Time to put up the tree?

Remember this beauty?

Back in September when I discovered Jane's beautiful photo on Flickr, I had grand plans for creating a 6 foot masterpiece on my wall. Now it's November and the thought of multiple nail holes in my wall is not so appealing ( to my landlady). 

Time to come up with the reserve plan of action ... a tree for the wall that doesn't have to be permanent and does not involve many nail holes in a concrete wall ( yes the walls are made of thick concrete here in Beijing).

Possibilities

1. To create the tree on fabric, possibly cut to a tree shape. Quickly dismissed as likely to sag and difficult to hang up.

2. I thought of paper and card - not firm enough.

3. My last idea is the best so far ... use a white canvas stretched on wooden fame. Use sewing pins to attach your trinkets/ ornaments/ treasures to the canvas. Can be very inexpensive to source a plain canvas to the size you want - lots of hobby shops have them and if you have an art college nearby there will be a supplier for sure.

Mine is 12" x 20" (30cm x50cm) for no other reason than that was what I found in my cellar. Painted with white emulsion paint.

You could choose a very long one and have the canvas standing on the floor leaning against a wall if you want to go big. The possibilities are endless.

 The close up shows you how my pearl headed pins act as an extra decoration and keep the things in place. Using a green ribbon makes it easy to create the tree's outline.

I gathered buttons, pompoms, old earrings, lots of hearts and laid them on. If you use a few mini pegs you can add small photos of family or friends too. Have you spotted Alice on mine? There were a few mistakes and pins needed to be repositioned - so I advise you to lay it out first before pinning. (I admit I retouched this photo to take away the mistakes and their holes)

Once you are happy then push the pins through the canvas  and cut up small pieces of wine cork to add onto the pin-point on the backside of the canvas and avoid injuring yourself, at the same time stopping the pins from falling out.

Next year, when I am in my own house I want to do like Jane and fix it to the wall. I think a combination of some permanent tiny frames fixed to the wall and then in between the Christmas elements can be 'blu-tacked' on so they are removable.

Another idea would be to use a heart or a circle shape, which can stay on your wall all year, and again have some tiny frames that stay on the wall all year and some that get added for the Christmas season. Just remember to lay it out first before you knock nails in the wall!

 Look forward to seeing your creations. Please email me your photos and I would love to include them here - or link to your blog. 

Anything not clear ? Just let me know. Have fun putting your tree up! 

I am planning a super giveaway for the start of December 

as a thank you to all the lovely people who have subscribed to my blog by email. 

If you want to be eligible for the prize on December 1st, join my existing subscribers and 

just sign up here.

You're going to like what I have got in store for you.

PS. Take a look at Kirsty's page today for lots more creative spaces.