Friday, December 12, 2014

Festival Of Trees 2014: The Great Wreath Roundup!

Time for the second half of my Festival of Trees tour!

First up, the wreath I most wanted to take home with me:

Look at those glorious owls. 

(Who is selling those adorable owls? HOO? All I can find are ones made with sticks!)
And that combination of silver mercury glass with rustic branches & twine balls? So good.


Of course I have to take pictures of a seahorse wreath. HAVE TO.

Feel like it could have used a little white "greenery" to soften it up, though.

This next owl is less glorious, but I'm digging the feathery flowers:

And I never get tired of lime green, red, and black & white:

Although lime green and turquoise is up there, too:


It didn't photograph too well, but I thought this was a neat idea:

It's not exactly my style, but there's a lot of kitschy faux taxidermy you could use like this, too, like a cute plush or a cardboard version, like this:



I bet you could leave this rose-and-apple (and pomegranate) design up year-round - and I totally would:

SO PRETTY.

Here's another hole-less wreath:

I like the idea of building a wreath around a special figurine or knick-knack in the middle. You can wire almost anything in there: toys, statues, a framed piece of art, etc, so don't be afraid to think outside the wreath... for inside the wreath. :)

You'd never know it at first glance - or even the 3rd or 4th - but this one had some neat little treasures tucked in its branches:

The ribbon swag in the middle spells "believe" in typewriter keys, and there are tiny bits of jewelry and old keys sprinkled around:


 It's a cool idea, but completely lost from more than a foot or two away. As with trees, sometimes you've got to go BIG to get a theme across.

Like this next one, which almost looks like one giant piece of jewelry:

Love the idea of hanging one show-stopper ornament in the middle, so the wreath acts like a frame. That bottom dangle by the bow was my favorite, though:

Spaaaarkly.

This one used fiber fill in the branches to simulate snow:
 I'm not sure it worked, exactly; a little too fluffy. But not bad!

I like the tufts of straw in this Western-themed one:
If you look closely you'll see some itty-bitty saddles in there, plus real belt buckles.

I think this is a teardrop swag, hung upside down to look like a mini wall-tree:

I've never seen anyone do that before, and it's pretty clever! If you added a little tree topper and let more greenery show, this would be an AWESOME space saver vs a table top tree. All you need is a wall to hang it on! (Oh! And then you could add a little shelf under it for mini-presents! Eh? EH??)

These little straw deer are adorable:

And if you got close enough, you could see some equally adorable ornaments:

Did you spot the mini Coleman lantern?

The Festival hosts a gingerbread house room each year, but my day job has prevented me from ever being terribly impressed. However, this gear-filled clock tower caught my eye:

Great design! I like it.

There are also a few rooms of tablescapes and miscellaneous decor pieces to check out. I'm digging this simple driftwood centerpiece with burlap cone trees:

Those trees would be a snap for you DIYers out there.

And I know this is pretty basic, but now I want to dress up some decorative lanterns at home:
Plus, have you seen these new flickering flame LED candles? The ones with the "flame" that moves? They're freaking amazing, but sooo expensive. (They were selling them there for like $50 each. Ouch.)


A sparkly silver table for a December birthday, perhaps?


And this one was... interesting:

I know it looks like a tree fell on it - followed by a bucket of salt - but I kind of love it. 

More specifically, I love the part with the spotlight on it, which was hardest to photograph:

 
Sparkly icy spriggy goodness in a pretty silver box!  
Reminds me of the white witch of Narnia.

But seriously. There are logs on the table. LOGS.
(And a random seahorse, which I just spotted in the first pic. Whuuut.)

Here's a fun scrapbooky Advent calendar:

Or does it count as an Advent calendar if you don't have to open anything?

Anyway, I like all the little vintage treasures:


And finally, there were these two mannequin torsos there, and...

Before you ask: I don't know. But I like it.

Although not as much as I like THIS one:

 
It's like a scarf of festive spikey sea urchins!


K, that does it for this year's Festival of Trees! Hope you had fun, and maybe picked up a few ideas. (And if any of you make a sea urchin scarf, I want pictures.)

24 comments:

  1. Those were fun! Thanks for sharing that, Jen.
    I can't help wondering as I look at these wreaths.... where did people get their ideas? Do they have mad skills in making ribbons and the rest followed? Did they have a collection of western stuff and the whole thing came together? Do they search all year for just the right accent in just the right color?
    I can't help it -- that is just the way my mind works. I sure am thankful for super creative people out there who do things like this that the rest of us can ooooo and ahhhh and sigh over.
    Maureen S

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey...I recognize some of those objects! If you like the owls in the wreaths and the flameless candles, go check out your local AC Moore store. I used to work there as a floral designer. I did a lantern with an arrangement very similar to the one you showed, and we sold those flameless candles. They weren't that expensive and there are always coupons online.

