There was always a reason why craft stores started holiday stocking early: making takes time. (This in no way excuses the trend picked up by retail stores.)
For me, most of the high-volume handwork stuff doesn’t typically involve holiday materials seeing as most of my trees of thematic.
Take the Unicorn Tree as an example:
I found nearly full size acrylic gummi bear and full size gumdrop beads. Adding in some round frosted beads that evoke hard candies, hot pink spacer beads and multi-colored sequins I had everything needed for a bead garland befitting a sweets-ladened Unicorn Tree!
Once I established the pattern, off I went. I don’t yet know how many yards I strung, just that I ran the pattern until the gumdrop beads were gone.
I decided to make tiny charm ornaments out of the excess gummi bear beads and rounds… They should make excellent fill and bounce the light nicely.
In the course of finding the hot pink spacer beads, I discover some ceramic unicorn and rainbow beads. I cannot pass such things up!
I dug into my stash beads to fill out the runs and finished them with earwires for hooks.
It has been a fun diversion while I avoid the nearly 100° heat of the garden…
our cattywampus cottage 