The Tree - With a Christmas Dove Tutorial
So as a family, we've never had a Christmas tree. Honesty, it always seemed like a hassle and an extra expense. I loved looking at other people's trees and my kids weren't old enough to care - so I didn't either.
But this year, I found myself wanting a tree of our own. However, without a tree budget, I didn't see a way we could afford it. But I reserved $20 and found a used, artificial tree on Craigslist.org. The seller gave me a deal on a 6 foot, fairly low quality, pre-lit tree. I was pleased as punch to get it too.
Anyway, once I got it set up - I realized it would need some ornaments.
I made popcorn garland by sewing hundreds of pieces of plain popped popcorn together - a rather tedious job that I won't soon sign up for again.
Then I found a tutorial online that gave instructions for making little doves out of pages from an old book. That seemed free enough for me.
The tutorial was great - but the birds required a bit more of a time investment than I had and some supplies I didn't want to buy. So I simplified the project and have included my instructions here.
First, I cut a basic bird profile shape out of card stock. I made it about 6 inches long, from beak to tail. I made a separate wing cut out - a teardrop shape. I then traced my bird & wing onto a stack of 3 book pages. (In the photo, there are two birds and two wings traced onto the stack of pages).
Then I used a pencil and rolled the edges of the wing and tail around it - to make it look like ruffled feathers. I sewed a string into the top of the bird's body so I could hang it and glued a very small twig to the bottom of the bird that resembled bird feet.
But this year, I found myself wanting a tree of our own. However, without a tree budget, I didn't see a way we could afford it. But I reserved $20 and found a used, artificial tree on Craigslist.org. The seller gave me a deal on a 6 foot, fairly low quality, pre-lit tree. I was pleased as punch to get it too.
Anyway, once I got it set up - I realized it would need some ornaments.
I made popcorn garland by sewing hundreds of pieces of plain popped popcorn together - a rather tedious job that I won't soon sign up for again.
Then I found a tutorial online that gave instructions for making little doves out of pages from an old book. That seemed free enough for me.
The tutorial was great - but the birds required a bit more of a time investment than I had and some supplies I didn't want to buy. So I simplified the project and have included my instructions here.
First, I cut a basic bird profile shape out of card stock. I made it about 6 inches long, from beak to tail. I made a separate wing cut out - a teardrop shape. I then traced my bird & wing onto a stack of 3 book pages. (In the photo, there are two birds and two wings traced onto the stack of pages).
Next, I cut out the bird & wing shapes and laid the wing shapes onto the bird. I stapled all the pieces - except one of the wing shapes together. Then, I glued the remaining wing onto the others, to conceal the staple.
Then I used a pencil and rolled the edges of the wing and tail around it - to make it look like ruffled feathers. I sewed a string into the top of the bird's body so I could hang it and glued a very small twig to the bottom of the bird that resembled bird feet.
Here's my finished tree. I added some construction paper flowers for a little pop of color. Check out this tutorial from Under the Table and Dreaming. Her bird tutorial is very nice and is what inspired mine. If you decide to make a Christmas dove too, post a link or photos into my comments section. I'd really love to see what you made. :) Merry Christmas!
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