I am decidedly not a crafty mom, though I often wish I were. (If you don’t believe me, head on over here for more reassurance on that point.) The Hatchlings, however, are a different story. H1 and H2 love to create things, and my contribution is sometimes an idea of something I wish I could do that they jump on with gusto. All this leads up to my first Make-it Monday post.
For the past several years, we’ve gone mistletoe hunting at the beginning of December. One of the bonuses of moving back South was the abundance of this partial parasite that grows at the top of trees, particularly oak, in the area. (For more on the history of the mistletoe tradition, The Holiday Spot has some good info.) We take a walk around the woods, find a tree with some good clumps, make sure we’re in a safe area away from the house, people and animals, and then take aim with a shotgun. The older two kids love it, but the dogs and H3 tend to stay inside for this very loud part.
This year, we took it up a notch and got some green floral wire, gold metallic spray paint (both Rustoleum and Krylon make this for about $4/can), glitter spray (Rustoleum $6), gold metallic acrylic paint (FolkArt brand at my local Walmart for $3-$9 depending on size), small jingle bells and holiday ribbon to make festive sprigs. We found the hardest part to be working with the floral wire to keep the mistletoe in place, followed closely by tying pretty ribbons, but others who have more patience and skill should be fine. Of course the most fun was the painting, as the kids loved experimenting with the paint, particularly the spray glitter and gold metallic.
Who doesn’t love spray paint and jingle bells?
Obviously, not everyone can or should just go out and shoot mistletoe down, but there are a few places that sell live mistletoe, from local florists to Pottery Barn to online retailers. Yes, there even is a mistletoe.com. Overall, a pretty painless and fun craft to do on a weekend, even for a mom like me.
