Another WHRL Christmas Tree Festival is over. it was a huge success for this little non-profit. I designed three Christmas trees, two Joyful Owl Wreaths, and a Mainly Moose wreath for the event.

My first tree is this little upcycled wooden tree I asked Paul to make for me. I studied the designs on Pinterest and gave him dimensions and let him come up with the final thing. Before assembling it, I stained the wood and then painted it white. Once assembled, I sanded it, working a bit harder along some edges show the stain started to show through giving it an aged appearance. Tiny eye-hooks and the back hold the string of battery wired LED lights in place. The best part is my dear friend, Bonnie, who put all of her tickets into the bag for this tree and won. That makes me very happy!

The Main Street Milbridge tree is a remake of last year’s popular tree. I designed these Main Street house silhouettes last year. Paul cut them out for me on his CNC machine. A lot of sanding and a few coats of spray paint finished off these ornaments.

My favorite tree this year is the Navigating Maine tree. Inspiration hit this summer after I created the Navigating Maine coffee table for the WHRL’s summer auction.

I decoupaged 3″ wood ornaments with portions of nautical charts downloaded from NOAA. I coated them with polyurethane and then finished off the edges with a gold paint pen. My first attempt involved copper tape around the edges, but I wasn’t happy with the finish and finally settled onto the paint.

I paired them with a dozen “Sea Glass” ornaments. These are purchased clear glass ornaments that I painted with Martha Stewart Translucent Sea Glass Paint. Wipe the ornaments down with alcohol before painting and then dab the paint on with a sponge applicator. I used three colors – Beach Glass, Scottish Highlands, and Blue Calico. I’ve since created a set of these sea glass balls for my Christmas tree (that has yet to be put up because I’ve been so busy with other trees).

My Mainly Moose Wreath features a 7″ wooden Moose head that I drew and had Paul cut out for me. He hangs from the wreath that is adorned with buffalo print ribbon and moose/deer patterned ribbon.

The beautiful thing about the grapevine Joyful Owl Wreaths are that I can create them before the season gets crazy. This little wreath hung in my laundry room for a couple of months, waiting for her big day.

The final Joyful Owl Wreath was a balsam one, quickly thrown together the morning of the event to use up a leftover wreath that hadn’t been adopted. The wreath was so lush that there was hardly room for the owl. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture in better lighting.

I have such fun with this event. It’s so enjoyable to see what other folks design with our Charlie Brown trees plucked from the woods. If interested, you can see a lot of these trees and wreaths here on Facebook.

There’s one I’d like to share because it is so creative! Amy Van Natter with Eternal Knot Studio created this felt Christmas Tree. At least 24″ tall overall, the tree is anchored in a half of a birch log. Twinkle lights are arranged inside the tree for a beautiful effect.

The detail on this is phenomenal. Each branch and fir needle hand stitched. Beads and bangles sewed on. A garland of beads that I’m sure Amy created zig-zags to and fro. It was the talk of the day!

Now, to start dreaming up idead for next year!