A (Chalk Painted) White Christmas (Tree).

Did you ever tell yourself as a child that you would

NEVER have an artificial tree?

My parents never had an artificial tree,

and I remember feeling like this made them top-knotch parents.

Well, somewhere along the way,

I fell off the wagon on my way to top-knotchedness.

When we were first married,

I dragged one out of the woods at my parents house,

and we had our first Charlie Brown Christmas tree,

complete with baler twine tacking it to the windowsill

so we wouldn't have any tipping going on.

Suffice it to say,

somewhere along the way,

I succumbed to artificial Christmas trees.

I consoled myself with the thought that someday, 

when our kids were old enough,

we'd get beyond the idea of putting out $30 for a tree that would be dead

shortly after we'd plunked down that money.

Do somebody just say, "Scrooge"?

But before you risk getting your computer screen unsanitized
with well-deserved hissing,

let me pardon my offenses with this:

Earlier this fall,

we set out and planted about 10 evergreens along the fence line

for a future pine-scented Christmas.

Now if we could just keep the "Rudolphs" from rubbing

all the brances off,

as they've already done to one,

we might have a real tree for Christmas

a few years from now.

While at the charity store the other day picking up old bread for our pig,

I just happened to wander around the store

and came upon a White Christmas tree.

(Are you singing it yet?)

Anyhow, I have had this keen interest in white Christmas trees the last few years,

but,

being married to (and mostly ingrained myself in)

all things "Tight Wad Gazette,"

the price tag of store trees just ended my 

"...dreaming of a white Christmas."

Also, the seasoned artificial tree in the attic seemed to call angrily

to me for even thinking of replacing him,

so I thought I'd get the little white tree to sell at the Christmas Open House.

Being strangely nailed to a scrap board

and having patches of dirty, stained branches,

I hosed it off,

and then set about using some 

home-made white chalk paint

(white paint mixed with as much Plaster Paris to get the consistency you want).

The results were a much whiter tree,

more evenly colored.

 One word of warning if you should decide to ad white paint to evergreen type branches:

Painting on spiny needles causes paint splatter.

I realized this a bit late.

 But it washed off eventually.

 After I'd removed the scrap board,

I broke up some unneeded terracotta drain pipe

and put the pieces in a plastic bag in the bottom of a second-hand plant pot.

I then added the Christmas tree stand with tree,

put a few more pieces of terra cotta on top of the tree stand,

and mixed up some Plaster Paris,

pouring enough in to hold the tree firmly in the pot.

After this dried for several days,

I added a scrap of old velvet,

also found at the charity store.

I added some ornaments I made
(and a couple I bought at the Open House Craft Sale to fit the style of the tree)...

 which I will show you how to make tomorrow.

 It is an unfortunate thing that "White Christmas" was not finished in time

to get placed in the Open House Craft Sale,

so it has had to be put on display at our house.

~*~*~*~*~

 I am very sorry I have been MIA this last week.

I wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

I hope it was a meaningful and treasured day for you.

I had an out-of-state guest come for a visit,

and,
well,
let's just say I had to unbury the house

from all the craft-creating debris 

and children-idling explosions.

By the time I was done each night,

my eyes wouldn't stay opened to get here.

 The craft sales have gone well,

and,

I'm happy and thankful to report that I met my goal,

(HURRAY!!!)

and there is still one more weekend of the craft shows.

Here's a 2-sided wall board I adapted from images at

The Graphic Fairy's blog that I did for one of the sales:

 (winter scene side)

 (summer scene side)

 Until tomorrow then:

thanks for stopping in!

Linking up to some of these great places:
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Far Above Rubies: Domestically-divine-Tuesday
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The DIY Project Parade
Between Naps on the Porch - Metamorphosis Monday 
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Keeping It Simple - Motivate Me Monday
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Crafts Keep Me Sane

A Bowl Full of Lemons 

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