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

#the100dayproject : Inspiring Women Days 1 - 4

#The100DayProject is a *free* global art project that takes place online 🎨 E very year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate . The idea is simple: choose a creative project, do it every single day for 100 days, and document and share the process online. 2026 is my 8th year of participating. I have stitched daily observations, painted my egg cup collection, collaged postcards and envelopes, written poems, explored colour palettes .... this year I am researching, sketching and stitching 100 inspiring women. Fortunately I purchased a piece of beautiful linen, with preprinted outlines of 100 women ... just one issue - the figures are tiny (height 6cm /2.5 ins) My first week started tentatively ... I thought I would start with Empress Wu, after whom I named my creative activity. This is when I discovered how difficult it is to applique and stitch on these very small figures - I used tweezers to put pieces of fabric down, tried t...

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...

Meditations on Mercator

‘ The Timelessness of Stitch’ was an invitational group exhibition at Timeless Textiles Gallery, Newcastle NSW , 1 April – 10 May 2026 …. Across generations and cultures, the act of stitching has woven together stories, traditions and identities. Each thread carries not only aesthetic value but also the memories and emotions of those who crafted it, demonstrating how this simple act transcends time and place. I was honoured and humbled to be amongst the twenty-three artists (national and international) participating in this exhibition. My small installation took some time to develop…. Although I knew about this exhibition for some time, I kept procrastinating, going from one idea to another and not settling on any. Recently, I came across the word “mercator” and while a vague notion of maps was recalled, I really needed to research. Besides the modern commercial connections, Mercator has its origins in cartography, which Is often a source of inspiration for my ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog