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

Too Precious to Waste

Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons More than a year ago, a decision was made. The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2] A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) 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 wrapping str

Connecting and Interpreting : Story #4 from the ATASDA Collaborative Golden Cape

Connecting and Interpreting : Story #4 from the ATASDA Collaborative Golden Cape Background : This year, 2024, ATASDA ( Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association) is celebrating its Golden Anniversary. The Collaborative Golden Cape is a celebratory garment representing 50 years of creativity in textile arts. Members of ATASDA have joined together to create a beautiful cape comprising of 50 art panels inspired by 50 past ATASDA artworks. Each contribution to the Cape is a personal response to its corresponding historic artwork and its story. The Golden Cape, embellished with these beautiful cameos of textile art and surface design, will travel and be displayed throughout Australia. Parrwang: Jo-Anne Britt drew inspiration for her contribution to the cape from the 1987 work by Bobbie Winger . This was a dramatic wearable textile artwork, entitled , "Dancing Cloak for a Currawong". The limited colour palette and the "feathery" form of the cloak reall

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog