As we finally reach the end of summer, it’s time to start getting serious about Christmas. I think I have already mentioned what my theme is this year for my tree, but in case I haven’t, I am going with an Asian theme.
I picked up a number of books last year on origami Christmas ornaments. After trying a few, I decided it was a go and haven’t touched them since. It’s time for me to get back on some sort of schedule now to make all my ornaments by Thanksgiving. The other details I have been trying to figure out have to do with the tree topper for this year. I have decided on a Chinese dragon.
My first thought was that I could locate some sort of paper dragon, maybe as a piñata or a mask or something that wouldn’t be too heavy at the top of the tree. Then I even looked into paper Mache to see if it was something I could try to create on my own. My searches didn’t find anything remotely useful, so I turned to kites.
Today I hit pay dirt. On eBay I was able to locate an authentic hand made Chinese dragon kite. It’s even being shipped to me from China. Hopefully, I have judged the size I need correctly and it won’t completely swallow the tree. The tail on this thing is 25 feet long, which should make for a good start on the garland. The best news of course was the price. I was able to buy this thing for under $20. Yeah, the shipping was almost as much, but comparatively speaking it was extremely cheap compared to some of the kite sites I looked at during my search. Some of these kites can run into hundreds of dollars (for a KITE!). I thought I found a pretty good deal.
I am also hoping a trip to the craft store will yield some good results on some red cord for my paper ornaments as well as keeping my fingers crossed at finding some small Chinese lantern ornaments. I may even try to find some Japanese ornaments too, just to round out the Asian theme. If I could find some fish or maybe even geisha girls I would consider it a huge success.
I may also look into what I can find regarding cherry blossoms. I have to have some sort of cherries on the tree, right? There is a very large Chinatown shopping area here in Las Vegas. So far, I haven’t ventured over there, but I may decide to give it a shot sometime soon. Plus, where else am I likely to find fortune cookies I can buy in bulk? I bet I could probably find some fans too. I used to have a collection of them, but as I sit here thinking about it, I think I may have gotten rid of them all in the Possession Purge of ’06.
Anyway, my head is back in the game. Now that I have found my dragon, I’m ready for the rest. Bring on Christmas!
I picked up a number of books last year on origami Christmas ornaments. After trying a few, I decided it was a go and haven’t touched them since. It’s time for me to get back on some sort of schedule now to make all my ornaments by Thanksgiving. The other details I have been trying to figure out have to do with the tree topper for this year. I have decided on a Chinese dragon.
My first thought was that I could locate some sort of paper dragon, maybe as a piñata or a mask or something that wouldn’t be too heavy at the top of the tree. Then I even looked into paper Mache to see if it was something I could try to create on my own. My searches didn’t find anything remotely useful, so I turned to kites.
Today I hit pay dirt. On eBay I was able to locate an authentic hand made Chinese dragon kite. It’s even being shipped to me from China. Hopefully, I have judged the size I need correctly and it won’t completely swallow the tree. The tail on this thing is 25 feet long, which should make for a good start on the garland. The best news of course was the price. I was able to buy this thing for under $20. Yeah, the shipping was almost as much, but comparatively speaking it was extremely cheap compared to some of the kite sites I looked at during my search. Some of these kites can run into hundreds of dollars (for a KITE!). I thought I found a pretty good deal.
I am also hoping a trip to the craft store will yield some good results on some red cord for my paper ornaments as well as keeping my fingers crossed at finding some small Chinese lantern ornaments. I may even try to find some Japanese ornaments too, just to round out the Asian theme. If I could find some fish or maybe even geisha girls I would consider it a huge success.
I may also look into what I can find regarding cherry blossoms. I have to have some sort of cherries on the tree, right? There is a very large Chinatown shopping area here in Las Vegas. So far, I haven’t ventured over there, but I may decide to give it a shot sometime soon. Plus, where else am I likely to find fortune cookies I can buy in bulk? I bet I could probably find some fans too. I used to have a collection of them, but as I sit here thinking about it, I think I may have gotten rid of them all in the Possession Purge of ’06.
Anyway, my head is back in the game. Now that I have found my dragon, I’m ready for the rest. Bring on Christmas!
4 comments:
Can't wait to see a picture of the final product. You know, there must be some sort of Christmas tree-decorating contest you could enter.
Yeah, you would think there is something like that out there. Maybe I'll take a look and see.
Only enter if they have better judges than the pineapple contest! You were robbed!!!
Ha! That's true. If the judges are Canadian I am probably out of luck!
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