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

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/35325178301076166/

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

Source : https://www.hinckleytimes.net/news/local-news/gallery/stoney-stanton-yarn-bombed-christmas-12286641

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

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2017-menswear/moschino/slideshow/collection#57

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/288019338654505631/

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.

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ? from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result. from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin

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 work up

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

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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