12 Days of Christmas Decorating: Day Twelve

It all began less than two weeks ago --

decorating our tree in an Adirondack-y,  handmade way

after finding and cutting down one with a birds' nest in it.

It wasn't complete until it had a star at the top.

A shiny one wouldn't do. Birdseed seemed more appropriate.

After cutting a star out of cardboard,

the little guy got to work smearing it with Crisco.

(You could use peanut butter but we have a family allergy.)

 Next, he poured birdseed over the top of the star.

And smeared it all over and shook off the excess.

I glued an empty toilet paper tube to the back

and it was ready for the uppermost tree branch.

While we were at it, my crafty guy wanted to make ornaments.

He covered foam stars with seed and made star-shaped Santas

with markers and fiberfill for his friends.

Here's is the seed-covered star in place.

It will reside there until we take the tree down.

Then it can go on a tree outside for the birds.

And here is the fully-decorated evergreen.

By now, I am usually counting the days until Christmas is over

so we can reduce clutter, including taking down the tree.

Not so this year. I want to keep it up longer.