Making Christmas ornaments through the years

 

I adapted this from a post I wrote for my Christmas blog back in 2009.  No one ever commented on it, so I'm not even sure if anyone even read it!  I've been thinking this season about how much joy it has always brought me to make handmade ornaments and -- as I write this post on Thursday morning -- I am looking forward to an afternoon spent crafting at my daughter's home.  I will post about the projects we did, but not today.

 I simply love crafting Christmas ornaments. I've been making them for years. One ornament particularly stands out in my mind. I crafted it from felt years ago from a pattern in, I think, a McCall's Christmas Make-It Ideas. The ornament was several circles of varying sizes and then a bell, with separate clapper, strung vertically on a thread. It was pink -- not the best color for a Christmas ornament, I'm thinking now -- but how I labored over that creation. Each piece was cut twice, and then the thread sandwiched in between the two, which were glued together. The effect was like that of a mobile, in that the circles, bell, and clapper swayed and turned on the thread in the air currents in the room. I made this project when my children were very young -- mostly sitting on the floor to work on it while they played around me -- and as I recall it took me an entire day. Another project I did back in those days was crocheted ornaments I found the pattern for in a newspaper. A Christmas tree was one of the designs I made. These were crocheted from dark green yarn and then colorful French knots were added for lights.

As my kids grew older, I was always on the lookout for ornaments they could make. For a few years I taught art at a Christian school, and made countless ornaments with the students there at the Christmas season. In later years I made many ornaments for an annual October craft fair at my daughters' school. It was always fun, as Christmas drew near, to look at my stash of Christmas magazines, as well as the new issues, to decide what ornaments I might make. Oh, the fun of sending off to Home-Sew for the makings for some of these -- Christmas ribbons, cords, laces and trims! It was truly a special and wonderful part of my Christmas season.  The paper twist angel at center below was one of those I made for the craft fair.

As the years went by and I had more time, I made more complicated ornaments.  The embroidered mouse, below, was a gift to my mother one year.

One year I made photo ornaments for extended family members using vintage photos.

For a number of years my two oldest granddaughters spent a lot of time at our home, so once again in December I pulled out the craft supplies and the Christmas ideas.  The yo-yo wreath at the top of the post was made by one of the girls.  The candy cane below was also one of their creations.

Now I often look back on ornaments I have made and wish to make more of them; few things bring me more joy than working on such projects at my little crafting desk. But there's never enough time, and my desk is piled high with other priorities. This year, I plan to work on ornaments all year round. One project I hope to do this week is to sit down and plan what ornaments I will make and to locate all the patterns and instructions. Then I will take note of any materials I might need to buy. I believe I can probably make a good many ornaments just with materials I already have on hand. How inspiring that thought is!

That was my plan in 2009.  We will see how I do in 2023!