If Christmas is on your mind already, then head up to Aberuthven to Drumtogle Farm, for Ellen Watt’s pop up Christmas shop next Friday and Saturday, November 11 and 12.

Ellen has started to make and sell a menagerie of wooden figures that she has been working on which will kick start her new business.

She started making the figures earlier this year, after both her boys were at school and she needed a flexible job that didn’t take her too far from the farm.

Having been a police officer, the shifts really weren't fitting in with her children, so she was looking for something new.

Ellen says she was always asking her dad to make her things she spotted in shops – he builds wooden farm buildings for a living – and he would always retort: “Can’t you make it yourself?”

So, she decided to give it a go and her husband, John, says she managed to wreck a couple of jig-saws before she got the technique right, but she is now delighted with her new band saw that is making her wood work much easier.

She basically draws a picture of what she wants as a template, and then starts cutting.

After a few months of working on the figures, she admits she has refined her style.

“I just really enjoy it and I really like getting my teeth into something. I’ve been spending my time building up some stock for the pop up shop next week and I hope we have lots of visitors who come along and see what I have been making.”

Ellen is working out of a workshop on the farm now and is extending her range from free standing animals to wall mounted animals heads.

She knows it is early days at the moment and is still unsure what the customers will want, so she is trying to cover all bases by making lots of everything.

Also, she is happy to take orders on the day if people have an idea of what they want. “I’m willing to give anything a bash,” she laughs.

Ellen is also taking her wooden pals to Michelle Morton’s Christmas at Corden event, which is a Christmas fair at Cordon Farm, in Abernethy, on December 3 and 4. There will be more than 30 stalls there with hand made Christmas gifts on offer.

Ellen has always been quite creative, having studied textile design at Galashiels, and spent some time doing interior design before joining the police.

Now that she is back at the farm, she is inspired by Christmas images and the animals around her.

Her range includes reindeers, highland cows, trees, stars, wreaths, rams, angels, horses, mantle decorations, and she also has a collection of stained glass items too.

Her plywood woodwork is mostly untreated, as she likes it, but you can, of course, take them home and stain, varnish or paint them which would make them truly unique.

Ellen says: “I hope people enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them, it’s a fun project to work on and I’m just getting started and refining my range. I’m looking forward to welcoming everyone here to the farm during the open days.”

You can keep updated with Ellen’s projects on www.ellenwattdesigns.co.uk, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/wattysworkshop