It is only 206 nights of sleep until December 25, which is why the Christmas tree has already been displayed in the living room of the Fidder family in Eext. And it’s not just any Christmas tree, because Geesje’s creation is made entirely from the paper envelopes of tea bags.
In February, RTV Drenthe visited Geesje Fidder for the first time in the radio program Op Tjak. Then she asked to send as many tea bag wrappers as possible for her Christmas tree. And that gave her quite a bit of craft material. “Even from Friesland and from the Polder I got something, it came from everywhere.”
The tree is about a meter high. “There are more than 12,000 bags processed in the tree, just in the base that is under it already contains eight hundred.”
There is quite a bit of cutting and folding involved in creating the layers in the tree. Because when folding, for example, she takes into account the correct colors of the paper packaging. “It’s just a green dot.”
When asked how long it takes you to make such a Christmas tree, Geesje is clear. “It will take you years to work on it for an hour a day. But I have also made smaller Christmas trees for people. I enjoy doing that.”
Fidder wants to thank everyone who sent paper bags to her. “But they are still welcome, because I’m not stopping yet. I’ll come across something new, and then I’ll do something different with the tea bags.”
And the next project for the Eexter is already in the works. “I still have a figure from the Fabeltjeskrant, which must be green and orange. I have already printed out how it should be. I want to deal with that later. But I will first knit a cardigan for myself,” she says laughing .