Eco Christmas Workshop

Friends of the Farm members Caroline and Meredith transformed the Ambury Farm barn into a homemade Christmas wonderland recently, for their Eco Christmas workshop.  Using natural materials like wool, paper, wood and fabric, they managed to create zero-waste gift ideas, wrapping paper and decorations that were not only affordable and kind to the environment, but also beautiful.

Workshop participants were given the opportunity to try their hands at wet felting Christmas tree decorations and making hand-made paper infused with seeds.  These activities were popular with children and adults alike, and gave people time to reconnect with old friends and catch up on neighbourhood news while creating their masterpieces. 

    

        

There were plenty of edible Christmas goodies to sample as well, including peppermint candy, personalised Christmas biscuits and the ever-popular Christmas mince pies.  DIY edible gift ideas like homemade lemonade and “biscuits in a jar” were also on display, providing quirky alternatives to the usual Christmas fare.  
 

The workshop gave us all inspiration for making the coming season a time of beauty and creativity, in stark contrast to the excessive consumerism and wastefulness we see around us.  If you weren’t able to make it, we hope the photos (and the internet) will give you some ideas for creating your own eco-Christmas this year.  Many of the items made for the workshop are now having a second life in a ‘Homemade Christmas’ display at ME Family Services in Mangere.