Friday, December 2, 2016

SHORT POST & CHRISTMAS CRAFTING TIP TWO - A LIGHTED WINDOW DECORATION


A QUICK POST
A quick post this evening. I took Lady J to get her oil changed and ready for winter. From there I went to one of my favorite thrift stores...The AMVETS Thrift Store on Sunrise Highway on Long Island.

I am looking for some clothing for a friend who has special size needs. I found two pieces both on sale making the journey a success. I have also been looking for a dutch oven for myself but haven't found one yet.

Tomorrow is going to be fun.  Three of us are going to a Christmas Tree Farm located about an hour from here to cut down a tree. And take part in some of the free activities like hayrides. I will take pictures and HOPE they turn out.

CHRISTMAS CRAFTING TIP TWO
Yesterday, I shared the first of many Christmas crafting tips - a magazine folded tree. I will continue to share these tips during the month of December. Today, I want to share another crafting tip. Unfortunately, none - and I do mean none - of the pictures turned out for illustration, so I will just describe the craft.

I wanted a flat star or snowflake to put in my window which used only white lights. I could not find one. So, I made one. I used two large wire hangers. On one, I straightened the hanger part and flattened it unto one of the sides of the hanger. I left the hanger part on the other hanger.  (By hanger part, I mean the part that goes over the closet pole.)

Then I manipulated both hangers into a triangle with three equal sides. It was easy because of the original shape of the hangers. If the wire hangers are not easily shaped, you may have to rebend them.

Once the hangers were in the right shape, I laid them on top of each other with six equally spaced points. At this point I used wire at all intersections to keep the shape.

I had a strand of 50 white lights but you can use any number of lights. The way to make sure they are equally spaced is to divide the number of lights by the number of points, in this case 6. So for 50 lights you will have fifty divided by six which equals eight with a couple left over to ease in.

The hanger part that was left on one hanger is the top. Take the strand of lights and begin at the bottom of the star shape with the first light from the plug. Wind the lights around the outside shape spacing them according to the number of lights on your strand. Winding is a bit time consuming, but for the price of one strand of lights which I got on sale for $1.99 and two free hangers, I have a really nice star shape to place in my window.

When I think about it, there are a ton of different shapes that can be made for all sorts of holidays. How about a heart using red lights? Or a shamrock using green lights? I bet you can think of some yourself.

That's it for this week...
Thanks for visiting...
Talk to you on Monday...