thanks to Martha & Jan

i'm sure Jan will be thrilled to see her name up there with Martha! wink!!

i mentioned a few weeks ago that my kids were involved in a fundraiser for the Stollery Childrens' hospital. their mission was to create as many lovely cards as they possibly could.

they did not make a record number of cards this year. although they did put in as much time as they could spare. life is starting to get busy for them, now that they are in school.

the week before their sale, Jan made this darling Christmas tree out of book pages, wire and a spool kit from Wendy Vecchi. she noted the video from Martha where she had gotten the idea. Kiara and i watched it while we ate our lunch one day. then the wheels in my brain started to turn too. it seemed like a simple enough craft for the kids to create for their sale. my only dilemma was to figure out what to use for the "trunk" and base.

Martha used a modelling clay and knitting needles. i wasn't sure if i had the time to wait for clay to dry...or bake! i did a round at the dollar store to see if anything looked like it would be a good substitute. no luck. the Michaels. i had to buy spray adhesive anyway. nope. last i tried Goodwill. i had a few things in mind, but i wandered the aisles to see if anything looked like it could work. then i settled on a version of these:

not identical....but they did the trick. especially at 49 cents each! Kristian snipped off the tops. 

at first i thought it would be a great use for the extra patterned papers we had. then i realized that it would be a major amount of time to organize the right sizes, etc. no regrets on that change of plans! instead i cut up flyers. and cut. and cut. and cut. and cut some more.

Aidan was able to layer them on his post on his own. although i watched him like a hawk. since the metal was sharp i was worried Kiara might slip. i slipped on Kiaras, and she fanned the paper out.



this is what they looked like with all the paper squares on.

then i took them outside and sprayed on the glue. sprinkled on some glitter. voila!



this was Kiara's. i added the snowflake tree topper.

we used the white fine glitter then misted it with some light green glimmer mist.

i love how the tips of the paper turned up slightly. they were really heavy with the paper and glitter.



for Aidan's tree we sprinkled on white and silver glitter. we even added a bit of glitter to the star.

our hands were black afterwards, but we were all happy with the end result. 

so you see....not as whimsical as Jan's. but just as nice as Martha's. without the clay and knitting needles. 

i guess i should mention...i did find knitting needles at Goodwill as well. they will either become more trees or make their way back to Goodwill via donation. hopefully i will not be buying them back again next Christmas! 

in fact i was not sure if i could part with them in the end. but i did. it was easier to convince myself of that because i had just spent the week before sorting through lots of the kids toys and clothes....i was halfway through their artwork and figured i would solve my dilemma by taking lots of pictures of their trees instead.

as it turns out we will all see those trees again....Grandma took them home with her. in exchange for a nice donation to the Stollery Foundation of course!

i don't remember the exact number of kids who were selling their crafts. there was plenty of a variety of cards. the birch candles were a hit last year, so they must have made double the amount this year. the kids were able to raise $4000 from their efforts. in the past 4 years, they have donated approximately $16,000. they are inspiring too, aren't they?