Welcome to Whoville

After my parents passed, I emptied their attic and my attic and actually donated boxes and boxes of unwanted Christmas decorations. But somehow I still have more Christmas than I ever set up each year and for some unexplained reason I keep purchasing more.  Last year was the year of those cute red trucks and station wagons with trees on top. This year I woke up and decided - It is Whoville!

Eventually and probably fortuitously, the Grinch is not very popular this year. I have not seen much in stores and am trying to blind myself from too much on the internet. 

Four month old Louis is one of my building supervisors. 

I did get lucky at Oriental Trading and ordered some paper products and games for my (gulp) 10 young grandchildren.  

Three year old Lydia is my design assistant

And I decided to create some new outdoor decorations. 

The start of Tree #1

About two and a half years ago I discovered replacement fence boards at my local Home Depot. They are about 6 feet tall and a little narrower than I like, but the cost of about 2.89 each has made them my new favorite craft item.  I have done some Welcome boards, some holiday boards and quite a few political boards since I can't leave the house for protest marches with all the tiny grandchildren I care for.  

Tree #2 and Tree #1

I set out to create my own Whoville decor.  I designed some Christmas trees, traced some patterns and bought all the Grinch Green Apple Barrel paint available. 

I was happy with my first three trees. I decided to outline the decorations with black paint and it really made them pop. 

Here was my first attempt at the Grinch. And tree #3. 

I had to move the art studio to my kitchen counter to move the wet paint away from tiny hands. 

The final five!

I wish I could repaint my bicycle planter white, but my dear husband has it so firmly attached to the tree, I am not sure it can be done. I have the packages secured with miles of string, tied to each other and to the basket.  We used zip ties to attach the Grinch tree to the bike. 

I am pretty darn happy with how it turned out! We attached each tree and the Grinch to my porch posts with the zip ties. Of course our lights did not work after we put them up (yes, we tested them) so there is an elf on the left attaching the new lights for this year. 

This is the right side of the porch. 

And the step up to the porch.

 For my Whoville garland, I just used some red plastic disposable plates, dipped the lid from the craft paint in the white paint and created polka dots!

I punched holes and tied them together with string. I love how they turned out! - from a distance LOL

It was an inexpensive way to update and change our Christmas decorating this year. I spent about $15 on the boards, $6 on the plates, and probably $10 on the paint because I purchased it once, misplaced it when I hid the bag from my grandchildren and had to re-purchase it. I saved packing boxes and bought rolls of gift wrap at Dollar Tree. If only we had not had to replace the lights, the whole yard would have only cost about $34.00 total.