I HEART EVERYTHING: astro weenie christmas tree

THIS JUST IN! IF YOU ARE A FAN OF CHARLES PHOENIX ON FACEBOOK AND FOLLOWED HIS LINK...CLICK HERE FOR THE ROTATING ASTRO WEENIE TREE POST...AND WELCOME TO I HEART EVERYTHING!!! -Amber Von Felts ;-)

I saw the most amazing tutorial over at the Betty Crafter blog on how to make he Kitschiest Kitschmas Wreaths ever! They were so beautiful that right away I started grabbing cheap-o ornaments and vintage floral pics from thrift stores and yard sales. I also found four foam wreath forms at a thrift store for only .50 cents each! Perfecto! It was very easy and very addictive to make these. A lot of hot glue and felt later and here is what I ended up with, I think they turned out splendid!

Santa Wreath

I love the Santa with the Christmas ball body and flossy beard! It is hard to pick a favorite, but I think this one is at the top!

Pink Wreath

Didja see the little elf and the atomic glittered ornament! Eee! This one would look good on Valentines Day too!

Blue Wreath

This is about my favorite color scheme ever. Green is my favorite color, and it really pops with the blue, silver and gold. So pretty!

Now that the Glitter is flowing...

Oh Dear! These sweet little deer are a great year round Christmas decoration. The white washed Bambis were going to get the glitter treatment like old Goldie up there but so far, they have remained blank. There is never enough time to get all those Christmas projects done now is there? What have you crazy crafters been making this year?

We had our Mad Men themed Birthday party for our dear friend Molly last weekend and WOW, what a success! My apartment was transported back to the mid sixties for a night of flashback party-goers and Mad Men enthusiasts! Since my apartment is already a blast from the past, it took very little effort to time travel. What really made it fantastic was the 100% costume participation from our guests! They all looked fabulous! So, sit back and enjoy some kitschy pics! (click pics for larger view)

The apartment made a fabulous "set" for our cast of guests. Seriously, it was in full party mode! I got to bust out every piece of colorful Pyrex and party ware I own (which is quite a bit). In addition to the Birthday celebration, there were Christmas decorations up. We just let the apartment be itself (yes, it seems to have taken on it's own personality) for the "period appropriate" decorations!

Candy Cigarettes and a ton of other sweets!

Our bar set-up, which had a professional bar tender too!

The Pièce de résistance - Astro Weenie Christmas Tree inspired by Charles Phoenix (king o' kitsch) I made one little upgrade to the original AWCT, I made mine ROTATE with a vintage Rotating Christmas Tree Stand (which was a free curbside find years ago) OMG!!!

You start out with a styrofoam floral cone and in my case, shove a dowel up in there, cover it with tinfoil and then insert into rotating tree stand. Then, start skewering your toppings of choice till that bad boy is filled up! I have never felt more Euphoric than when I was decorating my AWCT!! It was like my entire existence had been justified as soon as I started sticking those tooth picks in. I was literally giggling the whole time!

Here is a video of the AWCT in action!

This particular AWCT doesn't have any weenies on it (it's a vegetarian version) but we do have Broccoli, Olives, Cauliflower, carrots, pineapple, apples, colorful marshmallows, strawberries, vanilla wafers and Oreos. Yes, you can skewer cookies!!!

For dips, I set up two fondue pots (yes, I own two fondue sets, is one ever enough?) and we made a chocolate fondue and a Frosty the Cheeseball Man (thanks again Charles Phoenix) for the cheese fondue. Observe:

You make a cheese ball snow man out of Velveta, and then ice him with cream cheese. Make him some features out on fruits & veggies and there you have it, the cutest little guy that you've ever seen (or will melt into oblivion)!

Here is Frosty the Cheesball Man taking what he thinks is a dip in the jacuzzi. I love the pic in the top right. It's like he's saying "I don't feel so good"...but you tasted great Frosty, you tasted great! Note the olive "eyes" floating in the fondue!

The rest was a fabulous blur! Just look at these fun-loving people!

There was a photo area in my bedroom made out of the giant chalkboard. There is the birthday girl pictured below (top right) channeling her inner Don Draper .

The house really took on a movie set look in these pics. I had tons of compliments on the apartment, and the food. Everyone seemed to have a great time at the party. We couldn't have been happier at the turnout. It was elegant and kitschy all at the same time. What a great way to clebrate Molly's Birthday!

Planning and preparing for this party was great, I was in heaven! I wouldn't mind having a holiday cocktail party once a year from now on. It was so great! Cheers to you all!