![](https://ohgoshblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/countrybaskets.jpg)
I had a lovely email from Country Baskets
asking if I’d like to take part in their Festive Face Off with some other
wonderful crafty bloggers. The challenge – to create a Christmas
decoration for the home or garden using the contents of a Country Baskets craft
hamper (and your own supplies too) to be in with the chance of winning Country
Basket vouchers and importantly having all the decorations made given to a
charity of your choice, along with a cash donation. As we support ‘Roundabout’
through my WI, I immediately thought that if I won, they would be my charity of
choice!
missing so instead of having 2 weeks to complete my crafting challenge, I only had 3 days, well, as I have been pretty busy this week it was actually
only one evening really, so it might not be quite as impressive as I had hoped
but I am still pretty happy with what I’ve made given the timescales. (Forgive some of the pictures though, I know they are super dark or flash laden as I am not home during daylight
hours in the week and the deadline for posting this was today.)
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As soon as I opened the hamper and saw the supplies I was drawn to the giant bauble – I’ve long been a fan of the smaller versions of these and my brain started working double time to think what I might be able to make with it. Delving deeper I came across some sheets of wood bark, some beautiful snowflakes and some branches of silvery berries and a few pine cones. So after some serious thinking I decided to try and create a woodland scene inside the bauble because I hear woodland is all the rage this Christmas.
Firstly I took the bark
and drew round the shape of a squirrel, twice, on the back of it, (facing in
opposite directions so that I could stick the two together and just have the
bark on the outside) I glue gunned these together and waited for it to dry. Once
it was all dry, I glue gunned my squirrel to one half of my bauble.
![](https://ohgoshblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013-11-29_0001.jpg)
On the
other side of the bauble I stuck a once fibre optic Christmas tree that I had
in my midst, as close to the join as I could.
![](https://ohgoshblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013-11-29_0002.jpg)
Around the ‘floor’ of the bauble,
at the feet of the tree and the squirrel I hot glued some of the silvery
berries I had pulled off the branches they came on and some small pine cones,
to create a woodland look, and from the ‘sky’ I hung, with fishing wire, some of the pretty snowflakes that were included too. Lastly I threw in a little
‘magic snow’ picked up from the £1 shop for a slightly snow
globe approach to it all.
![](https://ohgoshblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013-11-29_0004.jpg)
There were also some really pretty wood
and glitter leaves that I wanted to incorporate too but I ran out of space in
the bauble. I’d have liked to have found a little plastic deer and maybe a
toadstool to add in too but as timing was an issue, I didn’t quite manage that.
![](https://ohgoshblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013-11-29_0003.jpg)
So, what do you think? Not bad for an
evenings work right?
Awww so lovely!! Posts like this make me wish I'd made more of my spare time before H&C came along. Looking forward to getting crafty with them when they're a bit bigger though 🙂 x
You are going to be in crafting heaven with them when they are older. It'll be amazing.
Aw that's so cute!
Thank you – I love the wreath you made too.
that is brilliant. I love the detail.
Oh, thank you. The Country Baskets hamper made it easy to do!