Felt Christmas Tree Decorations!

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For today's craft, I'm feeling Christmassy!  I've decided that I want to make some ugly Christmas sweaters/vests this year and thought I'd get started! Btw, when I say "ugly" I mean "tacky".  I love the overdecorated! 

Anyways, I thought I'd start the holidays off with a felt Christmas tree! It would be perfect for an addition to a sweater or a vest, or even on it's own, hanging on a wall! 

You will need:

• A sheet of a light colored felt, 25-33 cents at local craft stores
• A sheet of a dark colored felt, 25-33 cents at local craft stores
• Hot glue, tacky glue, or fabric glue
• Scissors
• Pen, or something to mark with

All in all, this craft will probably cost less than $1 if you have some craft supplies in your home.

You can make your tree parts any shape, but I chose to do this sort of wonky shape.  I think it's really cute.

Then I just placed my first wonky shape on to another piece of felt and outlined what I wanted it to look like.

Leave enough space on the top to glue it to the next piece.  I chose to use alternating colors, but you could use the same color or all different colors!  I thought it might be cute to use some white felt, to look like snow!

Keep repeating these steps until you have the desired size of your Christmas tree!

This is what mine looked like after I had all the parts together.  Ignore my dog in the background...

I also contemplated making it look even more wonky by making the levels look more topsy-turvy.

This is what the back looked like after I had started gluing.  I made little arrows to show where they would come together, but that's totally optional.  I tried using fabric glue but found it to be utterly useless with the felt.  I ended up using tacky glue and put heavy books on top of them.  If I were to do this craft again I would choose to use hot glue.  It seems to be very effective with felt.

This is all I had used of the two pieces of felt when I was done.

This was what my finished tree looks like! On my leg to show size.  I love my little tree.  You can decorate them any way you want to! I chose to leave it like this and glue it to my vest.

Let me know if you ended up doing this craft! I'd love to see your interpretation.

♥ Riley

P.S. Sorry for how late this post is, I have been very sick.

Oreo Pops!

Here's another very easy DIY that's perfect as a little gift or if you're hosting an event.  

Oreo Pops! 

All you need are:  

• Oreos
• Sticks
• Wilton's Candy Melts in any color

You can buy candy melts here or at Michael's : http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=pg_candymelts

I followed the instructions on the candy melts to melt them in the microwave.  I couldn't figure out the defrost setting so instead I put them in the microwave for a minute on half power.  Then I microwaved them twice for 30 seconds on half power and they seemed perfect.  Stirring between each microwave heating seems essential.

I then put the oreos on the sticks.  This was really simple and doesn't require explanation, but I took pictures anyways.

Ta-Da! Now all they need is to be frosted.

I found that the knife was easier to put candy on the flat sides of the oreo but that the spoon was easier to put it on the round edges.  They look the best when the whole thing is covered, and it keeps it together better.  

Then I held them for a couple seconds [probably half a minute] to help them harden and stuck them on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper.  When I was finished with all the oreos [I had to melt and remelt the candy melts several times] I put the whole tray in the fridge to help it harden.

Then I assembled them in a cute fashion and wrote on them with icing.

[See puff painting blog]

I didn't have a tray available, but paper plates did the trick! My mom had some leftover cellophane too so we tied that around it with a ribbon.

These are DELICIOUS. The vanilla flavor of the candy melts goes soooo well with the oreos.  I think they might be easier  to "frost" with a double boiler instead of the microwave method.  Using  that method you may just be able to dip the whole oreo into it.

Also you can decorate these a million ways! Sprinkles, different colors of candy melts, different designs, the possibilities are endless! They cost me about $6 to make and I was able to make I think about 24 oreos out of the 30 pack.  I didn't buy real oreos either, because you can't really tell with the candy coating anyways.  Buying fake oreos saved me about $2. 

As always, thank you so much for reading and take care!

♥Riley