Spontaneous Projects

Thanksgiving was super late this year. An unexpected consequence of this arrangement was that I started thinking about Christmas decorations a little earlier than is typical. We usually go out of town for the holiday and try put up our tree the first Saturday of December.. but this year, that was essentially two days after Thanksgiving. And, this year, we ended up staying in town and our family came to us so I had more energy to devote to spontaneous projects that happen to pop into my mind.

This townhouse I live in is tall, with a very small footprint. I do have a front entrance, but it's really not big, and it faces a big, tall fence. Historically, it always felt so small that decorating would be silly.. However, this year, for whatever reason, I really felt like decorating my tiny front area - *I'll* see it, after all. And Christmas lights are cheery! So I went for it.

The first step was pretty simple. I discovered some stick-on clips that are especially for hanging lights and put them around the front window with a couple strings of lights and added a wreath. Done and done.

All this Christmas decorating action woke some creative energy in me. A couple years ago, I found a picture of some cool, folksy, outdoor, lighted Christmas trees that looked pretty simple to make.. ...but I never actually did anything about it. However, this year, I found the motivation to make it a reality! First, step: Sketch it out and figure out the dimensions.

For a long time I'd been eyeing a miter box and hand saw. Specifically, a low-end plastic one that would get the job done without any fuss; it would be just the thing for a project like this. Finally, this year, I went ahead and got it. The very same day, I started sawing.

The beauty of pine is that it's really easy to saw through, so the cutting went quickly; the miter box worked great and all the angles came out wonderfully. A little bit of sanding and on to the next step!

To fast-track the process (and make use of a serendipitously warm day), rather than brushing it on, I sprayed on the layer of primer.

After that, came adding some color. I decided to keep the slabs pretty simple and just alternate with the traditional red and green.

This project was cool because almost all of the wood came from my scrap pile in the garage. However, I did outsource one bit and bought this little folk art wood star on Etsy. It seemed like just the thing to top if off.

It took a couple coats of red and green to be just right, but soon all the pieces were ready for assembly. A touch of wood glue and a few nails later, it was looking like a tree!

There was a little bit of a hiccup with the littlest, top piece.. the nails split it into three separate pieces. However, a little more glue and some spackle and it was good as new!

Next, I attached the base and the star on top:

"Ho ho ho!"

Finally, I wrapped some lights around it and voila! Gorgeous festiveness.

I even pulled out the fancy camera to get a good picture with starbursts:

Bring on the holiday season!