12/21/2008

Christmas Cookie Nirvana

008

Well it's that time of year again...the annual Decorating of the Christmas Cookies.

010

Mr. Bill snowmen. Vividly realistic images of our animal menagerie.  Everything and everyone was represented-from true love to inaugurations- it was all there.016

 

 

013

 

005

The scent of cookies wafted through the house and sent the littlest schnauzer, Boo-Boo Baby, into a coma of foodie ecstasy.

031

It seems Christmas may finally come together around here...Maybe.

068

12/18/2008

Hanging Chicken Wire Light Balls

When it's time to hang your chicken wire light balls the goal is to hang 'em high- as high up in the trees as you can possibly get them.

Some folks use fishing rods. Others go for slingshots. But around here, the gun is mightier than the rod. We use a potato rocket launcher.  Nothing like overkill for the holidays.

048

We load a specially made "bullet" into the gun. The bullet has one end of the big twine ball attached to it. The weighted bullet shoots the wire up and over the tree limb.

049

052

 

080

 

The gun makes a loud "burp." It frightens neighborhood joggers- but that's just a side benefit.

063

071

 

072

It is a manly art- the hanging of the balls. There is shooting, smoke, bullets, cussing and spitting...

114 

With 20 balls to hang, the process can go on for hours, especially when the bullet gets hung up on a branch.

088

People get a little crazy...

089

We plug and juggle circuits.

116

Night falls. The moon rises.

169

And eventually there is light....

165

 

158

 

145

12/07/2008

How to Make Chicken Wire Christmas Light Balls

Making chicken wire light balls is really easy.  Really.  I am craft-challenged and got a D in Art in Fourth Grade, so when I say something's easy- trust me.  I know.

But as so many readers have written in asking me to explain the exact process in greater detail, I decided to make a step-by-step How-to post- complete with pictures.

My buddy, Mertis, has gladly volunteered to show and tell...

065

First- Measure out about 3' of chicken wire.  All measurements are approximate here. You can make your balls larger or smaller.

129

 

Then cut with tin snips or wire cutters.

 

132

 

Roll the wire into a tube and twine the snipped edges together to form a closed cylinder. 

 

142

Mert says you might want to use pliers or wear gloves as the wire's a bit tough on gentle fingers.

144

 

 

149

 

Now comes the fun part.  Begin bending and folding the ends to shape your tube into a closed, rounded top- you're trying to form a ball- a rounded dome...but you're working with finicky chicken wire.

158

Use the clipped pieces of wire to hold the top of your ball in place.  Some times Mert mutters words of encouragement to the wire, as if she could somehow coax or threaten the oblong cone into the appropriate shape- but I can't print the exact wording.  This is, after all, a family project.

 

173

When she is satisfied, she begins the process of weaving the strand of lights around the ball.  At this point your "ball" looks more like a rectangle than a really circular ball but I tell Mert the light strand will help mold the wire into shape.  Actually, from 50' in the air, a cone looks pretty much like a ball to me.

182

Mert ties the male end of the plug to the top of the ball, then begins winding the strand of lights around the ball.

186

 

 191

 

192

Mert says one of the secrets is using cable ties to secure the lights to the wire frame and to keep them from slipping out of place. The wind can play havoc with your light balls so they need to be tightly secured.

195

 

218

Mert uses two hundred lights per ball.

205

A bit of mashing, a little shaping and voila! You've got a light ball! Start to finish- maybe 15 minutes.

 

224

 

Next post we'll cover securing your ball to the extension cord and how to "hang 'em high" in your trees.

 230