Linus Mariah Brown!!!!!

My first Christmas tree ever!!! Here he is riding home in my car...

One of the reasons I liked this tree so much is that it's still alive, with roots and everything -- I can plant it when Christmas is over and have a tree growing on my porch year-round!! I covered his plastic pot with grocery bags and pink tape.

Then I tried to hang all my ornaments on him, but he's so wispy that the ornaments bent all the branches down and/or fell off. 

So, I decided to make my own Christmas ornaments out of paper, light as a feather and exactly how I want them. 

To make an angel for the top of my tree, I cut a cone shape...

...and taped it together.

Then I tried the angel body on my tree to see if it would fit. 

(This picture cracks me up; the tree bends sideways so endearingly and I can't make it stand up straight. I like Linus Mariah even more because of his flaws!) 

Angel gets a face, and some crazy star hair that also serves as a halo.

Love and a heart, since "that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!"

(This is also where Linus Mariah's first name comes from.)

Then, I decided that this would be a "joyful and triumphant" angel, inspired by this song. 

(This is also how Linus Mariah got his middle name!)

 I tucked in some white, pink, and gold stars to serve as a backdrop for my joyful and triumphant angel... 

Note the angel's pine needle goatee...

Wishing you a very lopsided, handmade, sparkly, Merry Christmas filled with love! 

[All photos and content by Ann Howell Brown, 2012]