Make your own Christmas Tree

My favorite Holiday tree was free. 

During my divorce, I took my children, then ages 8,7 and 2 and left Dallas with a bag of toys and a few clothes for a simpler life in the country. I hadn't landed a job yet and was very fortunate to have scored the most charming yellow frame home nestled in the woods in North Texas.  (Much like the one above by dreamstime) The home was large enough for the four of us and had tons of feminine touches that just whispered, "A girly head-of-the-house lives here". 

The kids and I had only been there a couple months when Christmas approached.  I never let on that finances were nearly non-existent.  I believe it was my son that asked a second time about a Christmas tree.  I never liked spending the Holiday budget on decorations much less a tree but always had.  This year it wasn't a choice.

The kids and I went  walking on a Holiday adventure with Halloween buckets, trash bags, scissors and a knife.  They, of course asked for my plan.  Aas usual I didn't have one but explained we were going to build a tree and all the ornaments.  My faith in improvisation and a vague reply pacified each of them.

We meandered through the winter woods and gathered anything and everything they found appealing.

Branches, twigs, leaves and dried flowers came home with us that day.ffed in our Halloween bucket, a pillow case and a garbage bag.  Even a few large stones accompanied us as they were to serve as a base to support our tree. 

We then separated according to thickness.  I took shoe strings, bread ties and torn fabrics and secured twigs together and then stretched out wire hangers for the larger support.  I stuck it down in the Halloween bucket that I knew would be filled with the stones for steadiness.  Hairspray then became an adhesive where the kids had the most fun of all!  They threw flour mixed with glitter all over the homemade tree.  Some stuck. Some didn't.  But it did have a cool look, much like the decorative floral picks you see in craft stores today! Plus, it was so much more memorable than having to be pushed around in a shopping cart and told not to "touch"!

The decorations....Hours of play based solely on improvisational skills, imagination and individual taste.  The leaves were dusted with glitter after stringing thread through them to hang through the tree. 

The baby's breath and other dried flowers were hung upside down and tied after scrunching them into a round shape as if a ball.  Twigs became hearts, a straw bundle became stick men type elves, and silver foil was cut into snowflakes.  Rustic Glamour with simplicity in mind is how one might describe it, but to me, it was .....

                                     My Favorite Christmas Tree that happened to be FREE! 

I hope you'll comment on memorable "homemades" you've shared through the years.....