December 2, 2013

The Story of the Annual Christmas Ornaments

Martie Handmade annual Christmas ornaments, baking soda and cornstarch ornaments, church Christmas ornaments, cinnamon and clove ornaments, handmade Christmas tree ornaments, homemade cinnamon Christmas ornaments 5 Comments

The Story of the Annual Christmas Ornaments

You just have to hear the story of the annual Christmas ornaments, because I have to show off the handiwork of a dear friend of mine, Mel. I love traditions, and this friend started a great one at our church, which everyone loved. Mel (our former pastor’s wife) hand-made church Christmas ornaments for everyone each year, and they’re all so special to me.

I’ve been in a little bit of a creative rut lately. I tend to get focused on one thing and go at it hard, just long enough to burn out. And I don’t know what the remedy is. Ornament baking consumed two full weekends, and I’m still not finished, because I am making the annual Christmas ornaments to give to our church family this year.

First, Look at These!

These are all the ornaments that my Mel made for our church family. I love each and every one of them. This first one is a picture of our church float for the annual Christmas parade.

This one is made from church bulletins, which she cut into strips and paper-mached onto a ball. The cute yarn bow is so perfect.

On this one, she created a clear sticker of our church building and then filled these cute glass cube ornaments with “snow”. We don’t get much snow here in the Deep South, but I love this one dearly. How creative!

could I make handmade christmas tree ornaments?

I have been experimenting with some handmade Christmas tree ornaments myself. I’ve tried a couple of different ornament doughs, and got some awesome results. I shared the homemade cinnamon Christmas ornaments last week, and told you guys about some baking soda and cornstarch ornaments I was trying. It wasn’t as easy as the cinnamon recipe, but I think I did alright for my first attempt.

I actually love them. I had to bake them twice to get them completely dry, but I was baking them in the same oven with a batch of cinnamon ornaments, so I had it set to 200 degrees. It took about two full hours baking, then about eight hours hanging out in the oven after I had turned it off.

I didn’t have enough of these to give to church members, so I’m gifting ornaments to friends and family. I personalized each one, and added the year. The gold ribbon looks so pretty.

taking over the tradition

Yes, I said making ornaments for church. I’ve decided to take over the tradition of giving handmade Christmas tree ornaments to our church family, since Mel is not at our church anymore. I couldn’t stand the thoughts of not getting our annual Christmas ornaments! We all miss our sweet pastor’s wife (and her hubby!), and I know my church Christmas ornaments won’t hold a candle to hers, but I still want to keep the tradition going.

I’m making the cinnamon and clove ornaments for church, but I think I’ll cut them into the same angel shape and embellish them the same way, with the gold paint. They’re really pretty, and I can’t stress enough how good they smell!  You all know I’ll show them off before I give them away! (Here they are!)

I listed some new ornaments on my Etsy shop, as well…some rustic twig stars.

Making things from nature is one of my favorite things, and I hope to do a lot more of it in the future. I am crazy about Magnolia pods, Sweet Gumballs, and Walnut shells…things that are plentiful in my own back yard.

nature inspired christmas ornaments

So, do you think I will make Mel proud? Maybe this post will inspire me to do something new…I think I’m going on a nature hunt! I’ll make more nature inspired Christmas ornaments, and start planning which ones to do for our church’s annual Christmas ornaments next year! Thanks, Mel, for doing this for us all those years, and for inspiring me to keep the annual Christmas ornaments going.

What have you done lately to nurture your crafty side? I’d love for you to share links of crafts you’ve done, or links to crafts you’d love to try! Maybe one of you can getting my creative fires burning and motivate me to create something amazing!

I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine was…good food, good family, and good times! We’re looking forward to a fun Christmas season, and my sister is planning an amazing Christmas Tribute Dinner to honor our loved ones who have left this Earth. I can’t wait! Maybe I’ll share more about it in a later post. Stay tuned!

X,O,X,O,   Martie