Fred Gonsowski Garden Home

a Song Bird made of Snowflakes

In my post Cutting / Making Snowflakes, I covered the steps it takes to fold and cut paper snowflakes. In Turn your Snowflakes into a Snowflake Snowman, I took the snowflake a bit further, when I gave you some of my thoughts on assembling and personalizing snowflakes, when making that Winter craft project. In that post I said “Why not make your whole family as snowflake people, and even your pets“.

That comment got me thinking about how whimsical, different animals would look made of snowflakes. I thought if I made some for my readers to look at, it would inspire kids, and they could take them further, making their own imaginative creations.

So to see the Menagerie of Snowflake Animals that I came up with click Continue reading →

a FUN paper craft project for Kids, that you can leave up ALL Winter

In the fifth grade art class, taught by Sister Mary Charles (nee Catherine Lily), I learned a number of easy to make / inexpensive projects to do with just white paper.

In one of my previous posts Cutting / Making Paper Snowflakes 10-27-2011, I went over the easy steps you do to make a snowflake. In this post I am covering how to take the snowflakes a bit further, and making them into a Snowman or Snowwoman. Continue reading →

It's EASY to make a Bow for your Christmas Wreath!

When it comes to making a bow for the Christmas wreath, the easier the better. Over the years I have made many bows for wreaths that decorated my house, homes of relatives, friends, and even wreaths that are placed in the cemetery, on graves of loved ones who have passes away. On all those wreaths, I wanted a bow that looked good, and could take the elements like whipping wind and snow. So here is how I make the No tie bows Continue reading →

Fluff, Reshape, Style an Artificial Christmas Wreath like a Pro

As I was putting up the artificial Christmas wreaths, I started thinking about all the people who buy them, take them out of the package, and just hang them up. Not one bit of effort was put into styling, shaping or fluffing them. I see this happen at private homes, public buildings, and even at malls.

With a few minutes of time, and some easy to follow instructions, you will have your not decorated, or decorated Christmas wreath looking great, and ready to shine during the Holiday Season. Continue reading →

Making a Paper Christmas Tree out of Your Name

Turning my name into a paper Christmas Tree, along with making Paper Snowflakes, was one of the many craft projects that I did in the fifth grade. I think Sister Mary Charles (nee Catherine Lily) was a genius, coming up with art projects for us to do, on a very limited budget.

The First Step in making your Name Tree is to Continue reading →

Decorating a Christmas Tree at the Albany Institute of History and Art

For 10 years I decorated Christmas trees for the Albany Institute of History and Art’s FESTIVAL of TREES.

Each year I came up with a different theme, like a tree covered in antique looking bulbs, a tree covered with dried flowers, a gold tree for King Midas, and Mardi Gras inspired tree to name a few. For all my creative efforts, I won the Popular Choice Vote twice. I won over florist stores, garden centers and other venues that had seemingly unlimited budgets and product to work with, versus the $250. they gave me to buy tree decorating supplies.

All the Tricks of the Trade, that I used to decorate a Christmas tree like a pro, on a limited budget, I am going to go over with you in this post. Continue reading →