    As for the owls, we have them on short wooden dowels so you could tuck them into arrangements. I preferred to cut the picks off and hot glue them into the wreaths. They sold them in the front of the store where all the seasonal stuff is kept.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love that first owl one so much, but then again, I'm always partial to a bit of hooty goodness (I received a plush Dr Whoooo in the style of the 11th Doctor last Christmas, and I have a sneaky suspicion the 10th Doctor version I have been drooling over is hiding under my Christmas tree).

    The wreath with the bird house in the centre is my second favourite. So beautiful! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. ahh jen. jennifer dearest. i love your blog, but - dearest darlingest jen, you live in FLORIDA.

    fluffy fiberfill-looking snow is DEFINITELY a natural thing that happens, and a glorious thing at that. trust us northern folx.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will defer to those both wiser and colder. ;)

      Delete
  5. AH! AH! I totally saw those fuzzy owls at my local Joann Fabrics this week. They had a bunch of dog ornaments made of soft fur but there was one bunch of owls stuck in the puppy pile. I actually contemplated buying one because they weren't made of sticks.....plus they looked so grumpy! I checked Joann's website and tt doesn't look like they're selling them online so maybe they're just in stores now?
    -Anne G.

    -

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm curious as to where you're seeing those LED candles for fifty dollars. ACMoore sells them for ten, maybe fifteen... heck a set of three in three sizes is closer to twenty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm pretty sure that is a newer type of candle. Instead of the fixed bulb, these have a small piece of material that actually moves. It makes for a much more realistic looking flame. The "old school" LED candles are reasonably priced, but these new ones are still quite expensive.

      Delete
    2. Yes, Kristy's right: these are the newest thing with a physically moving "flame," which is incredibly realistic. They were selling some at the Festival gift shop, and the prices ranged from around $40 to $65 each - though I'd guess you can find them a bit cheaper online.

      Delete
    3. I work at Pottery Barn, and even after my discount, those things are still too expensive for my budget. That said, even though I know we sell them, they still make me do a double take wondering why on earth we have have REAL candles lit in the store. The effect is impressive.

      Delete
  7. Very fun. *cough* I think those apples are pomegranates, though. *cough*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that was my thought too!

      Delete
    2. I see some of each :)

      Delete
    3. We're ALL right; it has both! I double checked! ;)

      Delete
  8. So cool!! I was thinking I should make a wreath this year. Maybe not for the holidays, but just to have. You know. to be festive ALL year... 'cuz I'm a festive gal. Yeah... that's why. My rather large collection of random memorabilia has nothing to do with it... Nope.

    Anyway, thanks for the inspiration.. I'll just add this onto my long list of projects to complete. *sigh*

    Are you making a Harry Potter wreath to complement your Harry Potter tree?
    A quidditch wreath? WHAT?? Oh. Em. Gee. Jen, this needs to happen.

    --Piper P from Washington State

    ReplyDelete
  9. Aaannnd now I want to make a sea urchin scarf. The question is what to do with it once I theoretically finish it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. These wreaths are pretty, but not as inspiring as last year's (I got sucked down the All the Epbot Holiday Posts rabbit hole a few weeks ago. So much pretty!)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Pier One has those owls Jen. :) There are some seriously lovely fluffy ornaments there this year. Go check it out. And please do make a Harry Potter wreath!! And decorate one of your lanterns in that style while you are at lol. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have a December birthday and I am tempted to throw together a display like that...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Costco is selling the "flamed" flameless LED candles. I think they were 2 for $35? I really want them, but I'd want one in all the front windows. That would be ummmm, like $175? Not this year! I'm hoping they come down in price by next year.....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ooh! I also love that owl wreath. That might be a project for next Christmas. We have decided that from this year on, we are turning our house into Hogwarts for the holiday (gotta make more use of the HP stuff we already had for Harry's birthday!). That would be a fantastic thematic wreath for the front door, I think. I will be checking my local Joann and Pier 1 now :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I dunno . . . I LIKE the wreaths with the little things hidden inside. I love the idea that the more you look at it, the more things you'll find. I've always like little tiny things and looking for hidden treasures (loved Anno's illustrated books, for example--well, still do actually). I actually don't like the wreaths and trees with the big shiny stuff.
    I guess that's why there are all kinds of decorations out there--to each his or her own! Or, as my mother would say: "Each to his own taste, said the old lady as she kissed the cow." [My mom is full of 'em!]

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hey Jen,
    I found the big owl :) Do you want to have it?
    https://www.frank-flechtwaren.de/de/Artikel.html?id=785492
    Best wishes from Germany

    ReplyDelete
  17. I saw some very similar owls and straw animals at Pier 1. The owls had a little sprig of greenery attatched to the bottom.

    ReplyDelete

Please be respectful when commenting; dissenting opinions are great, but personal attacks or hateful remarks will be removed. Also, including a link? Then here's your html cheat sheet: <a href="LINK ADDRESS">YOUR TEXT</a>