twiggy stardust 48/50 - 50 makes for Christmas

When I made my Christmas wreath I cut more foliage than I needed and I have held on to it thinking "it may come in handy".

The Hydrangea heads I have popped in a jug to dry out, although I think this may not produce the skeletal effect I am hoping for and could well be destined for the composting bin in the not too distant future.

A holly sprig here and there in an old bottle adds a traditional touch to the Christmas decorations.

The dogwood I have decided to make into a twiggy star, festive, rustic and biodegradable. I had thought I would make a small one but I had plenty of stems to play with so I went for a really big one,  I have propped it up outside the patio doors so I can enjoy it from the inside out.

Only two more posts before I complete my 50 makes for Christmas project I am so very close to completion!


I alway forget how long it takes to do the Christmassy jobs like writing the cards, it not the actual writing its the time it takes to hunt down all the addresses too! at least it is another one to tick off the list.  Have you got round to writing your cards yet?

Fresh Garden Christmas Wreath 43/50 - 50 Makes for Christmas

I was thrilled with the dogwood wreath I made last year so it was a no brainer to include it in my list of things to do this year.  Of course I need to change it up a bit from last time when I kept it very stark with only a grey linen ribbon and a few clay ornaments.

This year I am looking to hide the dogwood away with a wealth of foliage that I have collected from mine and my daughter's gardens.  I had intended to use plenty of holly as we are planning some changes to the bottom part of the garden and this involves removing a much loved holly tree, it came from my Mum's garden as a little twig of a thing and seemed to struggle for a while before picking up and growing into a fine healthy specimen.  I had hoped to have uprooted it and replanted it at my daughters as she has a fairly large garden, however there are many holly trees already established and plenty of self seeded saplings so we will need to have a little think about what to do with it.

The Dogwood base was made by creating a circle with one stem and securing it with some wire. More strands were woven in to give it some substance.

 I then bound on the base foliage using florists wire and followed this up with bunches of foliage and flowers that were also bound on with the wire.  I had a few false starts before I got it where I wanted to to be so my advice would be to play around and learn what works best for you.

The final arrangement is now hanging on my front door and I am hoping it will not fall to pieces all over the postie!

I made a second wreath for my daughter and tried to give it a more modern look with a bit of tinsel and a few baubles. This hides that I was running short of the base foliage and the tinsel was a bit of improvisation to fill in some of the gaps.

I had a lovely but very cold morning exploring this new craft.  I don't think the local florist has anything to worry about but I shall be making wreaths again next year.

Make 43 completed from my 50 makes for Christmas challenge with just 7 more posts left to completion.

Christmas countdown day 24

Yipee made it to the end of the challenge, you will be relieved to find the last of the cheesy jokes is just as bad as all the others.


"What do monkeys sing at Christmas?"

"Jungle bells, Jungle bells"


Sorry as promised cheesy and groany to the very end! now for a little music to get us in the festive mood


The photo challenge is "Advent Calendar" and this is what remains, I will sort through and find any reusable bits for future projects, the remainder will be recycled in one way or another.

I wanted the final Advent post to reflect on the homemade elements of my Christmas preparations

Draw string Advent calendar bag

White clay Christmas ornaments

Button Christmas decoration

Our twiggy Christmas tree

Free Christmas Wreath 

Best mince pie recipe

Thank you for taking this Advent countdown adventure with me I hope you enjoyed it, I am planning to spend some quiet time with family and friends over the next few days so there may not be any more posts this year.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, thank you for all your support in 2015 and I hope you will pop in to catch up with what is happening in my little corner of the world in2016.

Christmas countdown Day 16

The photo challenge today is"Stars" and this gave me the perfect opportunity to revisit the Christmas wreath I made here

I chose to hang it indoors rather than on the front door as I love the red against the light blue wall. this also meant that I could use some of my many homemade clay decorations.  I am quite pleased with the overall look but feel it needs just something else but I haven't quite decided what that might be.

Ha ha I have just seen surfing Santas on the BBC news, I love a seasonal good news story.

Here is your joke for day 16 on the advent calendar


"What falls but never hurts itself?"

"snow"

A proper groaner that one!

... making a free Christmas wreath

I am in full swing with my Christmas preparations and today I had big plans for sewing some of the elements for my Advent calendar project, however, I was distracted with a different make.  I was able to get some dogwood from one of my neighbours, its flexibility and red colour make it ideal for making a wreath base.

Start by taking a long stem that has very few side shoots and is not too woody.  Make into a circle overlapping about 15 to 20 cms (6 to 8 inches) on each side. fasten the ends with a piece of plastic covered wired.

We could leave it at that but it might be a tad on the understated side, so take another piece and start wrapping it around/inter-twining. Fasten with more wire as needed, you are looking to build a base that you can continue to weave more stems into.  I have allowed some of the side shoots to roam from the basic shape as I don't want it to be too constricted and I want it to take some of the shape from the wood and the way it has grown.

All you do now is weave/wrap more stems in, you should be able to position them in the gaps between the stems that are already there so shouldn't need to wire them in, however, use more wire if you think you need it.  Trim any stems that are too thick and woody as they won't be as pliable.

I will decorate this with ivy and holly from the garden in a couple of weeks when I am ready to hang it, and maybe a bauble or two.

Not a bad afternoons work, creating something from nothing.


Don't forget to enter my Christmas give away details on this post