Creating a Christmas Theme- “Seas and Greetings”

Each and every year, those powers that be create irresistible colour schemes that differ enough from the previous year, that you almost have to throw everything away and start afresh.

Thankfully things have been made at affordable prices as well, and are not made in the same quality that they used to be, so you don’t feel quite so bad….

Still every year, my husband is flabbergasted that again,  I have decorations, and bits and bobs in the trolley- things I can only assume he thinks are unnecessary.

Given that Australia is just one huge island, it seems fitting to many that their Christmas has a decidedly ‘beachy’ feel. And why not? We do after all have a hot and balmy Christmas, void of snowflakes, and snowmen, and many more images so often associated with a great (Northern) white Christmas.

Whilst away recently, I found a gorgeous starfish in a home wares store and I guess that is where my inspiration for this themed piece began. Initially, I had hoped to find enough driftwood to create the display, but unfortunately, had no luck.

I created a beach inspired Christmas tree, with space-poor families with small children in mind. Like us, many young families live in apartments, so giving up floor space is hard when it is such a valuable commodity. And, anyone with young children knows that a traditional Christmas tree with all those sparkly things at toddler height spells disaster.

Creating something like this is fun, and relatively quick and easy, and it can easily be tailored to match any colour scheme.

What you will need:

3 x 1.2m lenths of raw pine (I chose varying widths to give a greater visual weight at the base)

A hand saw

Sandpaper

Ruler, pencil and rubber

Tape measure

String/jute/nylon twine

Selection of decorations

What to do:

1. Start by measuring out the lengths of each of the pieces along the wood. I chose to increase the lengths of each layer by 5cm so I measured out 20cm, 25cm, 30cm, 35cm, 40cm, 45cm, 50cm and 55cm.

2. Use the hand saw to cut the lengths required.

3. Lightly sand the edges of the wood to remove any rough surfaces and rub out any pencil marks you made.

4. Lay the pieces out on a flat surface to get an idea of how it will look, spacing the pieces out to see how large you should make the intervals.

5. Begin by lying the largest piece of wood over your string on one end, with equal amounts of the lose string either side. Tie a double knot on one end of the largest piece. Do the same on the other side of the same piece of wood.

6. Measure the distance you wish to have between each piece and knot both pieces of string together at each end so that the next piece isn’t able to drop down out of place.

7. Repeat step 5 and 6 until you have secured all pieces of wood. If your string runs out, simply tie another piece of sting on and continue.

8. Add a large loop to the top to be able to attach to a hook. Add your star or centrepiece to the top.

9. Decorate!

Christmas theming can be a whole lot of fun when you get to personalise it, so for an extra special touch, I added wooden initials for each of our names to finish it off

Choose other items for your home that coordinate with your chosen colours and further strengthen you theme. I have found this fantastic table setting that matches this weeks theme, as well as some awesome accessories.

There is no limit to the possibilities!

Stay tuned for more decorating ideas and Christmas themes in the coming weeks.

Fwf x