Today we're adding a skate rental stand to our Christmas market. It seems like ice skating is something you might do on a weekend while doing some Christmas shopping. Making something skating themed seemed really complicated but I found this little Care Bear Cousin figurine that we've had for as long as I can remember.
Today's addition to the Christmas market is a jewelry stand, a mainstay of craft fairs and markets. I really struggled with an addition to this stand. I have plenty of ideas for jewelry but one of the goals with this year's countdown was to reduce clutter. I already have a fair amount of jewelry and a job where I can't wear it. It would be wasteful to make something I'm never going to wear. Instead, I went through my existing jewelry and found some earrings that I don't wear. I bent the posts into loops so they can be repurposed as pendants or maybe charms for a charm bracelet.
Today in the Christmas market we have a stand selling nuts. Whether it's roasted chestnuts (which I've never actually seen - are they good?) or candied cinnamon nuts there's something festive about them and they feel like they belong in our little market. I suppose I could have made a batch of candied nuts but we have a collection of walnut shells floating around so I thought I'd made a decoration out of one. I decided to use some little scraps of yarn to make this mini knitting basket.
Today's addition to the Christmas market is a snow globe stand. Making a little snow globe to put inside the tube was an appealing but ultimately impractical idea. So I settled for adding a couple of glittery snow globe stickers that I found in my stash.
Today's market stall is the music stand. I had considered making a little drum or something to go with this one but when I got out my peg dolls I spotted Emmet Otter and I knew he was perfect. I suspect he's looking for a guitar.
I'm doing something a little different for my crafty countdown this year. Between work demands and the desire to reduce clutter and waste, 24 distinct crafts seemed a bit much. So I've decided to go a little simpler and do variations on the same thing for each day. I'm making a little Christmas market. Each stall is made from half a cardboard tube with details drawn on. I'll probably be adding some extra little surprises along the way.
Today's stall is knitwear. If you've been to a holiday craft sale you've seen a couple of booths selling hats and mittens and things. There's nothing quite so cozy as a hand knit stocking cap. For extra fun I've made a little ball of some of my rabbit fur yarn that tucks inside.
In addition to my rabbits I have 18 (currently) chickens. The most recent set I purchased were six Wyandottes. Since I had some experience with chickens already I figured I knew what to expect from these ladies, all of whom I named after hobbits.
They let me know pretty early on that I shouldn't underestimate them.
When I attempted to move them between pens, one got out and managed to lodge herself in a cement block.
