it.

I love how this lamp looks when it is off or on. When the lamp is off, the peacock feather adds a splash of sophisticated color.

Peacock lamp shade OFF

When the lamp is on, the peacock feather looks like a pencil sketch.

Peacock Lamp Shade ON

I made a pair of these with slightly different bases to give away.

But for now, they’re adding a little light around the corners of my rooms. I love having little pools of light in unexpected places around my home. Don’t you want to walk into a room where a cozy light is shining?

That’s what makes this gift so great. Most people like light, and in the winter, we never quite get enough of it. Give one or two hand-finished lamps and it’s sure to be appreciated.

Another project is coming right up! Stay tuned for another simply homemade idea tomorrow.

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Simply Homemade: Snowman Votive Ornaments

A few weeks ago, a friend shared a cute idea on Facebook. Someone had taken an LED votive candle and turned it into a snowman by drawing eyes on the candle and plunking a little top hat on its head.

The idea was super clever, and I had a dozen little votive candles left over from my Pottery Barn knock-off chandelier project. What a great way to use them up!

But the snowmen I saw were kind of…boring. Drawn-on eyes were cute, and top-hats are nice, but I wanted my votive snowmen to be extra-special because I wanted to give them to my kids for their Christmas ornaments this year.

I wanted my snowmen to have real knitted hats and eyes that looked like rocks, just like real snowmen. I wanted cheery scarves and rosy cheeks and sweet little smiles. In other words, I wanted to take a bunch of boring, old LED votive candles and turn them into something my kids would treasure.

I stared at my votive candles, and soon, and idea began to take shape.

From votive to snowman

This is exactly what I had in mind for my kids’ ornaments. What a sweet little snowman he turned out to be!

If you’re like me, you’re going to want to make a whole tribe of these to give away. And why not? They’re much easier to make than a real snowman, and you won’t even have to put your mittens on to do it. But go ahead and sip some hot chocolate while you work. It helps to make better snowmen, trust me.

How to Make Snowman Votive Ornaments

Make a snowman hat out of an old sweater

I wanted to make snug little hats for my snowmen, but I can’t knit. Besides, who has the time for that? Instead, I rustled around in my stash of clothes destined for the thrift store and found the perfect red sweater. Fleece would have worked well, or just about any fabric that has a little stretch to it.

It only took a few minutes to make hats for all five of my snowmen ornaments. You can probably figure it out from the photos above, but just in case, here’s the step-by-step.

1) Cut a strip of fabric about twice as long as the votive, but not quite twice as high.

2) It works best if the fabric scrap is shaped like a trapezoid. If you don’t remember what a trapezoid looks like (high school geometry was a long time ago, I know), see the photo above.

3) Use a glue gun to put a strip of glue at the top of the trapezoid. If you have a sewing machine, you could sew instead of glue, but there’s no need to be an overachiever.

4) Pinch the fabric together to form the top of the hat. Don’t burn your fingers!

5) Glue the back seams together.

6) Roll up the bottom of the hat and secure it with a bit of glue.

Ta-da! Your snowman won’t be bald!

Finish the hats with jingle bells and pom-poms. I also added little touches to each one like sequin “snow” and holly berries made out of beads because I think these details elevate the gift from homemade to hand-crafted. It doesn’t take much more time to add the details, but the overall impression is that someone cared enough to make it special.

Glue the hats to the tops of the votives, being sure not to block the “on” switch on the back, or access to the battery. You’re welcome.

Use a pink permanent marker to draw rosy cheeks on the faces, then use two different sizes of seed beads for the eyes and mouth. If you’ve got Super Glue, use it. Hot glue makes too much of a mess on these tiny beads, but you need a strong glue or they will pop off.

Snowman votive ornaments

Pick out some Christmas ribbon, tie it in the middle, and glue it off to the side of your snowman’s “chin” for a scarf. A few inches is all you need!

I bought a bunch of Christmas ribbon on clearance last year so I happened to have enough different kinds of red ribbon to give each of my five snowmen a different scarf. My kids will love the fact that they each get their own, unique snowman ornament. No two scarves or hats are the same!

What do you think? Are you ready to make a batch of cheery snowmen for yourself? You can order votive candles here to get started.

Don’t forget to pin this idea to your Christmas board, or share it with a friend so they can make one for you!

Variations: These snowman votive ornaments don’t have to be saved for the tree! Here are some ways they can be used to brighten up the holidays.

Use them with a gift tag to decorate your wrapped presents.
String them on a ribbon and make a decorative garland for the mantel or mirror.
Tie one to a gift card to add a little personal touch to an otherwise impersonal gift.
Add a magnet to the back and bring a little Christmas cheer to the fridge!
Place the snowmen on an outdoor wreath and turn the candles on when expecting company.
Put one by your child’s bed as a night-light.

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