Christmas Countdown 12: Christmas tree #14 - Seashells by the seashore.

Advent Blog Day 14 - Seashells by the seashore

In the 1800's decorative gifts called sailor's valentines were made with seashells. It is then not too much of a surprise to hear that Christmas trees created from shells are a popular decor item, especially if one lives near a beach. My favourites are the more unusual shells with naturally beautiful colours.

Blue green limpet shell tree

Cone shell tree

Mussel shell tree

While these tabletop Christmas trees are all beautiful, I am more impressed by the community effort of the people in Sorsogon, (Philippines). They created a tableau of 30 Christmas trees and many lanterns all made from discarded seafood shells - 'baluko' (pen shell).

Baluko trees in Sorsogon, Philippines

These trees were built a little over 5 metres tall and each took a small team about five days each to construct. Not only was the collection of the shells for this project a waste management solution to the growing piles of baluko shell litter along the foreshores, the Christmas trees attracted tourists to the town, thus boosting the economy.

Shells by themselves have a lovely lustre, but I guess at Christmas a little extra sparkle can be expected .

Oyster shells with pearls

Shells and sea glass

Shells and beads

With only a couple of weeks to Christmas now, there's probably not enough time to collect enough sea shells to make a tree, but perhaps a Christmas tree ornament ? A Nutcracker ballerina or a Christmas angel ?

Nutcracker ballerinas

Sea shell angel tutorial

What a great theme for an Australian Christmas - Seashells by the sea shore! And tomorrow - just a bit of extra sparkle for your Christmas...

Comments

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

From my workshop page....

Current Workshops Offerings Thinking of a workshop for your group in 2022? Art Doll Workshops : - Garden Thread Dolls (one day workshop - WoW -(Woman of Wisdom) - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head. This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or 2 full days days! - Message/Story Stick doll - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth. ( one day) - Elemental totems - stick doll variation , with sculpture ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric) TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style. - Dipping Into Tea - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric. ( two days) work by Judith Bee, workshop participant. - Tea Bag sculpture : ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog