Our DIY Dragon Hoard Christmas Tree

John and I had such an amazing Dapper Day Saturday that we went back for more on Sunday. Which means I'm a day behind and have twice the content, oops. So I'll bring you those photos and fun stories on Friday, k?

In the meantime, here comes another Hobbit Holiday build: our Dragon Hoard Christmas tree!

Yes, our mini Smaug has amassed his own treasure pile in our this corner tree, and is fiercely protecting it from the cats.

"MINE."

The tree is full of giant gems, strands of pearls, medallions, mirrors - basically every gold and/or sparkly thing our house had to offer, plus gold Christmas balls for fill.

I re-painted a plastic Tangled goblet to make that fancy chalice, and I think the gold box held candy?

I also hit up my friend Traci's cosplay closet for some foam swords and a bunch of sparkly tiaras, which make a fantastic tree topper:

I plan to keep adding "treasures" as I either find or make them, so the hoard should grow by party time.

In fact this would be a great thrift store project! Paint lightweight tchochkes gold, maybe bedazzle them with plastic rhinestones, and boom: instant treasure.

These are parts of a Christmas sprig I glued to a broken chain belt. :D

A Dollar Tree mirror from my stash. I had to get creative since we haven't had time for a thrift run.

"Ok, Jen," I can hear you saying, "That's great. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE DRAGON?"

Ahhh, that's the best part!

We Made A Life-Sized Hobbit Door For Our House!

Happy Friday, po-tay-toes & hobbitses! Remember when we made these?

Hobbit Door Wreath DIY

What do you say we make a life-sized one? With a functioning door? For a Hobbit party?

I'm getting strong "yes" vibes over here, so I'll assume those are from you.

LET US PROCEED.

John and I turned once again to our trusty not-sponsor - but we're open, Pink Panther, just sayin' -  pink insulation foam.

Blocking out the basic shapes - and quickly discovering that threshold was a face-plant waiting to happen, ha. That'll get lowered later.

This will not be Bilbo's iconic door, because we wanted something less character-specific. And red, to be more festive. Our inspiration was this other Hobbit hole in New Zealand:


via Rachael Christian

So pretty, right? Just imagine it all decked out with lights and snow for Christmas!

Once we had all the pieces we starting adding wood grain texture:

I used an awl for the lighter grain and knots, then John sliced V grooves with a craft blade for the deeper cracks.

Four pieces of foam stacked & glued to make these honkin' corbels:

My wood grain's not great on this side, shhhh.

Once we painted everything brown it really started coming together: