Online Christmas Party ~BuCKeYe Garland and Candy!

I like a good party and this is going to be GREAT! You can "mingle" around and meet everyone here! There are different rooms to visit, so make yourself at home and enjoy! We are wishing you and yours a VERY MERRY Christmas! along with a prosperous New Year!

I do think I am weird though...OK, you THAT KNOW Me...BUT seriously, I like a simple Christmas tree.  Much of what I like in decorations is crafty.  I like a paper chain on my tree; I've strug popcorn in past years~but never cranberries as WE EAT THOSE! But this post isn't about that stuff, it's about WHAT I have done this year! Our family are Buckeye Transplants meaning we are new to Ohio~the Buckeye State!  Recently a friend of mine gave me a bag of beautiful buckeye nuts.  Now they are not to be eaten, but the are quite pretty I think.

So with my buckeyes displayed this fall in my basket, I began thinking about what I want to do with them.  Along with the buckeye nuts, she gave me a handmade buckeye ornament and necklace made out of the nuts which are adorable! But I wanted to do something different! So I decided to decorate with them by drilling them and stringing them with fishing line.  This evening my children and I worked to drill and string the nuts so they could decorate the chandelier in our kitchen.  Daughter had already hung candy canes, and buckeye nuts would enhance the look...Here's the process...and read on for what we will do tomorrow and see the pic to finish up the project!

It started with drilling these nuts! Now they are hard and slick on the shell~not so easy for a boy learning to use a drill~CAN we call this shop??

The drill slipped on this one~holding them with channel lock pliers helps!

                                                                                                                           With some practice he did a great job in drilling! We used a 2x4 scrap to protect the table.  We were also wary of the drill slipping and catching hands or body~ouch! THIS DID NOT happen, but is possible~BEWARE of drill use dangers!

My son drilled, but so did my daughter~GIRLS COUNT TOO right? Equal opportunity homeschooling!! AND HEY, I got in on it too! Never hurts to know how to use power tools!

                                                                                                                         Here's daughter holding the channel lock pliers with the buckeye nut.  This team work is inspiring in our children.  I love to challenge them with projects they have to help each other with~it teaches so much about working with others and people skills~and at this age: TEENAGERS~YIKES! Seriously, they are a blessing!

You would never want to string these nuts on anything less strong that fishing line.  While not really heavy, a large amount will create some weight when hanging! WHO WANTS a broken garland?

You can see the large bore sewing needle I used here as well.  I did not double strand the fishing line, but if I were making a garland for our Christmas tree, I may well have because of the increased wt.  You can see a bead in this picture. I experimented with beads, but decided that I liked the all natural look of the nuts alone.  They are a nice chocolate brown color so I wanted to preserve this natural look without any other distractions in the colors of  any beads.  You might like beads with yours! I also varied the sizes of the nuts as I strung them.  God doesn't do anything the same way twice, and so I varied the sizes! Who can argue with God's designs?

All strung up! I know these are not good pictures, and I apologize for this, but my camera is unavailable.  Cell phones don't always do it, do they? To discuss stringing a bit further, please BEFORE you do more than the first one, tie it off by holding the two strands of fish line together and put the nut into a knot so that it will stay put as you string the rest of your beads.  If you don't tie it somehow, your buckeyes will fall off the fish line as you string it.

It's difficult to see, but daughter is draping the garland on the chandelier.

                                   Still hard to see but it's all draped now! Looks pretty good!

     This is our Christmas tree 2009.  My daughter said she really likes ALL the stuff on our tree.  I thought it was because it is all of the handmade stuff, and in a sense she agreed, but added, "it's our stuff~stuff from all our Christmas' A REAL trip down memory lane and our lives!"  Wow~ I like having their first little ornaments they made on it each year, but I never knew she valued it too.

Thank you God for this warm moment between us~Christmas is about so much and we thank you for all Your blessings. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                                    I don't know if you have buckeyes where you are, but you could use nuts of any type to string if you wanted to that are "worthless." I think acorns are pretty too and pine cones! Walnuts would work!   I am going out in the morning to pick some evergreen branches and put them in the chandelier as well.  I may even ties some bows...hmmm...WHAT COLOR? Red, a plaid or gingham? I have some yarn~

Thanks for coming by and I hope that our simple idea is one that will inspire you to look to God's world for some decorating ideas. It's pretty much FREE and using His designs!

Have you ever eaten Buckeyes Candy?? YUM!

Here's the recipe!

Merry Christmas!