Who Needs a Tree When You Can Have a (Fake) Cactus?

Ok, the truth is, my new decoration is not really a cactus.  It just reminds me of one.  I mentioned my new Christmas cactus craft when I was showing all my cheap, random homemade decorations this year.  Well this definitely takes the prize as weirdest!

Here is what I was going for.  A lovely feather tree similar to the one by Centsational Girl.

I didn't have any of the materials, so I was hoping I could go to the Dollar Store and find everything I needed.  Haha.  Not so much.  I bought feather boas and pipe cleaners.  Suffice it to say that it was an epic fail.  The pipe cleaners just kept tipping over.

My next idea was to try sticks, tape them together, and wrap them with the feathers.  That looked ridiculous as well, and I came to the conclusion it was the feather boas causing the badness and not the sticks.  Sorry I have no "during" photos of this project.  It was very much a trial and error kind of thing...

So, another trip to the Dollar Store yielded tinsel.  I hate tinsel.  I've never been a fan of tinsel anywhere.  But it was all I could find so I picked up a few strands.  An old cardboard box wrapped in paper and filled with rocks and a piece of styrofoam, served as the base.  I got 4 sticks from the backyard and attached them together with the failed pipe cleaners from before.    Then some tinsel wrapping and some dollar store ornament hanging produced this tabletop decoration!

It's so random...and definitely not a work of art or beauty, haha.  But the more I look at it, the more it makes me laugh, so I'm keeping it...for this year at least!  It reminds me of Snoopy's cousin Spike's cactus that he decorates at Christmas, hence why I call it my Christmas Cactus! :)

Source: Meet the Peanuts Gang