Advent Calendar Box for Oxfam

I was recently contacted by ParcelHero and asked if I'd like to take part in their Advent Calendar Campaign for Christmas in collaboration with Oxfam. 

The idea was that I'd be sent
 a small blank wooden box to decorate and to put a small handmade gift inside.

In all 25 identical blank boxes were shipped to 25 bloggers from all over the world to be brought together and used to create an advent calendar which is being auctioned for charity with all proceeds going to Oxfam.

The brief was simple, to decorate the box inside and out in any way I chose and to include a small handcrafted gift in the box.

Initially my mind went blank when it came to decorating the box but I quickly decided that I wanted my gift to be inspired by my summer holiday to the Isles of Harris and Lewis. I had brought back some offcuts of Harris Tweed and knew I wanted to use some of these in the creation of my gift. I have also been experimenting lately with needle felting so I decided to use some Harris Tweed to create a little broach and to embellish it with needle felting and embroidery. For the actual design on the broach I was inspired by the colours of the Hebridean landscape.

Once the broach was completed I used a picture of  The Isle of Harris landscape to fasten it to.

Having made the gift to go in the box, my thoughts turned to the box itself. As this was to be part of an advent calendar I wanted it to look festive so decided to decoupage the box using some napkins from last year. They were festive colours of red and green with a touch of gold and what's more the design reminded me of a plaid tweed. I neatened the edges with red ribbon and a row of red sequins.

Turning to the inside of the box I painted the edges in a misty pale lilac colour then decorated the sides and the inside of the lid using overlapping patches of gauze in colours reminiscent of the frequently stormy skies on The Isle of Harris. The inside base was finished off with another piece of the same napkin used on the outside.

I am delighted to have had the opportunity to contribute to this unique and inspired advent calendar and hope that it will raise lots of funds to help Oxfam in the war against poverty. 

You can find the E-bay auction here.

xxx

Linda