Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget

That's what my grandpa (Pa) always told me - that I had champagne taste on a beer budget. And honestly, that's mostly true, though it's more of a microbrew budget ;o)

Around Christmas time, I became enamoured with tinsel and feather trees and all of the wonderful vintage-y type ornaments that are available to decorate them. Not just for Christmas, but for every holiday and season throughout the year. Then, I began looking at the prices of the trees and the ornaments. Big mistake! Holy cow, I was SHOCKED at how expensive these lovelies are!

I had grandiose dreams of ordering some of these goodies - so pretty! ...then, my beer budget kicked in and I just couldn't allow myself to do it. However, I wasn't ready to abandon my dreams completely.

Figuring out how to make the "microbrew" version of some of these ornaments, my creativity kicked into full gear. What kind of supplies can I use to make something similar? Where will I find them? How will the finished version turn out - will it look cute? ... or would it be a waste of time. Having more time on my hands than money, I thought I'd at least give it a try.

So, without further ado, here's a sample of the type of ornament I'm referring to: Cute, right? Well, unfortunately the price isn't nearly as cute as the ornaments. The price tag for this particular trio? (Are you sitting down?) $64.00!! Oh, well, if you act now though, you can get them for a much more appealing $54.40. Can you believe it?!

Okay, so mine don't look exactly the same. But honestly, I think they turned out really cute - I'm very happy with them and I think they're almost as cute as the original. Here's my version:



What do you think? Pretty cute, right?

I used vintage image stickers that I purchased for almost nothing at Dover, Martha Stewart glitter (also available at Michael's - and there's a 40% off MS products coupon in the May issue of MSL), and rolls of crepe paper that I found at the Dollar Tree store. Each ornament (not including the orange tinsel in the wrapper) probably cost about a quarter to make.

I made the same types of ornaments for a 4th of July tree and will make them for Easter and Valentine's day as well. As for the tree, I found a much cheaper version here (Dadgummit! I see they're now on sale!). It's not exactly the same thing as a feather tree, but it definitely fits better with my beer budget.

...I'm so proud of my beer budget!