Saturday, December 11, 2010

Festival of Wreaths



I recently shared the vintage inspired wreath (details here) that we girls here at Elizabeth & Co. made and donated to the wreath auction sponsored by our local Arts Council. This was the 13th annual Festival of Wreaths. What started out as just a handful of wreaths displayed in a hallway, has turned into a huge holiday event in our community. This year 220 wreaths were donated by individuals, families, businesses and local charities. And the total raised was an amazing $25,000!!!










This is a wonderful event and we were honored to be a part of it this year!






This is a silent auction type of fundraiser. There is a clipboard next to each wreath and visitors can bid on the wreaths over the course of the five days they are on display at the Arts Center. We were just hoping that someone would bid on our wreath. Well, we had to say goodbye as the winning bid was $150!



Visitors can also vote for their favorite wreaths in a variety of categories. We were thrilled to find out that we won favorite for Memories of Christmas Past!






We're so excited that we are already thinking about next year's wreath!


Ok, there's lots more to see... First up, Karla bid on and won this wreath. Look closely.


She fell in love with the three little Sworovski crystal snowmen.



She's giving one to her mother, one to her daughter and keeping one for herself. How cool is that idea! ... I told you that I work with amazing women!



The title of this wreath was Frame Game and it was voted the Grand Prize Winner!



The wreath makers have learned over the years that a surefire way to increase the value of a wreath is to include extra incentives. This flip flop wreath came with a getaway to a beautiful beach house.





Or maybe a cabin getaway is more your style.




This wreath was actually decorated with cold hard cash. That's a definite attention getter!


An entire room was filled with wreaths made by local charities. In this category, the wreath that gets the highest bid gets a $250 donation to their charity. And the wreath voted Charity Favorite also gets a $250 donation. This one was filled with gift cards to increase it's value.



Local businesses often include gift certificates, like this one donated by a Mexican restaurant.




There was plenty of kid appeal at the wreath auction. This wreath was called Monkey Business and won the Kids Choice Award.



Here's one made from marshmallow peeps. The Arts Council also puts on a Peep Show every year where creations are made entirely of peeps!



And how about these cute stink bugs on a window screen!



Here's a wreath made out of socks donated by a sports team.



And puzzle pieces.

And duplos.




And now you know what to do with all those Beanie Babies you have packed away in a box somewhere.




And don't worry, there were wreaths for the men of the family too.








Any sports fans out there?






I loved this wreath made by our local library.



And this one donated by a book club. Someone in this group must be reading the blogs!




Some of the wreaths get creative with the definition of a wreath. Look what you can do with vintage silver!




And look at this beautiful wreath necklace.



This ceramic wreath shaped bowl won an award for Artistic Excellence.




And this moving garden sculpture was simply amazing!


And what a fabulous pot rack! Beach house anyone?




All total, there were 220 wreaths. I wish you could see them all. Here are just a few more...
















So, I hope you've been inspired to get creative with your next wreath. And if there is not an event like this in your community, you should start one! Let me repeat, they raised $25,000! And the Festival of Wreaths really does kick off the holiday season here and the entire community benefits!




6 comments:

oneoff said...

Wow! Just wow! Thank you for taking and posting all those pictures; it's amazing. Loads of inspiration there and some impressive fundraising too.

NanaDiana said...

Wow~ You know...I just might take this idea to the hospital and do it for the children's ward...what a GREAT idea! Hugs-Diana

Chris at Red Gate Farm said...

Simply amazing! I don't know that I'd be able to choose just one to bid on! And all for a fabulous fundraiser.

Chris

Kim @ A Brush of Whimsy said...

What an awesome fund raiser! You girls did a lovely job! :)

Unknown said...

They should really thank you for the free press.
You should let them see what you have done.
LOVE YOU

Pam said...

Very interesting ones...I love the flip flop wreath.