Christmas 2024

 Hey - look at me getting the Christmas 2024 post done.  It's only January 17th, but hey, who's counting.  

I didn't do a card this year.  Didn't really feel like it.  I guess I put all my card making energy into the Halloween planner page, which you can see posted back in October of 2024, right on time.  Thank you very much.  However, I did send out a little kit to make your own desktop Christmas Tree.  Like you didn't have enough to do this Christmas?  Right?  In my own defense, I've always said, you get until the Wise Men show up on January 6th.  If you need the extra time, well, there it is. 

Many iterations of the tree happened.  First drafts were sparse and had ornaments, which were just a PITA so OUT.  Once they were gone, more branches were necessary.  No problemo, as they are cut with a die set I got off of TEMU for next to nothing.  In fact, I bought 3 sets, they were so cheap.  And since cutting these 40+ tree kits, I bought three more so I can cut one full tree in one pass of the dies through the Sizzix Switch.  Total cost for 6 of these die sets on TEMU, about $12.  If you want something similar here in the US, Simon Says Stamps is selling a set that makes a bit bigger tree for $40.  I'm not saying I don't like the slightly bigger tree, and I may still buy it, if they put it on sale, but prices on TEMU for dies cannot be beat.  I totally get that they are ripping off American companies' designs, and that hurts the sales of those same companies, but if I can buy the EXACT same die from TEMU (minus the fancy US packaging) for $2 vs $40, I think we are price gouging a bit here, don't you? 

Many iterations of the tree stand happened too.  I started with folding those little fortune tellers we used to make as a kid on the playground with a piece of loose-leaf paper.  It worked, but it wasn't super steady.  If you were a bit off in your folding your tree would be lopsided.  Eventually I remembered I had a punch from Stampin' Up! that I had used many years ago to make a pumpkin.  The punch is for making finger tabs on pages.  But what can I say, it looked pumpkin-y to me. 

This is the punch, it also has a matching stamp set to decorate your tabs when you punch them.  When I made my little desktop pumpkin, also pictured below, I used one of the stamps. 

This tree has the fortune teller stand.  It was actually two fortune tellers.  One a bit smaller than the other.  Like I said, it worked, but you had to fold it pretty evenly. 

This is the final draft, and is what was cut, packaged and sent out for everyone to make.  I cut them entirely from scraps I had on hand.  When I ran out of green, the trees started to get pretty colorful.  Red, Pink, Teal, White and I think one or two blue ones too.  Final shot is a red and green tree side by side.  All the stands consist of 8 punched tabs, folded in half and glued together.  They can fold flat for mailing.  They have just the right size hole in the middle for the bamboo skewer that makes the trunk of the tree.  Some have big stars, some have little.  It just depended on the size of the scrap I had.