Sheet Music Trees and Rolled Book Pages Make Beautiful Decorations

 Happy Monday friends.  Hope you managed to escape the worst of the weekend weather.  If not, I hope you are safe and warm.  There was a lot of wicked weather around the country this weekend.  It got very cold here, but we managed to dodge a big bullet and missed the two ice storms that came our way.  If we had been just a few miles further west or north, we would not have been so lucky.  There is another one coming our way tonight and hopefully, it will dodge us two.  We are keeping our fingers crossed.

The house is all cozy and decorated for Christmas festivities.  We have a tree in every room, although they are all small trees.  Since we are in a new place this year, I tried to do some different things with the trees and other decorations.  Nothing major, just some inexpensive changes.

I was talking to my friend Linda today (she lives outside of Dallas) to make sure their power was still on.  They were really clobbered by an ice storm and were without power for several days.  Fortunately, it has stayed on.  She said they had gotten their tree out and she was going through her decorations.  Like many of us, she had most of them for years and she said she was tired of them and wanted something different.  We all know how that feels.  So, I thought today I would show you some inexpensive things you can make to change things up a bit using some wooden skewers, book pages, and pages from a piano book.

These are  simple.  Easy.  Inexpensive.  But, they are quite lovely.  I must say I am very happy with the way they look.  The picture at the top shows a saint's candle that you can get for $1.00 at The Dollar Tree.  They are white candles in a clear glass holder.  To decorate this one, I simply rolled some book pages and used just a tiny dab of hot glue to hold them to the glass of the candle.  Then, I tied some sisal twine around them.  Super easy, but very decorative.

The little Christmas trees are made from pages from a piano book I bought for a few dollars at our local used book store.  It is so much cheaper than individual sheet music.  I looked for a good sized book full of mostly piano music because there are lots of notes and no words.   This one was all classical music so there is music on both sides of the pages which is even better.  If you look real closely, you can see some penciled notes between the bars that some diligent student penciled in as a reminder from their teacher.  I loved that about this book.

Anyway, all you have to do to make these trees is cut triangular shapes the size you want your "trees" to be.  Next, accordian fold them from the wide end to top (narrow end).  I have a tiny hole punch that I used to make the hole in the center of the fold.  Use the punch while the tree is still folded and make a hole in the center of all the folds at the same time.  One quick easy punch.  Now, use a wooden skewer like you would make kabobs on, and run it through all the little holes.  Instant tree.  How easy is that?

For this tree, I broke the bottom of the skewer off to make it shorter.  These trees are on some old boards that are hooked together by cross pieces.  I found this board some time ago at a local thrift store and I liked it.  Didn't know what I was going to do with it, but it was cheap so I bought it.  I have been wanting something to use behind one of my wicker chairs in the dining room and it popped into my head to use this board.  It is absolutely perfect and I can hang things on it without making lots of holes in the wall.

I hung my wire wreath with the yarn balls at the top and added two of the music page Christmas trees on the little board ledges.  It's perfect for this space.  It makes me happy to look at it.

A REALLY easy way to dress  up a saint's candle is to simply wrap a book page or music page around it and tie it with some sisal twine.  You can see it behind this tree.  They are so pretty, yet so simple and easy.  They would make great inexpensive gifts for teachers, co workers, or neighbors.

These music page trees are part of the decorations on my china cabinet.  I simply stuck them in the greenery and lights that are on the top of the cabinet.  I added a few mercury glass votive cups, and a couple of white stars.  Below, there is some of the grapevine ribbon with some of the rolled up book pages and more candles.

 I added the rolled book pages after I took the picture above.  They just fill in the whole thing, adding more texture and drama.

These are just some simple ideas that cost next to nothing and add a lot of interest to your Christmas decor.  The rolled book pages and music page trees could also be hung on a Christmas tree like ornaments.  You could make tiny trees and use toothpicks in place of the skewers.  Children could make them, they are that simple.

Hope these simple ideas have inspired you to try some different things with your decorations.  Perhaps you could have a craft night with your children or grandchildren letting them help makes some new decorations for your tree or to use elsewhere throughout your home.  The trees would be pretty to use on a wreath, or to hang in windows.  There are so many possibilities for these simple yet beautiful decorations.  Give these a try and let me know how you use yours if you make them or send some pictures.  It's great to share ideas.  One idea can lead to another.  That is called creativity.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Decorations do not have to be expensive to be beautiful or meaningful.  Include your family in the joy of spending time together creating things they will remember for years to come.   donna