Loose Leaf Notes

-Look for more Festival of Trees photos in an upcoming issue of The Floyd Press and pictures of Winterfest in this week’s paper. 

At the close of 22^nd annual Winterfest Arts and Crafts Festival, attendees gathered in the Festival of Trees room to see if their silent auction bids won them a tree.  The trees were created and donated by local businesses and organizations to benefit the Floyd Center for the Arts (formerly the Jacksonville Center).  Many were decorated with homemade ornaments and themes.  Some were stocked with gift certificates for dinners, gourmet cupcakes, a cabin stay, free festival entry and more.

The tree on the left was decorated with hand-knitted ornaments from Wooly Jumper Yarn Store (2015 story HERE). The one on right is the Floydfest/Across the Way tree and came with passes to this year’s Floydfest, our local, renowned music festival.

Rose of the Winds Travel Company decorated this tree with a travel adventure theme.  Check out a story about this locally-owned company that plans tour adventures around the world HERE.

“The Meaning of Life Is To Find Your Gift. The Purpose Of Life Is To Give it Away,” was the message that topped the Springhouse Community School’s tree.

Confectious Shenanigans makes gourmet cupcakes ( I can attest) that were sold at the event.  Their beautifully baking themed tree came with gift certificates for dozens of cupcakes.  The Floyd Center for the Arts tree (right) was whimsically creative and came with hanging ornament paintbrushes and a gift certificate for a free art class.

The Bell Garden and Gallery topped their tree off with a traffic light ornament, signaling Floyd’s signature one traffic light town.

The Jessie Peterman Library tree was decorated with printed page and origami ornaments, and miniature books that were hand-made by the library staff.

Oddf3llows restaurant was decked with bird ornaments. Some of the birds perched on gift certificates for delicious dinners.  The Poor Farmers Market tree featured stuffed toys and sock puppets.

The Republic of Floyd decorations made me think of happy hour and Tom Ryan’s (store founder) iconic Hawaiian shirts.

Local artist/designer and downtown shop owner, Jeannie O’Neill made one of a-kind ornaments for her tree.

Tree toppers were especially eye-catching. This one is from The Floyd Country Store.

And look what I got!

Don’t forget to check out A Little Monkey Business and read about the first Festival of Trees and Winterfest HERE.  / Our World Tuesday