We sell an enormous quantity of anything and everything relating to a famous North Carolina university, which just happens to be our store owners’ alma mater. We sell so many more Christmas ornaments from their school than we do of any other college, that last year, I started devoting a whole tree just to their
The 2011 tree topper was a giant-blue-foot-with-a-spot-of-tar-on-the-heel. I needed to come up with something different for the 2012 tree. My idea was considerably more adventurous, and proved to be a fun little undertaking. I used one of the school’s symbols – a wishing well with a fair amount of architectural detail.
I set out on a mission to a hobby store in hopes of finding what I needed. I was pleased as punch to find it all in one stop in their Styrofoam department. I had imagined that for the dome, I’d have to find a ball or a globe that would require cutting into two. But no – they had a large, Styrofoam half-ball. How awesome.
I bought 3 rings and the dome. The other part I’d need for making pillars, I knew, I could find at Blackhawk. Next stop was back to where half of Charlotte heads when in need of a quick fix or a repair or some rewiring. The Customer Service Desk way at the back of the store. You know, where they cut keys. Here I found a helpful associate who was willing – so great that he’s always so helpful and willing – to help me with this little project.
First thing we did was to determine that we’d use PVC pipe for the little pillars. Sturdy and great that the PVC is already white [although we used a little paint thinner to remove some black printing on the pipe.] I had a photo of the well for reference. We guessed on the length of the pillars by eyeballing the scale of the well in the photo. The way we configured the well, it had 2 rings for the base [we joined these with some dowels, cut to size, and glue.] The dome rested on another ring. This left an opening which would be visible looking up at the tree from below, so I used a cardboard end from a reel of ribbon and it was the perfect size to conceal “the hole.”
We left the dome off so I could cover it in college duct tape! That was relatively easy and created “the blue look” I wanted. I used cold glue with my glue gun which worked well as I glued the pieces together and didn’t cause a Styrofoam melt-down! The pillars had to be repositioned a few times as they had a tendency to go out of alignment.
I know from experience that Styrofoam doesn’t do well with spray paint, so I covered the “stairs” with regular original grey duct tape. This was close as I could get it to look like the slate floor [not really, but hey, good enough for this purpose!]
I used a little white gift wrapping trim to glue around the edges of the styrofoam which neatened up the look. I used a different trim that looked like garland with red bows to wrap around the poles – because, hey, even an old well needs gussying up for the Holidays!
The tree topper is open all the way through which is perfect for slipping it over the top of a Christmas tree! It perches well on the top of the tree without being precarious!
[Oh, and please don’t tell my two kids who attended the rival school that I made a WELL and not a bell tower.]
NOTE: We carry collegiate duct tape from a number of Southern and North Carolina colleges and universities. We also carry armloads of collegiate ornaments, so come on over, bring your list and make your Holiday purchases!
Here is a picture of last year’s tree too. Better start planning for 2013….
