Skip to main content

Christmas Countdown 25... Christmas Tree #1


Background : It has become a bit of a Christmas tradition for me to write an Advent blog - a series of posts leading into Christmas from 1 December . In the past,  I have featured Christmas characters by the alphabet, all you ever needed to know about Christmas cakes, Christmas Firsts  and  Christmas traditions.  I usually find myself on 30 November, thinking what  to do this year?  However, I've had  the idea of "crazy " Christmas trees in the back of my mind since last year.  So this year, it's about non- traditional, unusual, crazy, weird  Christmas trees.  There will also be a "handmade" element to my posts, so there may even be some links to tutorials or other ideas....

 So here we go. Christmas Countdown 25 - 1 December. 
Source : https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/455285843573622091
This is the image which started this line of thought....  a yarn bombed, crochet granny square Christmas tree.  I thought I would like to crochet a tree like this, but  perhaps another year....  This tree was created by the Urban Knitting Zaragoza Group for the Plaza del Pilar, Saragoza, Spain. They covered a metal frame with  knit and crochet squares with embellishments - helped by two children's yarn bombing workshops

Other places have had similar ideas Stoney Stanton, a village in the Blaby district, Leicestershire, England was yarn bombed for Christmas in 2016. 

If you think time is not on your side for this Christmas, perhaps a tree skirt or  some of the smaller Granny square  Christmas tree projects  might be possible. 
Link to online tutorial for Christmas tree skirt 



 Link to a online tutorial  for Granny square tree decoration. 




 And if Christmas trees and granny squares don"t sit well with you ... perhaps a fashion item for your Christmas party.... We have seen crochet  granny squares used for all sorts of crazy wearable items  and even  in fashion shows and on the celebrity red carpet.
Sources : https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2017-menswear/moschino/slideshow/collection#57



Source : https://www.demilked.com/crochet-shorts-schuyler-ellers-lord-von-schmitt/
Source: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/135389532532708655/?lp=true
Here's a video tutorial on how to crochet a granny square - the beginning of many projects, even a Christmas tree. 

For more information about  Christmas trees go to  a previous blog post. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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 : ...

Bilby Infatuation

  Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016  Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...