DIY holiday projects

Katharina's NDAD Creation: Holiday Edition

As soon as Katharina sent this my way, I had to post it! We're all in holiday mode and everywhere I turn there's decor. Be it in stores, in front of people's houses, and even on cars! I was lucky enough to catch a Hanukkah parade in LA that consisted of a string of cars driving with twinkle light menorahs on their roofs! I need some holiday car bling! In the meantime, check this project out...

Hello from Rio!  Last year, I was amazed with a picture I found on Tumblr...

New Dress A Day - DIY Christmas ornament hanging tree

...and it served as inspiration for my mother and sister to make our own. We had no idea how they made it, so we created something up ourselves.

We bought two stars made of some sort of woven straw to serve as a base and then my mom tied them together. We hung it to our ceiling using hooks that my grandfather had made for my fifteenth party. In Brazil, we don't have sweet sixteen parties, we celebrate girls' 15 years, similar to a quinceañera).

New Dress A Day - DIY Christmas ornament hanging tree

 

After that we sewed each ornament onto the base, using a whole lot of nylon thread! Yes, the tree was hanging the entire time, so we stood on chairs because we needed to see the height of each ornament as we placed it. It was three days of work with  glitter all over our dining living room area to show for it, but we did it!

New Dress A Day - DIY Christmas ornament hanging tree

Of course, during the process we looked up "hanging Christmas tree" and saw the there was a much simpler way to do it, with hooks and a different base, but we're still proud of our version! You see, when you live in a hot place like Rio, where Christmas is during the summer, the whole fake snow/pine tree act just doesn't cut it. I think our tree is more tropical weather appropriate.

New Dress A Day - DIY Christmas ornament hanging tree - Grey's Anatomy Christmas

PS, this next picture is the view from under the tree.

New Dress A Day - DIY Christmas ornament hanging tree

My sister and I love to lie under Christmas trees and look at the twinkling lights, just like Meredith, George and Izzie did on Grey's Anatomy.

New Dress A Day - DIY Christmas ornament hanging tree - Grey's Anatomy Christmas

 

Doing that underneath this tree is a whole other experience! Hope you liked it, Marisa! Boas Festas! ("Happy Holidays" in Portuguese), Feliz Natal (Merry Christmas), e feliz ano novo (Happy New Year)!

Katharina, your tree is just spectacular! I think it looks amazing and I love that it was a family affair. Everyone got involved to create this beautiful piece which brings a smile to my face. You're totally right - how bizarre must it be in tropical weather to have a big pine tree in your house? This does the trick perfectly and it is so perfect for the holidays! I need to try this on out at some point myself. Feliz ano novo to you too!