Living with Art for the Holidays: The “Say No to Hell” Holiday Contest

Okay, so let’s have a frank conversation about Christmas.  Realistically speaking, no one needs to think about Christmas before Thanksgiving except magazine publishers and people who make things by hand.  People who make things by hand more or less owe it to themselves to think about Christmas before Black Friday; otherwise, December becomes a terrifying reality show that sounds a lot like this. 38 presents. 22 days.  One person . . . with only two hands.  It’s hell on earth, so why is it so darn cold?!

This year, I am declining that casting call, tempting as it sounds.  This year I am saying no to hell on earth! I want to invite you to join me by serving up a “Say No to Hell” Holiday Contest: Design or re-design an artful Christmas decoration between November 7 and December 14, share pictures with us, and you could win a $35 gift card from Amazon to spend however you want!

Before I get into the rules, here’s a sample project:

Having a hand-sculpted Krampus on the mantle is what I call “Living with Art for the Holidays.”

If you are flummoxed by the idea of altering an existing decoration, you can feel free to start from scratch.  Personally, I just enjoy taking cheesy, sentimental decorations and making them cool.

If you want to play along, here are the rules:

• The work must be done by you between November 7 and December 12, 2014.
• Any medium or combination of media is great.  You can collage, draw, paint, watercolor, paper mache, sculpt, build, sew, crochet, knit, or tat.
• Leave a comment on one of the Living with Art for the Holidays posts and link a photograph using Mr. Linky.  Barring that – if you don’t have a blog, for example – leave a comment and submit a photograph to ann@wonderstrange.com.
• Your creation should be an artful holiday decoration.  This may include wall art, mantle decorations, table decorations, ornaments, kitchen decor, etc.
• What do we mean by “artful”?  Something that is thoughtfully designed and constructed.  Something that looks good.  Something that appears well-made.
• Picture quality matters, not in the sense that we’re judging your photography skills, but in the sense that if your picture is dark (or blown out), we can’t see the details, which means we can’t assess or appreciate the details.  See what I mean?
• If you are redesigning an existing object, please include before and after pictures, so we can appreciate your achievement.
• Multiple entries are permitted.
• All projects will be featured in the wonderstrange Living with Art blog on December 19, 2014, a.k.a. the Friday before Christmas
• It doesn’t matter to us what your project is for.  Maybe you’re going to give it to your brother.  Maybe your spouse is going to steal it from your work table despite the fact that you planned to give it to your brother.  Maybe you’re going to make it into your centerpiece for Christmas dinner.  That’s up to you.
• The winner will be chosen by the women of wonderstrange over the weekend of December 12-14 and announced on Monday, December 15, which means that you can use the money to buy someone a present OR save it for yourself to buy art supplies, jewelry, books, yarn – whatever you like!
• The first-place winner will receive a $35 Amazon gift card.  The second-place winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card.  Both will have the option to guest write a “Living with Art” post in 2015 (by no means required).

In the coming weeks, I’ll be altering these pieces.  Meanwhile, you start thinking about what you can make or re-make to win free money!