Country Basket’s Festive Face-Off 2014 competition

I leapt at the chance to be part of The Festive Face-Off organised by Country Baskets, one of the leading craft suppliers. I like a challenge, I like craft, I like Christmas! Win, win, win.

The challenge was to use my creative talents (ho, ho, ho) to produce a bespoke Christmas-themed decoration for the home or garden using no less than 4 items from the goodies in the box provided, plus other items if I wanted.

Here are the lovely items sent to me.

Wire, Baubles, pompoms, bells, ribbons, mistletoe

The box was appreciated too.

 
Hmm, what to make?  I knew that I wanted something for our front door as it looked a bit bare. So maybe a garland/wreath. But I didn't want to do a traditional circle one and then I thought of a Christmas tree made using the wire as a base.

So one morning I used to wire, which is very easy to bend, into a tree shape. Basically I spiralled up, then down and then went down each side twisting into the spirals to create a sold frame. I then added the little star at the top.  This tree shape could stand by itself before I flattened it, so that is an idea as well for a freestanding tree.

Christmas Tree Frame in Wire

The wire is a nice gold colour so it didn't matter if it showed in the finished tree.

Now I love snow. Unfortunately I live in the South of England so we don't get to see it very often. Luckily one of the items in the pack was a pompom garland made of little white pompoms on invisible thread cascading from a central point. I cut them off this fixed point so I had strands of the pompoms which I then wove in and out of the wire frame so they looked like snow (hopefully).

Starting to weave the pompoms onto the frame

All the pompoms are now woven onto the frame.

I had a nice Christmas film on the tv and it was a lovely way to spend the morning. Very festive.

So here it is finished. Or is it?

I love green and white. They look lovely together. But you know, sometimes you need a pop of colour to bring the whole thing together.

On the bus home (a great place to think ) I had an idea. So back at home I coloured some more of the silver hearts using nail varnish. I used a gold and a purple plum.

They look rather luxurious. I love the plain silver (matte and shiny) and I love the fact that you can add a bit of colour too.

Finally here is the decoration complete. The star is useful as I can hang it on a nail but another way of hanging it is by threading a length of ribbon through the star and hanging the ribbon up over the top of the door and securing it on the back of the door with some tape.

A few photos closer in so you can see the detail.

I used most of the items from the box supplied. I did not use the mistletoe so my daughter can take it to school and chase after the boys. The only thing I used of my own was the nail varnish.  That was fun. I am so happy with my door decoration. It makes me happy when I come home. And I love  love love that fact that I made it myself. No-one has one like it and it was so simple to do. Thank you Country Baskets.