Saturday, October 15, 2011

Thankful Trees, Phase 3, and Egg on my Face

I finally finished my Thankful Trees. I fuddled and fitzed with them for hours, making new pieces, fixing broken ones (yep, more on that later). Indecision may or may not be my problem, but in the end, I made two trees with different concepts rather than a mish-mash on both trees. Instead of putting them both on the mantle, my plan is to separate them in different rooms.

Here's the first one, which is monochromatic. As you might imagine it is my favorite. Shades of red. Yum.




The second tree uses a range of autumn colors. My bet is that plenty of you will prefer this tree for its variety.




By the way, I used the punched circles from the scallop ornaments to make a card I'll post later. How very thrifty of me. I made those ornaments by first punching the smaller, smooth circle, then the larger scallop circle. I glued two "flowers" onto either side of a medium circle to frame the leaf and acorn images.




Now, let's discuss the egg on my face. These pleated ornaments are gorgeous, are they not? I got the idea from a BH&G magazine.




When I first made the pleated ornaments, I used glue dots rather than the glue gun the instructions called for because I hate glue guns. Hate is a strong word, but I'd rather have my teeth cleaned, get a vaccine, and spend two hours locked in a small room full of sticky, loud toddlers than use a glue gun.

But this is what happens when you use the wrong adhesive: complete destruction.




So of course, I pulled this out of my basement storage.





And promptly gave myself burns. But the ornaments are holding together nicely now.

I guess we have to suffer for our hobby.

But at least my Thankful Trees are finished.

How is your Gratitude Challenge coming? Do share, please.

25 comments:

  1. Great trees. I had to LOL at your rebellious ornament as I have had the same issue but with scrunched ribbon on my cards coming unravelled and can SO relate. My card looked like a giant spider the next morning with the two strips of scrunched ribbon sticking out on both sides. Know I took a pic of it so if I can find it I'll send it your way so you can get a laugh on my behalf ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love both of them - but I prefer the first one!! :)

    Also - have you got some glossy accents (or crystal effects as I think Stampin Up calls it)? Jennifer McGuire always uses that on her pleated doodads - I've tried it and nothing will shift it! After squirting some in the middle press it down for a bit using your fingers and then an acrylic block to leave it to dry. HTH! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love both of your trees, but the red one is fabulous!

    I had to laugh at your glue gun phobia:
    1) because I am a dental hygienist
    2) because I have a sign in my craft room that says "I craft..therefore I have no thumbprints" that a friend gave me after a nasty glue gun incident.

    Seriously, get yourself a bottle of Liquid Glass (CTMH) or similar. You can use it for glossy effects on projects and as an adhesive it is the best. Dries quick too. It works so good I keep a second bottle in my kitchen for fixing stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Susan - I'm sorry, but I did laugh at your post this morning - your hate of glue guns made me smile!! But it was worth it in the end - these trees are just lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I prefer the red one...it looks great.....the other one doesn't look uniform and is untidy compared to the red one.....I use a glue gun all the time for its quick permanency and yes I burn myself sometimes...these little accordian rosettes are the dickens to get together no matter what you use to glue with!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What fabulous trees!
    I just LOVE the red one : The leaves are great & the colour!! My favourite.
    I love my glue guns. Yes, I have 2: a small one for tiny thingies and a bigger one for bigger jobs. I have burned myself, yes, but nothing sticks like hot glue for exactly these kind of things.
    It is a dangerous weapon that is very effective in the right circumstances...VBG

    ReplyDelete
  7. In Greece we do not celebrate Thanksgiving.In fact most people don t even know what it is.I wish we were though, because it is an amazing celebration of faith and kindness.:(

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm all for the monochrome one! (But both are beauties)

    (As an aside - I know you made a card for the OLW68, but I see you haven't posted yours one the side link.)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm with Jess - Ranger's Glossy Accents is my new Best Friend. Great holding power. I prefer the monochromatic tree - beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Susan- I prefer the monochromatic tree. Love my glue gun- bought a low temp one. Works well, and less chance for burns. Also purchased this and love it!!!
    http://shop.plaidonline.com/plaid-hot-glue-gun-helpers/87/product.htm

    ReplyDelete
  11. I really like the monotone in red!

    I am late to the party... what Gratitude Challenge?

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have a fall wreath I'm making, it is not done because I need to use a glue gun to finish it. It may not get finished!
    Love both trees, so different.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wonderful projects! I have an adhesive recommendation. I make these rosettes all the time and I use Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue. It is excellent. I hold the rosette for a minute or I weight it with something. It is also fabulous for ribbon - not that you use a lot of it, but it is thick enough that it does not seep through like most glues do on ribbon, and it holds even the slippery satin ribbon! It has become my go-to adhesive when I need something stronger than my ATG tape runner gun. Hope that lets you put the hot glue gun back into storage!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Both trees are beautiful, but the red one is the one for me! And since everyone else is chiming in... I don't mind glue guns at all, but for some reason, have yet to use one for my papercrafting. (I have even been known to get out the glue guns in a class full of kids!)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh my! Well I hope your injuries were too bad. I just send a pleated flower card and now I'm worried it all fell apart without a glue gun to hold it together! Yikes! What we do for our hobby!

    ReplyDelete
  16. *weren't*

    Should have hit spell check!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love the red tree myself. I've been making lots of these rosettes as I'm planning on making tags and gift toppers as part of my annual craft sale. My 'regular' glue gun is the low heat one (I can squirt the glue onto my finger, even!)but I leave the hot one alone. I think it might be dangerous considering my test on the finger habit-lol.
    BTW, I didn't have as much luck with the glue dots first then glossy accents later - too much drying time, etc. This glue gun idea was born out of frustration and works like a perfect charm.
    Tip: score an entire sheet then cut into strips - much easier!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Aren't adhesives wonderful! They look as though they are going to work and then you get a big surprise the next day or even a week later. Very embarrassing at times. I have to say, I do like the red and white tree best. Being Canadian and all that - I do miss the red maple leaves in the fall so this would be a wonderful centre piece.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love your trees!

    As you I really dislike glue guns.

    Have you ever tried Diamond Glaze instead of the glue gun? It really works for that kind of things, just need to dry longer. It's nearly as good as the glue gun but without burned fingertips ;-)

    Have a nice day,

    Sandra

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh, wow! Super beautiful, love both of these! So worth the hard work you put into them!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Loved the red one, but all are beautiful. Where can I buy the metal tree, my mind is going crazy with ideas. Thanks for the inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Gisela, I bought mine at Hobby Lobby. Have Fun!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking time to comment!