For the past 11 years, a group I have been a part of has participated in a fund-raiser called Deck the Trees. It's a benefit for the fuel assistance fund sponsored by the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministries. Held at the historic Monte Vista Hotel each year (except 2020 when Covid-19 was in its height), this benefit has raised in the vicinity of $100,000 to help families on the edge have enough fuel for our mountain winters. The committee announced the theme for 2022 as "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" back in August, a theme that is bit more challenging than some have been in the past.
I chose to acquire clear plastic ornaments that could be filled with not only tatting, but natural elements as well. The journey to find the various elements began in September. I first realized that the line "And Heaven and Nature sing" was from the Yuletide carol "Joy to the World" written in 1719 by Isaac Watts, an English Minister. Locating the song in a hymnal was easy as was making copies that could be trimmed down to a reasonable size and used as a focal point inside the clear balls was a good place to begin. One of the local charity shops had a hymnal lying on the counter the day I went in, and to my amazement, it was free for the asking. I trimmed the copies down to the best size to fit the orbs and burnished the edges with a candle flame
The following weeks were spent looking for patterns that would create small snowflakes, musical notes and shapes that could also adorn the orbs. Any that I couldn't find, I designed to the best of my ability. Some time was spent looking around the neighborhood for acorns and pine cones that were small enough to fit into the ornamanets. I also located lavender sprigs, hydrangea blossoms, moss and lichens to be used. Here are some of the ornaments in various stages of completion:
