O’ Christmas Tree

Christmas is coming a little slowly this year … mostly because I started a new job and even though it is only part time, it has thrown quite a wrench in my schedule.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love the music, the lights, receiving Christmas cards, finding the perfect gifts and making some as well. The one thing I hate is being stressed or feeling like I have to do something. Those feelings are coming on strong, so I am starting to scale back a bit … letting some things go so I can continue to enjoy the season. One thing I have given up on is the tree. I decided since it is still in the box and I have way too many other things to enjoy, I will just leave it there.

I did hang some of my favorite ornaments — the ones with a bit of red in them — on the tree my husband made me from barn wood. This tree lives in my house all year long. I change out the decorations for the season and also include photos and cards from others. And, although I was so busy, I completely missed fall, I did manage to put some special touches on it for Christmas.

I started with picking up a wooden star at Michael’s. I painted it with Distress Paint and hung it above the tree. Then, I added some store-bought garland and my the first card I received this year — from my friend Marilyn.

I think it turned out pretty good … what do you think?

One-of-a-Kind knobs from Home Depot

So you can’t really BUY one-of-a-kind knobs at Home Depot, but you can buy plain wooden knobs and make them one of a kind.

That’s what I did for some of the knobs on my tree.

Wooden knobs sell for less than $1 each and I used paper-crafting products I already had on hand, so these knobs were practically free, as well as being unique.

I coated the first two knobs with Globecraft & Piccolo Embossing Powder. I popped the top on the dabber adhesive and used a paintbrush to coat the wooden knobs with Globecraft & Piccolo Embossing Adhesive. Then I dumped the powder on them and then heated them.

This one I did in Mermaid Tears …

I found that my Ranger Heat Gun was taking forever to melt the powder, so I pulled out my traditional heat gun on these. I had a lot of bubbling as I heated them — caused by the amount of adhesive that was painted on and the intense heat of the gun. I just let them cool for a minute and then hit with heat again until I got a somewhat smooth finish. There are still some bubbles, but since this is such a rustic piece, I thought they fit right in.

This one is done in Vintage Silver.

Next I turned to paint … I painted two additional knobs with Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio white paint. I screwed the knobs through a box to hold the knobs in place while I worked on them.

Once dry, I added some of the new rub-ons designed by Tim Holtz to one of them (I was surprised at home easy these went on and how well they adhered!) Then I coated it with Glastique.

For the other one, I used Wendy Vecchi’s new Red Geranium Archival Ink and one of her stamps to create a background. I thought the red would match some of the red in the barn wood. Then I added a few more rub ons. Next, I coated the entire thing with Glastique and while it was still wet, I sprinkled clear Vintage Glass Glitter from Art Glitter over the top.

It came out a little more orange than I had hoped, but I still love it. I sparkles as the light hits it!

Finally, I had one black knob that I also got for practically nothing at Home Depot. I painted a bit of white paint across the top and then wiped off the very top with a towel and came up with this …

So, the next time you need a few new knobs, consider making them one of a kind with your paper-crafting supplies!