Make your own mini Christmas tree centerpiece

We always cut our own Christmas tree. We like supporting local farms while having the excuse to take the kids for a beautiful drive through the nearby countryside. It’s a tradition we all enjoy, and this year we had to visit three farms before we found one that was a) open, b) had trees that were under 10 feet and over 3, and c) did not have branches that were half dead.

Scoring a good lookin’ affordable tree can be tricky, since there is a shortage this year. It is even affecting my wonderful state of Oregon, which is the number one producer of Christmas trees in the country. Every luscious green branch should be put to use and not wasted.

After getting the tree home we end up trimming little branches off to shape and fit it in the stand. Sometimes we have enough leftovers to make a wreath or a swag out of, but this year we only had a few, so I decided to make a mini Christmas tree centerpiece.

Mini Christmas tree centerpiece supplies:

• A quart sized mason jar
• About 7-10 small tree clippings, cut to various lengths, to fit the jar without tipping it over.
• 10 ft strand of battery-powered fairy LED lights, (a little longer would also work, but not shorter)
• Wire ribbon, 2 ft or so. (Use whatever scraps you have, can use fabric strips or any kind of ribbon.)
• Wrapping paper
• Transparent tape
• Ornaments, small sized and lightweight. Use shatter-proof ones around kids and pets.

Instructions:

1. Arrange the clippings in your jar to sort-of pass for a tree, or a bouquet of handsome twigs, which is what you really have. Hire a creepy nutcracker to supervise and scare away tree sprites, who do get angry when you chop trees down for selfish reasons.
2. Fill the jar with water.
3. Wrap the battery pack from the lights to look like a tiny present, secure with clear tape. I tore a little hole in the back for the on/off switch.
4. Wrap “tree” loosely with fairy lights, dispersing them as evenly as possible.
5. Wrap the remaining cord around the neck of the person you hate most jar, secure with tape to hold up the battery pack.
6. Conceal wrapped cord and tape with ribbon. I tied mine in a bow.
7. Decorate with small lightweight ornaments.

My tree is not perfect, but I like it that way. It’s just attractive enough that my mom thought I bought it and asked where I got it, but that is probably because she wasn’t wearing her glasses. At least I have a change from the poinsettias that are usually on my table, and the baby loves looking at the tiny lights. Now I want to put these fairy lights on everything!