Talk about leaving things until the last minute - our Yule projects are due today and guess when I started mine. Yep, you guessed it - today! I had a bit of an idea about what I wanted to make and was fortunate to have all of the bits and pieces lying around the house, so busy was I this afternoon, let me tell you.
I had some left over cane from a previous project but could have used thin sticks of vines or a craft ring or various other materials. I soaked the cane in some luke warm water in the bath for about half an hour to soften it so it wouldn't break as I worked with it. I made a circle about the size that I wanted the wreath and then started winding sticks of cane around the circle. It was nice reflecting on the symbolism of the circle as I was doing this, thinking about the turning of the wheel of the year and about the continuity of life.
As I wound more and more pieces of cane around, making sure they were of varying tensions so they would make an interesting pattern and would better accommodate the items that would be added later, the circle seemed to resemble more of a sun. Yule is a sun festival as it is the time when the sun God is reborn. At Yule, we acknowledge the increasing power of the sun and we welcome the warmth and growth that will soon follow.
When I was happy with the size and shape of the outer circle, I cut five pieces of cane that were roughly the length of the diameter of the circle and arranged them into a pentagram by pushing their ends into the wreath. This addition allows for the inclusion of air, earth, fire, water and spirit and thereby expands on the concept of all elements being brought together within the circle.
The red and gold on the ribbon that I started decorating with are wonderful colours of Yule as they represent new life and the fire from the sun.
If I'd had suitable real foliage then I would've added it as well but I had to make do with some fake but lovely light gold flowers...
...and some plastic holly.
As a bit of a finishing touch, I added a bell to the centre...
...and some silver tinsel to represent the chill of winter which will soon melt as the weather warms. Here's the final product:
Mirage
9 years ago
9 comments:
that is SO beautiful, Kora. i'm stunned. you are very crafty!
♥
yes it was beautiful...can i ask how you have put the labels on your blog, i'd love to do this on my new blog...
Very Beautiful Kora, I wish I had come to class last night to see all of your projects.
You are so clever, it looks amazing.
Ha, Jac - yes, crafty in so many meanings of the word ;-)
Esaya-Ran, the option for labels is always on the post page, I think, and the bit on the sidebar was just in the normal blogger gadgets. Drop me an email if you have troubles finding it (I think I am a bit vague sometimes for fear of going overboard with my usually otherwise ridiculously thorough instructions).
Thank you, Diana - it would have been a really wonderful night to have had you there! Hopefully your schedule will settle down a bit soon and you will be able to come by for class one night. We've got some excellent things coming up and it would be lovely to have you with us again, just like old times (*lol* - getting carried away I know - it wasn't that long ago, surely)
Thanks, Angela, it is so nice of you to leave such supportive comments. I love to do craft stuff but rarely get the time - that's one of the many things I love about the YAAD class, it gives me reason and encouragement to make sure I am getting around to doing the things I really enjoy.
beautiful! beautiful! beautiful!
Thanks, Shadow. So nice of you to stop by!
Oh my, that is gorgeous! I'll have to remember that project when our Yule rolls around. Thank you!
*smile* HM, I'm sure you already have a collection of a million Yule crafts being the clever little witch you are, but I appreciate your lovely and supportive comments.
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