the Crafts Department opens for the season!

First we will get some festive holiday decorations organized, an old favorite and a new starter or two, then we will look at holiday libations.

Speaking of libations, eggnog season actually began yesterday morning here at Flintstone Towers. How would you like to get up, put coffee on, gaze out the window at your overpriced view, and see a VERY large pink blobby thing floating southwards over the treetops? Right, you'd find the rum in a hurry, too. We were only going to drink it later anyway.

So:  first the notorious spangly tree topper, or if you don't do a tree, this is cute and festive stuck in a small vase (does not need water).

1. Spread out newspapers on floor. Put on every sequinned/spangly/beaded garment and accessory you own. Hold extras in hands, Stand on newspapers and jump up and down or zumba, as you prefer.  A "tasteful" amount of shiny things will be deposited on the newspaper.
2. Remove staples from holiday catalog, squiggle glue on cover, lay flat on spangly newspaper glue side down to pick up shiny stuff. Let dry.
3. Roll up catalog pages tightly from short side, tape closed to form cylinder, make vertical cuts from top of cylinder to depth of 4 inches all around, carefully insert fingers inside cut part of tube & slide shreds upward. Add feathers and necklace fragments to taste.
4. Fasten bottom closed with more tape if it's going in a vase, leave open but reinforce edges with tape if it's going on a tree.

Now for ornaments. This year one of my favorite retail websites has graciously provided us with the pattern for a frozen ice angel ornament (frozen ice angels being the theme beneath the theme of their holiday catalog - the one we just used for the tree topper). The angel patterns were not on the website for long, in fact, only a few hours, so those of you who suggested that the webmaster was asleep on the job during a site update may have a point. Nevertheless, I grabbed pictures in a hurry because I knew what these things really are: ornament components!  So print out a few, grab carefully pick up your scissors, and here we go:

1. Cut out two of the dress shapes, paste together with patterned sides out.

2. Now cut out two large blue shapes, glue together, insert into the neck of the body so the white space is the head, glue neck closed. This is the head + halo.

Now the wings: cut out some more blue shapes, fold in half, glue to shoulders.
Her halo and wings are blue with cold because she is an ice angel.
You know what? This is a sad and lonely angel and I'm going to cut the crafts session short and have some more eggnog.