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CHRISTMAS TREE

Materials: Plaster of Paris; ½" dowel stick 12" long; oblong sardine can or flat round tuna fish can; airplane cement; stiff wire; thin spool wire; 1 package green crepe paper; cotton batting; Star Silateen Sansil crochet cotton, green; C•B Tatting Cotton in a variety of colors; gold or silver flitter; steel crochet hook No. 10.

TREE: Fill oblong or round can with wet plaster of Paris. Place dowel stick upright in center of can and let plaster harden for one hour. Glue and wind dowel tree trunk with ½" strips of green crepe paper.
   Branches: Cut six 4" pieces stiff wire for top row, seven 5" pieces for next row down, seven 6" pieces for next row down, eight 7" pieces for bottom row.
   To make green needles on branches, wind crochet cotton around 2 fingers 6 times, hold at center. Clip loops at both ends and fold in half. Dab glue on folded ends of yarn, place flat on wire branch and wind over folded ends with green thread to hold in place. Fill branch with yarn needles, keeping all cut ends in same direction, to within 1" of end of wire. Put yarn needles on all branches in same way. Fasten branches to dowel trunk in rows, by wrapping ends to trunk with spool wire. Wind trunk again with ½" strips of wire. Use crepe paper to cover joints. Cover base of can with cotton.

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Crocheted Trimmings: All made with tatting cotton in colors. Dip in glue all decorations except balls and canes and sprinkle with flitter.

Balls: Ch 4, join to form a ring. Ch 3, make 16 dc in ring.
Rnd 2: Work in dc, increasing to 24 sts in rnd. Join.
Rnds 3 and 4: Work even in dc.
Rnd 5: Work in dc, decreasing every 3rd st, join. Stuff with cotton.
Rnds 6 and 7: Work in dc, decreasing every 3rd st.
Ch 6, sl st in first ch to form loop.

Bells: Work the same as for balls through rnd 2. Then work 7 rows even of sc. Roll edge up 1 row. Starch and stretch over thimble.

Round Decoration: Ch 5, join. Work 20 dc in ring.
Rnd 2: Ch 5, dc in next st, * ch 2, dc in next st, repeat from * around, join.
Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in first sp, * ch 2, 2 dc in next sp, repeat from * around, join. Circles may be finished with a round of plain sc or sc and picots.

Half Circle Decorations: Start same as circle to rnd 2.
Rnd 2: Work dc and ch 2 halfway around circle and end off.

Top Star: Ch 4, join. Ch 3, make 14 dc in ring.
Rnds 2 and 3: Ch 3, dc in same st. Make 2 dc in each dc around (30 dc in rnd 2, 60 dc in rnd 3). Ch 3, turn.
Points: Ch 3, dc in next 10 dc, ch 3, turn. Skip first dc, dc in next 7 dc, skip next dc, dc in last dc. Dec in same manner for 4 more rows to form point. Break thread. Skip 1 st at base of point and attach thread. Make 4 more points the same as first.
Stars can be made smaller by using less stitches and working in same manner. Use any number of stitches divisible by 5.

Cane: With white, ch 20. Work 2 rows of sc. Break off white and attach red. Work 2 rows of sc in red. Wrap crochet around wire in diagonal fashion, glue in place. Bend wire to form cane.

Many other decorations may be made, such as sc worked over bone rings.