~~Winner of the Gingerbread Giveaway and Decorating a Christmas Tree Tutorial~~

Hey Guys! Thank you all for entering my gingerbread giveaway! Oh how I wish I could send each one of you something! Now for the winner...

It's Cathy from Cathy's World ...Congratulations!!

I will e-mail you for your address.

Also, thank you for your nice comments on the house I just decorated. That house really is something!

Ok, I wasn't going to do a post on how to decorate a tree because I know alot of you know how . But...some of you have asked questions about the mesh. At what point do you put it on the tree? Also you have asked about the tree topper. I did a post on how to make one last year, but thought I would show you this year too since I changed it up a little.

This is what we brought out of the attic! Oh my!! Last year it was cold and we just threw everything up there. I didn't care then, just wanted it GONE! But when we went to get everything out it was a different story...lol. What a mess! As you can see I even left the topper on from last year =0 Look at all of the lights and mesh just hanging off!

Finally got the lights strung back on! Whew!
Ok...I took the old topper off and made a new bow out of three different ribbons for the top. If you would like to know how to make a bow click here . Attach the bow to the top of the tree using wire or chenille stems. If you don't have those available use a twisty tie! I usually make the tree topper first so I can work down from the top of the tree. After the bow is made, start sticking the fun stuff all around the bow down into the tree.



Eventually you will end up with something like this! An Explosion is what my friend Sheila calls it. Check out her post here...she has a very creative way of doing a tree topper. She is very clever!

If you are using the mesh this will definitely be your next step. Weave the mesh in and out of the tree winding a branch around it here and there. The mesh is a little bit hard to work with. It catches on things and is alot wider that it looks in the tree. Next you will want to add some of your bigger ornaments inside the tree to fill holes. I use alot of glitter balls, they are cheap and really sparkle! Click to enlarge. Next you will hang your ornaments! Last you can pull some things out of the tree. I love to pull out berries, holly, glittered balls, etc. Whatever you like...my tree is in a corner so I have to keep it more compact. There you have it! Done!! Let me know if you have any questions.

I finished decorating my house today...finally!! Now I have to clean up all of that glitter! Look for a post very soon... Have a great weekend!!