In a holiday season that seems destined to be filled with self inflicted challenges I have added another.
Handmade ornaments. Not enough to fill an entire tree. I am a little off my rocker with projects lately but not that much. Not to mention, we already have enough to fill an entire tree. They were made by my mother-in-law. They are very dear to my husband because he watched her make them. Right after we started dating he had to leave for few months and I was put in charge of caring for the ornaments. I moved them around the apartment multiple times to make sure they were in a good place. I settled on a shelf by the fire escape so I could grab them on my way out. Yes, they are that important. So important that when he told his sister I was looking after them she knew this was a serious relationship and she contemplated calling me to make sure they were safe. I think she was probably really going to call to make sure I was good enough for her little brother. Either reason would have been understandable. The ornaments made it through the separation with no casualties. They all went on the tree last year. I have always loved them and thought it would be fun to try to make more some day. Apparently that day is today. I got the package for my first kit in the mail today and after a surprisingly quick trip to the craft store I was all set to get started.
Side note on the craft store. I have spent a lot of time on Pinterest planning the Christmas decorations and what I realized today is the ideas on Pinterest are so much better and cheaper than the junk they sell at the craft store. I think my disgust at the stuff they were selling and how easily I could make it myself was actually what got me out of there so quickly. That and the shopping carts required me to put a quarter in to make them work so that sped up my shopping trip and didn’t allow me to linger. Back to the ornaments.
Here is a picture of what some of our current ornaments look like. This is a very small sampling. I think that the box of ornaments contains somewhere between 2 and 3 dozen. Keep in mind all of this is done by hand with felt, sequins, beads and a needle and thread.
My first ornament is a snowman. Each number indicates a separate piece of felt that needs to be cut and then beaded, embroidered and appliquéd together to get to the finished project.
