Toss in three apple bins, an old duvet, a red sheet and off cuts of fabric from Mel’s sewing stash, and hey presto you have a giant Santa and a Christmas Tree.
Never mind the family live off the beaten track.
Mel says that is no excuse not to have a bit of Christmas fun, and surprise people and bring them joy when they happen upon the Christmas scene on Mendip Road, off the Leader Road on the way to Mendip Hills Station, north west of Parnasuss in North Canterbury.
Not one of the family was spared by Mel, in creating the family’s annual Christmas scene at the gate, particularly now their children are a ‘‘useful age’’, and generally keen to assist in design and construction.
‘‘My husband, Marcel, told me to just tell him what needs doing
— and there was plenty for him to do as it got constructed up at our house then transported down our quite long drive to the roadside entrance,’’ she says.
Fletcher, aged 10 and his friend Blake Pickwell, 11, who was visiting from Tasman, constructed Santa’s giant hat using off cuts of wood and a blanket from an op shop in Kaikoura.
‘‘It took a bit to get his eyes right — there was plenty of discussion, and feedback, about how far apart they should be and their colour,’’ says Mel.
‘‘We used an old cream wool scarf for Santa's bushy eyebrows and hat trim.’’
The giant Christmas tree is made from roofing iron that was ripped off a shed in October’s wind storm.
‘‘The lovely team at Waiau Hammer Hardware dug deep into their mistints cupboard and found the perfect tin of green paint.
‘‘Conrad, 12, was chief painter and was supported briefly by his sister, Julia, 9,’’ says Mel.
Meanwhile Mel took her annual trip to Creative Junk in Christchurch to fossick for items that would be suitable for the decorations.
‘‘Our long lengths of tinsel is the offcuts of reflective stickers, and the hanging decorations are colourful cardboard tubes from a clothing manufacturer.
‘‘These are all held together with trusty repurposed baling twine and cable ties’’, she says.
But no sooner than the tree was put up, it blew — a gale.
‘‘So all hands were on the tree, as we had to reinforce and support it.’’
It is the third year the van Reenen family have had a display a their gate, starting in 2020 when they moved to Mendip Road from Tasman.
- Meanwhile, North Canterbury business, Mandeville Hire, at Mandeville Road, Ohoka, has also got into the Christmas spirit to advertise their business, using bales of hay to develop a Christmas scene.
