Wednesday, October 23, 2013

One Last Post from the Big County Fair - Christmas in October

I think this is it.  The last post about this year's fair.

Every year the More Creative Bee and I enter the Christmas Tree Decorating contest.  It is definitely more work than the table settings because everything has to be handmade.  

This year the MCB and her mom took on the traditional tree.  And MCB and I tackled the fair theme this year.  

Again, here is their logo for the fair this year....
Love the looks and that cool vintage truck....but how the blubbins are we supposed to decorate a tree around that inspiration?

Well....aren't you glad you asked?
('cause you know I just have to show you)
 For garland I found a great vintage truck with an interstate frame around it.  I printed out a lot of them and then hinged them together with scrapbooking brads.  
 MCB hand painted the blue and red ornaments with a paisley pattern to match the bandana tree skirt.  I think she did a beautiful job.  (In fact, I'm going to put these up on etsy and try to sell them, they are that pretty.)
 I made the tree topper out of foam core board and fun foam. 
 (Pssst...don't look too closely - my cutting job on the 130 is not quite up to par - I will NOT be selling it on etsy.)
 And the MCB made this adorable tree skirt.  Don't you love the blue bandana bits (technical term, you know) she adhered to the edges?  
 And one more shot.  Oh!  I forgot about the wooden plaque ornaments I made.  I painted them red and blue, decoupaged red and blue scrapbook paper on them and then added prints of regional landmarks and products.
 And here are the rest of the trees - mostly traditional Christmas themes.

This one amazed me by how red it looked even though everything was on a green tree.
This one was so cute with all the gingerbread cookies.  Lots of handmade cuteness on this one. 
And this one was our competition!  They not only won 1st place, but they also won Best of Show!  They also did the fair theme and had some similar ideas to ours.  One of the things I loved about theirs was the yellow ticket garland.  It just tied everything together.  Well done Competition!  (Honestly, I don't know their name and didn't get to meet them, so I'll call them The Competition.) 


 And here's a very traditional Scandinavian tree.
 And someone made a super cute Halloween tree this year.  That garland?  Why it's hand crocheted skulls!  
Look at that spider web tree skirt!  Someone was a crocheting fiend! 

 This next traditional tree had the most interesting ornaments.
I think they were eggs.  Have you ever seen anything like this?  They are amazing!  And there were a lot of them! 
  
One the day we went to the fair this was the people's choice for the day....a pirate tree!  I loved the boat and fabric tree skirt!  
This next tree is the one the More Creative Bee and her mom put together.
Can I just say that they worked overtime making darling little salt dough cookie ornaments?
 That MCB (you'll see why she has that nickname) came up with the most clever tree topper.  She took an air conditioning duct part and added a handle so it looks like a giant cookie cutter!  
 She wanted the tree skirt to also look like a giant cookie so it's made out of fleece and felt and giant sprinkles.  The sprinkles were made from painted pvc pipe and then stitched on.


 The garland was tiny rolling pins and cookie cutters that she attached together.  It was so cute.  (I even volunteered to "keep" it for her, but no luck.)
Well, I hope you enjoyed the Christmas Tree tour at our Big County Fair!

And thanks for buzzing along with me.  So nice to see you've stopped in for a little visit.  

And I've mentioned some exciting news and here's another hint - especially apropos with all these Christmas trees.   
 Let's just say it The Best ___________ _____________ Ever!
Can you guess what my big news is?

P.S.  Just had to share this adorable crazy quilt that really caught my eye at the fair.  Doesn't it look like it's made from vintage linens?  What a great and sweet idea.
P.P.S.  After the kind words from Marty at A Stroll Thru Life I just had to join the party!

5 comments:

  1. All of the trees are great! It sure sounds like you all had a blast at the fair this year-too fun:@)

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  2. What a fun intsrpretation of the fair theme. Well done! I loved seeing all ghe other trees too, and the cookie cutter tree was so cute and creative. Loved the giant cookie cutter topper. It brings back memories of the 4H fair entries my girls did for so many years. :)

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  3. Well, I may be prejudiced, but I think your tree should have gotten 1st place! Loved seeing all the trees and the wonderful creativity.

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  4. I love your tree. MCB ideas and tree are darling. I love all the details you all used to bring the story of your trees to life.
    Ahhh Christmas :)
    I can't wait.

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  5. Oh my word, so much inspiration and I love, love, love your tree. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

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