Bottle Brush Trees

Last year, at one of the craft sales I went to, I saw the sweetest idea for a tree ornament and, of course, thought to myself, "I can do that!". And just like that, at the next craft fair I went to, I found this box of Bee and Willow Advent Calendar bottlebrush trees, set on wooden spools. I came home and set upon the creative process of making something unique out of and idea and a box of trees.

I rounded up some sweet small-print Christmas paper, some tiny beads and baubles, skinny ribbon, and some vintage plastic snowflakes from a broken garland I had rescued at a yard sale, earlier this summer. With a large circle punch, a brown ink pad, some glue, scissors and paper trimmer, I got to work and came up with these adorable little trees.

With Pinterest as my inspiration, I went on to create other colors and styles...once you get started, the ideas just seem to roll...

Christmas Tree Lights

This is about what you think it is about....

I bought a rather expensive (although on sale) fake Christmas tree last year. Don't get me wrong, I much prefer a real tree. But because of several extenuating circumstances, it has just become a better choice for us to have a small fake tree. But, I wanted it to look like a real one -- for crying out loud, we live in Montana! I want a tree that looks like the ones outside! So, I spent a pretty penny. Now, a person would expect that spending that kind of money would get you a quality item. However, in this day and age, even if the tree is made in the USA, more than likely the lights are made in some foreign mass-producing twinkle light factory. Keep that in mind, if you should ever decide to spend lots of money on a fake tree!

So..one year -- beautiful lighted tree. This year, (having learned the hard way to check lights as I go) I plugged in the bottom half of the tree and it was beautiful...until I moved it around to straighten a branch. Then, boom...the top quarter part of the tree lights went dead. I wiggled various branches and they blinked back on...and then off again. About 3 turns on the tree and I isolated the problem. This is supposed to be a lighting system where if one light goes out, the rest still work. But the "problem light" kept shorting out the rest. I pulled the single little light apart from the socket, and one of the connecting wires came apart in my hand!

Now, I am a light savant, as twinkle light savants go. I had four sets of lights I purchased in the 1990s that were unique to any others I have ever seen. I used them every year on our big (real) Christmas trees. Over the years, the lights would go bad, but I had a little bag of extras that I pulled from to do repairs. (Other twinkle light brands did not intermix with these sets.) When the extras ran out, I took apart the light strand that had the most burned out lights, and made three strands that worked. The last few years were really a struggle, though, as more and more my darling little twinkle lights wore out. ....And that is how I became a twinkle light savant!

So...back to this years stupid little twinkle light problem...

First....UNPLUGGING THE LIGHTS FROM THE ELECTRICITY, (a lesson I learned from a story my girlfriend, Cory, told me!!).....

The wire that came unattached so easily was obviously the problem. The bit of wire at the end, that was not covered with plastic, was so short that it had not attached itself properly to the itsy bitsy metal plate inside of the teeny tiny twinkle light. So, I pulled the bulb out of the socket, and one of the itsy bitsy metal plates (there are two of them inside each teeny tiny twinkle light socket) fell into my hand --obviously unglued! I have a fair idea of how the electricity conducts itself through these light strands, and I knew I had several options...none of which involved asking my husband (who has huge hands and a short tolerance for fixing teeny tiny things) for help. I was not certain if glue would ruin the electric conduction, but, it being the simplest option, was what I decided to try first.

I got a couple of napkins (again, lessons learned) and put just a dab of E6000 (the champion of glues) on it and grabbed a toothpick (teeny tiny socket, and all). Using the toothpick, I dabbed just a bit of glue inside the socket, where the little metal plate was supposed to go, and waited a minute to let the glue dry a bit. Then, I trimmed about 1/4 inch of the plastic off the end of the wire, to expose more of the wire, and dabbed a bit of glue onto it, stuck the wire back into the bottom of the teeny tiny socket, and held the wire against the metal plate. I plugged the lights back in...no difference in my problem... So, making sure the little wires on the teeny tiny twinkle light bulb were bent properly, I pushed the light back into the socket. Not expecting much, I plugged the lights back in and....BOOM!! they all work!

So, I am sitting here, telling you about my grand accomplishment, terrified to move the tree to where it belongs (because we all know that there are times we speak too soon!). I am going to wrap electrical tape around the Light In Question, 'just in cases". and hope for the best.

But presently, I am sitting here, glowing in my grand accomplishment!

Turkey Soup From Scratch

Today is Turkey Soup Day. Our lovely Thanksgiving Turkey has been devoured and we are left with nothing but the carcass. But DO NOT toss that (seemingly gross) thing in the garbage! It has great potential! Make a hearty and nourishing soup with it:

In a large pot, cover the carcass and all the bits of unused and unwanted turkey with water and put it on the back burner of the stove, to simmer for about four hours. While it simmers, add a few bay leaves, a half dozen whole allspice, a couple of teaspoons of salt, and about a teaspoon of whole peppercorns. This will give a great base flavor to your turkey stock. After the four hours, set the pot to one side to cool off for an hour or so. Then, over the sink in case you make a mess, pour the stock from one large pot into another (or a large bowl, if you only have one big pot). I hate to waste anything, so I sort out all the bits of turkey meat, then in toss out the bones and put the stock and turkey bits back onto the stove to simmer.

Now, in a frying pan, sauté an entire chopped onion, a few chopped stalks of celery, and a few cloves of minced garlic, in about 2 tbsp of butter. When the onion becomes translucent, add this mixture to the turkey stock. Then chop about 2 cups worth of carrots and add that to the simmering stock. After about 30 minutes, check to see if the carrots are tender. If your turkey stock has dissipated because of the cooking process, add water back, then taste and add salt as desired. Now add egg noodles. We like large flat noodles, but any kind will do. The more you add, the thicker and heartier the soup becomes. Bring the soup back to boiling and turn off the heat. The noodles will soften, but not turn mushy if you do this! (little secret there!)

This makes a large pot of soup. I ladle it into jars and screw the tops down tight, while it is hot. They will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, if the jars seal.

Any soup can also be frozen. But, since the liquid will expand during the freezing process, give at least an inch of head room in the jar, and wait for it to cool completely before you put it in the freezer.

Enjoy!