{building}

The holiday season is stuffed with opportunities for the creative.  I mean the nanosecond a jingle bell is inserted into the festive mix is the very moment you can rip the ever lovin' knob off the sound system we call Christmas.  Turnt up.  

What?  Too early in the post for ebonics?  

Nah.

And with the volume of parties & socialesque gatherings there scribbled onto our December calendar, it's really important to capitalize on these opportunities.  You know, give it your best effort to get fanatical and, oh shall we say, GO ONE LOUDER.  Perhaps that's why one of the gifts I've chosen to bring to Christmas is building.  Building what you ask?  Well, a Christmas tree costume, of course.

I began this {bringing to Christmas} series to share with you not just the holy & the holly side of the ways I celebrate Jesus' birth, but the hilarious side as well.  Hilarious & Jesus? Yeah.  Because I'm gonna go on ahead and tell you that Jesus in my life gives me laughter & joy.  He gives me the wonderful chance to get turnt up for what He's all about.

What?  Jesus and turnt up? 

You better believe it.

Ugly sweater parties are all the rage at Christmas time.  Just last Saturday our Patriot football coaching staff celebrated Christmas together. Last year Coach Cobble took home 1st prize with the best costume award.  And this year, I had big plans to follow in the infamously tacky steps of my husband.

I began my Goodwill hunting the same as always.  An open mind is critical not only when you create, but also when you're seeking the look for less.  As I scoured the racks of my local Goodwill, I was left with nothing. No ugly Christmas themed articles rested their shoulders on the hangers of the second hand store.  In a nutshell, Goodwill had been wiped out of holiday tacky.

Thus leaving me to dive deeper into the realm of el cheapo possibility.  On a decor rack, I spotted the classic tree skirt of yesteryear.  You know the kind everyone had before Martha Stewart made every Christmas celebration one big Pinterest explosion?  Yep, that kind.  Immediately I thought: skirt.  I could quickly turn this into a skirt.

There, beside the tree skirt, was a green circle rug.  BOOM.  Christmas tree.

I found the absolutely perfect form of happy tacky in one massive wad of tawny gold sparkle for ah-la-twenty-five cent. Yes, Meghan, the life sized Christmas tree, was about to get real up in this piece. I paid my $2.50 and all but sprinted next door to Dollar General for the final embellishments.

The tree was just a hole cut in the center of the rug large enough for my head to fit through.  I whipped out my trusty glue gun and "hung" my gold get-down-on-it garland from the 1970's. Eli helped me secure the plastic balls onto the "tree" with safety pins.  It was important that I make sure my ornaments were safe from all the shimmie shakes my heaving bosom tends to do at parties.  Ahem.  Shimmie shakin'? OH YES.  Heaving bosom? Well, let's just call that one more wishful embellishment to my Christmas tree, okay?  

The tree skirt was constructed in the same fashion as the tree.  I just measured my waist and doubled that measurement to make the hole.  I then folded it over and added elastic.

I quickly cut out wrapping paper box shapes and used card stock to make name tags for my "gifts" under the tree.  Lastly, I hot glued the bows on top.

The gifts under my "tree" were all of the coaching staff and their wives.

I hot glued some yellow card stock to a pre-cut star I had on hand and secured 3 toothpicks for a make shift hair comb to stuff in my bun.

And Meghan, the life sized Christmas tree, was born.  Coach Cobble costumed himself as the biggest "gift" under my "tree".  Ahhh, the joys of adult humor. I'll leave you with the words of my homeboys Jamie Foxx & Justin Timberlake, "You know you lookin' at a winner, winner, winner..."

Do you enjoy Cheap Thrills Thursdays at k.Mac?  If so, I'd love to hear from you.  Leave me a comment to tell me if these posts have inspired you to take a peek in your local thrift store for some glorious recycling or repurposing.  New to this space? Well, by all means, go here to check out more of these Thursday shenanigans.

Wanna save this idea for next Christmas?  By all means! Pin the above image to your Pinterest account.  Martha Stewart will be so glad you did.

To read more on the gifts I'm bringing to Christmas, visit here.