Last Minute Craft Time!!!

So, Christmas is just two days away!!! I know 99% of you have your trees up and decked out, but if you're apart of that last 1% that's still squeezing in last minute decorating into these final hours, then you may find these quick and easy ideas pretty useful.

If any of you are friends with me on Facebook, then you may have already seen this pic of our family's first Christmas tree...

I'm not your traditional Christmas kind of girl. The red and green do nothing for me, since it's not really my style. I just think your tree should have the personality that your house and family have. I admit that our tree probably has a little bit more of my personality than Mr. Marcus's or Davin's, but they love it just as much as I do.

Y'all know I'm always looking for a bargain. I found this actual tree at Goodwill for just $25 dollars! It wasn't pre-lit (boo), but I did find three sets of white lights with green cords at the same Goodwill for just $5 for all three. That's $30 for a lush 6.5 ft lit tree! I'm sorry, but you just can't beat that. Most of the ornaments on the tree came from Walmart and Hobby Lobby at dirt cheap prices (usually $5 for a set of 12). This year, I wanted the tree to coordinate with the rest of the living space, so I went with a navy blue, lime green, brass, gold, silver & natural theme. I really love how it all came together.

Now, I get to tell you how those funky pieces came to be. Funky pieces, as in the the rope-wrapped ornaments, the string balls & the yarn balls, of course. They were soooo easy to do that it's almost ridiculous to tell you how to make them.

For the rope-wrapped ornaments, I just took one the store bought ornaments and hot-glued some 1/4 in rope I had on hand around and around and around and around the ornament until there was nothing else to cover up. It looked a little something like this:

For the string balls, all you need is some yarn (in any color you choose), some Elmer's or clear drying glue, a tiny bit of water to dilute the glue, and a couple balloons. This one is just as simple as the first. You only pull about 8-10 yards of yarn, dip in your slightly diluted glue, then wrap it randomly around the balloon. Tie a loop around the knot of the balloon and hang them to dry out over night. Once their completely dry, use a chopstick or even a pencil to gently separate the string from the balloon. Then all there's left to do is just pop the balloon and pull out the pieces. Here are a few pics of how this all looks.

The last and easiest tree ornament is the yarn ball. Seriously, all you need is yarn and a balloon. That's it! First you blow up the balloon. Then you wrap it in yarn until you can't see the balloon any more. There's nothing more to it. See below.

These ornaments are fast, cheap, and easy to do. If you guys don't try these out this Christmas season (the next couple days), keep them in mind for next year!

Mr. Marcus, Davin & myself would like to wish all you amazing people a wonderful, blessed & merry Christmas weekend. We pray blessings upon you and yours!

UNCOMMON GROUND: Video FAIL : (

Hey guys. So Uncommon Ground was supposed to make a come-back today with a new video feature, but go ahead virtually roll your eyes at me...yeah...you already know...

So what had happened was:

1. Mr. Marcus and I made a video, "Honesty: How much is too much?" We even broke out his video camera and set up our own version of a Good Morning America sound stage to record the 10 minute long masterpiece. But when it was time to upload the vid to my laptop, an all-important cord went missing. And who knows how long it's been missing...maybe even a couple years. So, needless to say...fail.

2. I was a little bored with the honesty video, so Mr. Marcus and I made another video... about acceptance. This time, with my iPhone, for easy uploading. Everything went well; we squeezed out another 10 minute long session; and while watching the playback, I HATED it. It was 10 minutes long because I was talking all slow and rambling about things that weren't even relevant to the topic. It was so bad.

3. I talk to Mr. Marcus about a re-do, he obliges, we start the redo, I stop the redo, I make a few "suggestions", and Mr. Marcus decided he didn't want to do it anymore. We went to bed.

4. I start to write a post about acceptance...had a little inspiration from a real life situation. And out of respect for a few people, that post got tossed.

Call it the domino effect. Or just call it what I call it...an atomic FAIL.

But since I couldn't leave you with another empty post, I decided to at least leave you with the partial redo that I mentioned in #3. What little bit there is to this video is way better than the 10 minute original. Only thing about it is...I don't talk at all. But whatever, that's why it's called a FAIL. And here it is in all it's failing glory...

So anyway, now that that's over, I know Christmas is only three days away. But if you're a procrastinator like me, you're still working on you're Christmas tree and other holiday decor. Well, come back tomorrow to see a craft-tastic post that includes handmade ornament and what not. And if you're not a procrastinator like me, just come back and see how we procrastinators roll. Boom.

Wah wah, Charlie Brown

Hey guys. Hope everyone's having a great hump-day. Sorry about the lack of post today, but between running errands and being trapped in Walmart for almost THREE HOURS, I didn't have much time at the computer. Buuuut, be sure to tune in tomorrow for a new Uncommon Ground post! See ya later!

Xoxo,
Coco