BY TASHA LUNNY
A small white pompom is glued to my fingertip and the pain is hot and scorching.
“Go put your hand under the tap,” my mother said as she took the glass jar and glue gun out of my hands.
“By the time we finish tonight, I won’t have any fingerprints left,” I retort while cool water runs over my red digits.
I look around and I see the mess I have made. Glitter covers our tabletop and small strings of webbed glue hang off everything and everyone. We have only just begun and I have already learned one thing – Christmas crafts are way harder than they look on the Internet.
Do it yourself is a popular way for people to get creative and accomplish tasks on their own without having to buy merchandise from a store or get a professional’s help.
The Internet has exploded with websites and blogs dedicated to guiding the average Joe or Jill in their attempts to do everything from house renovations to making homemade facial scrubs.
During the Christmas season, sites such as Pinterest overflow with how to make your own wrapping paper, easy gift ideas and create your own festive home décor.
I decided to take on the DIY attitude and get creative in making a Christmas wreath and snow globe. It seemed simple enough, the website gave pictorial directions and I had already recruited some family members in my task. My first bump in the road was equipment cost. Turns out some of these “affordable” crafts are not as inexpensive as you might think. The small things added up fast and before I knew it my crafts just became more than my monthly car insurance payment.
We started with an easy project – a snow globe. All I needed was a mason jar, a small plastic tree, a few pompoms and enough glitter to make Lady Gaga envious. I individually glued every ball to the bottom of the jar to create snow, then the tree. A handful of glitter and some water and my small blizzard-like scene became a jar of swirling bliss. Three burnt fingertips and 45 minutes later, I had managed to fashion a small winter wonderland.
The other task was not going to be as easy, which is why I brought in a professional – my sister, the craft queen. The wreath I had chosen was going to be built out of a coat hanger and a plethora of Christmas bulbs. After hours of positioning and gluing and positioning and gluing we finally were successful. We built a wreath worthy to be sold in stores. Unfortunately, it cost $100 so I decided to let my mom hang it over her door instead.
By the end of the night we were all dazzling and it wasn’t only because of the glitter that covered all of our faces. We had spent a whole night working together and enjoying each other’s company. The crafts might have been expensive, time consuming and at times physically painful, but what we really created was Christmas spirit. That’s something you can’t find online.
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