Holiday Arts and Crafts Show

These are some images from a recent holiday arts and crafts show I participated in. It has been going for over 25 years on Bainbridge Island, WA and is called Christmas in the Country. Over 9 venues open up with an average of 13 artisans in each site. I feature vintage inspired ornaments and this year I introduced my line of reconstructed and up-cycled tops and the "collage-style" necklaces. A future post will show examples of each of those lines.

One of the amazing things that happened was to be able to use a large sized oil painting I had serendipitously found about 2 years ago. It has been sitting in the garage and made its debut for the show. It wonderfully camouflaged a bulletin board that could not be removed. So it leaned against the wall on top of the table and blended perfectly into the display.

The color scheme was dusty pink, black, and ivory. I find fabrics and curtin panels at flea markets and lavishly layer them on table tops. Cupcake towers and faux trees (including my cherished tinsel tree) were appropriate props and display pieces. I also used large vintage frames with chicken wire glued inside to hang ornaments on along with white-washed pedestals created with trimmed metal flashing and stair rail posts.

Vintage inspired snowpeople, vintage glass glittered trees, sparkly snowflakes, dazzling acorns, jazzy- edged butterflies on clips, delicate and intricate paper shows fit for Cinderella, nested birds amongst matte glass ornaments, and wreaths made with flowers cut from French dictionary pages were just a few of the ornaments and holiday decorations that were featured.

Hand-Crafted Holiday Ornaments

I am in high production gear in my studio getting ready for a local art show (Christmas in the Country) on Bainbridge Island, WA the first weekend of December. Along with necklaces, fabric flowers, up-cycled clothing, I will be featuring tree ornaments. Here is a small sampling of some of the ornaments.

The hearts and fairy ornaments were altered because they seemed to need some embellishment.

The darling red glass heart ornaments were charming just as they are, but not much escapes being glittered this time of the year. Using a squeeze bottle of liquid red glitter, I added a few drops on each heart. The secret to success when using this product is to not touch it and to let thoroughly dry.

The fairy ornaments were found unadorned from a chain store in the Christmas section. And while cute as is, they cried out for being gussied-up. I added a paper crown with drops of glitter, a small foam ball (like the kind in bean-bag chairs), a gathered doily skirt, and a belt of vintage tinsel.

The green wreaths were made from some unidentified green garland found at a wholesale floral supplier. It looked like small plastic garland was sprayed with tiny green foam balls. When I saw it I knew it would make a great wreath. I circled two lengths together and then wound another length around the two holding everything together. The wreaths measure about 5" in diameter and several would look delightful hanging in a kitchen window or clustered in a corner hanging with red ribbon in different lengths. I added a small stem of faux red berries and a red satin bow.
Smaller versions could be used as package toppers then hung on the tree as ornaments. ornament.

I have a tendency to look at things and wonder "what else can be done with this?" In a previous post, I mentioned using the hook caps from broken glass ornaments as a crown. It's just a matter of looking at things from another viewpoint. The ornaments shown in this post are examples of what one can do with simply working with what is already there by adding simple embellishments, like a doily for a skirt. And the beauty is, it doesn't require much product or time.

Just look and ask yourself the question, "What else?"

Glittered Acorn Project

I am preparing for an upcoming art fair that happens the first weekend of December on Bainbridge Island, WA. One of the lines I showcase are tree ornaments which usually have a touch or two of sparkle and bling (OK, maybe more than a touch). These acorns did not escape the glitter bottle and will be placed in some sumptuous glittered twiggy nests. They could also be used to scatter on a holiday table, glued onto place cards, or hung in a tree as an ornament.

I have always loved acorns and since oak trees are hard to find in the Puget Sound area, my aunt from Boston gathered some for me. During shipment, many of the caps had separated from the nut so I used that to my advantage and easily glittered just the caps. The tops and bottoms had to be painstakingly matched but having them separated made the gluing and glittering easier.

I painted the acorn caps with diluted glue, as using it from the bottle would be too thick. Then I dipped them stem end down into a small paper cup with enough glitter to bury the cap into. The caps were swirled around, insuring an even coat then set out to dry. I always let the glue dry a good 24 hours. And while that is more than enough time I want to make sure the glue is DRY before handling. It is worth the wait as I have impatiently rushed previous projects and the glitter gets smudged. If the acorns were to be sold as a tree ornament, I would have glued on a loop of thread before glittering.

Once thoroughly dry, the caps were glued onto the bottoms and ta-dah! Glittered acorns. I used three different glass glitters: silver, gold, and copper. I believe the silver ones look the best, but the copper color certainly makes it look more like an acorn.

I decided to glitter just the cap and not the whole nut. Seeing the organic, natural nut adds a
bit of authenticity. If it was all glittered, it may as well been plastic.