Farnsfield Halloween postbox topper earns rave reviews on social media

Ms Willis said the glowing reviews had boosted her confidence

A woman who created a crochet Halloween postbox topper has called the positive response to it "a shock to the system".

Lee-Anne Willis's design, which features pumpkins and three ghosts holding the word "boo", can be seen in Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire.

The 41-year-old said the response to a photo she shared on a Facebook group had been "crazy".

She revealed she had not had the confidence before to share her creative work so publicly.

Ms Willis, who taught herself crochet using online videos in 2016, placed the topper on a postbox near a village school earlier this month.

Her post on the Random Acts of Crochet Kindness Facebook page has since received 51,000 likes and almost 550 shares.

Ms Willis taught herself how to crochet as a New Year's resolution in 2016

"The group is about using your skills to spread a bit of joy," she said.

"I have seen other people do them [toppers] and thought it would be nice to do one.

"I have my professional job that I adore and have done for a very long time, but this is a hobby that I have always kept to myself.

"I've never really felt confident about my stuff being good enough to put out there before so it is has been a bit of a shock to the system the response it has had.

"Everybody has said they really love it and have enjoyed seeing it. I've had lots of really nice compliments."

'Raise a smile'

One Facebook user called her postbox topper "beautiful and amazing" while another said it looked like a "professional job" and urged her not to doubt her ability.

Ms Willis, a dental hygienist, thanked people for their "kind and supportive messages".

"The response has been crazy," she said. "I like to have a reason to do things and like to do little projects that just raise a smile.

"I just wanted to do something nice for the community."

She said she was now planning to replace the topper with a Christmas-themed one.