It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... Craftapoloza!

I've been excited to be able to write this post... It's been WEEKS in the making - mostly because I'm married to a fantastic photographer who takes my 20 second set up, gotta take a picture of this before I sell it/give it away/eat it snaps on his point n' shoot into works of art... In this case, he did grab his DLSR but still... His patience with me is very good. ;)



My contribution to the playschool craft show fundraiser turned out so well. TroubleMaker was extremely patient with me as we wandered around Michael's as I looked for inspiration. I knew I wanted a centrepiece and a mantle swag and I'd had the glass block presents in my head before we got to the store.







The Nutcracker has special meaning for us... We love the ballet and one of our favourite photos from TroubleMaker's annual calendar was the "Nutcracker Christmas".



To infuse some our family into the decor, I added a Nutcracker tucked away inside the vase! I then filled it with miniature Christmas ornaments and made an arrangement of silks and sparkly bits!

The glass block presents caused me some trouble - I had a vision in mind for them and it took some experimenting to get the affect I wanted. The craft blocks I was able to get were clear which meant whatever I stuffed inside was visible. I purchased white LED's to stuff and then to create the soft look I wanted, I interspersed white sparkly "snow". Utilizing the LED's meant the bulbs stay cool so they can stay on for long periods of time without adversely heating the stuffing! I wrapped them with ribbon that matched my Perfect Bows with the intention of making smaller bows to attach to the wrapping but I decided it was "too much" and to pull the design together, I hot glued a pointsetta from the bunch I'd used in the centrepiece arrangement. I also repeated the motifs in the mantle swag.



The end result was fabulous! Like any artisan, the nervousness of having your creation accepted is ever present - however, when I walked into the Community hall on Saturday morning and saw MY creation on the door prize table blew me away! Being able to overhear all the positive feedback from the people streaming in and filling out their entry form made me feel even more positive about my work! I hope you enjoy!

I'm sharing (for the first time) with Flaunt it Friday over at Chic on a Shoestring, be sure to check out all the craftiness! Thanks for stopping by!