Christmas tree still in progress...

I've been trying to get Christmas stuff wrapped up, so I can move on to other projects, but the days just drain away and not everything gets done. I'm still working on the tree topper, so the tree is not complete, and I haven't decorated under it either...just like the holiday season, never enough hours in the day!

I did finish some non tree decorations...

Mike likes my Blue footed Boobie so well he wants it to be my "signature" and I am getting better at him...

And here are some more ornaments up close, my favorite are the plastic bottle poinsettias!

Yogurt bottle with washi tape, certainly not perfected, I think I need more strips... Bottom of the soda bottle flower, and starburst a made from drinking straws.

I painted some shells with aluminum paint, and didn't drill holes in them first, so I'm making little embroidery thread slings/nets for them, they'll be great.

But that's it! I'm not making anymore ornaments this year! Doesn't look like we will make it to Bahia to buy an artificial tree this year, next week we will have Manuel start some work, and they'll probably be sold out. Oh well, the way the days drain away it'll be Ano Nuevo (New Years) before we know it!! I checked in Charapoto while there on Sunday for market, only ONE store had ONE tree, and it turned out to be too big for our little house and it was $48.

Manuel just stopped by to get our ideas for the work we've commissioned, the ATM was down, so we couldn't give him money for materials. But it looks like he will start work in the morning,so....

Stay tuned! The adventure continues!

Christmas Tree O' Christmas Tree

Every village is different, we are now living in San Jacinto and it is quieter than San Clemente, the neighbor to the North. The overall vibe of the town is different, one person told us early on, San Jacinto was like 50's Florida coast, and San Clemente was more like 60's California, we can feel the difference. We can also SEE the difference, at the Christmas holiday, San Clemente has a big Nativity scene and a huge Christmas tree, San Jacinto just did a little sprucing up with new paint...here are some pictures of San Clemente.

Apparently, this Nativity scene has been getting bigger and grander over the past couple years, the stream has been added, and even a small fish pond pump, so the water circulates. It's the talk of the town...UNTIL the Christmas tree starts getting made.

This is how it starts, a man named Pinoche collects bottles thru the year, over 2000 water bottles this year went into making this tree. Then he makes a form from bamboo, wood and tubing...

And strings the bottles on, then they added lights up thru the center, and this year he hung dozens of CDs, so that they caught and reflected the light as the ocean breeze moved thru the tree.

Thanks John MacDonald for the great pictures and blow by blow of how it's made. They say every year the tree is a little different, so stay tuned...the adventure continues, one plastic water bottle Christmas tree at a time, (maybe next year we'll make our own...stay tuned!)