I had the idea for this last year, after watching the truly incredible Marks and Spencer Christmas ad, in which Rosie Huntington Whiteley goes on a magical journey as a number of fairytale characters, from Alice to Dorothy. I wanted to create a Winter Wonderland Woodland scene, with the girls portraying famous characters with a festive twist. I was working on a tight schedule, so the patterns of the garments are all fairly simplistic, and worked with stretch fabric.
The color scheme was based on a monochrome concept, using the black trees against the white snow, and I tried to steer clear of over used holiday shades (kelley green, fire engine red and so on). For a frosty effect I painted the tips of the branches with silver nail polish, and used cotton sheets for the snow, with newspapers bunched up for some variety in the landscape.
The Hansel and Gretel was the first fairytale I wanted to work with, loving the image of the Gingerbread cottage. Mina and Willow as the title roles are indulging in sweets (erasers from Paperchase).
Here, Blair as Little Red Riding Hood drags home a tree. I found the sled in an AC Moore back in the States ages ago, and the tree is a series of cones topped on one another.
Deeper in the forest, Nicole as Cinderella is set in her carriage pulled by white mice to deliver gifts. The ‘gifts’ are cut magazine pages, and the carriage and mice were cut from white foam board. She is given a send off from Esmee as the Fairy Godmother is a frilly pink gown with a netted cloak.
And last, on an icy lake, Hermione wishes to give her Frog Prince a kiss under some mistletoe. The Schleich frog was found on Amazon and tinfoil was used to create the frozen stillness of the water.
I’m so happy to have completed two displays during the creative months proceeding Winter, both Halloween and Christmas. Well, that's it from me and the girls in the Punkee Pixie manor for this year!
