ornament swap

My mail art buds - Jewels and Beth - and I swapped Christmas ornaments. Here are the ones I sent out. After I get both of theirs, I'll post them.

Little birds made from Starbucks cup sleeves. I try to cut out the wings
so that I get a picture or a word or two. Rub some glue on the edges.
dab in glitter, and wa-la - birdie ornaments.

Some folks don't like glitter, and I'll admit it gets all over the place,
but I think these little guys are really cute.

I glittered them in non-Christmas colors so that they can stay out all year.

Layered, stitched circles. Saw these online or in a magazine last year
and really liked them. I've made a few different batches
and used different materials each time.
This time I stuck a few stamens between the layers for something
different.

From the back: upholstery fabric, lace from an ancient shawl, satin from
a very old thifted slip, crinkled pattern paper, old book text,
messy black stitching.

Handmade card too! I went all out. The image is from a postcard
sent to my maternal grandmother in 1909. It's layered onto old
ledger paper, then glued to a piece of folded kraft card stock.

Christmas Eve

We're off work and home until Tuesday morning. YAY! I love it when Christmas falls on a work day.

 I didn't do a whole lot of decorating, but I did do some. Here's a look around the house. Most of the Santas were made by Moneka and gifted to me over the years. One I earned by stuffing arms and legs during one of her especially busy years.  

The whole time I was a kid, we always had multi-colored lights on our tree and rolled our eyes at the people who had those teeny all-white ones. That's not Christmas-y - Christmas needs colors! But of course somewhere along the way, I discovered the allure of little white lights and that's all I've used for years. 

 




I have a precious box of old ornaments from my mother. Hand blown balls that she made and painted. Fragile glass birds with tails that pull out from their body that clip to the branches of the tree. An old white plastic reindeer that she always hid in the tree for me to find. I didn't unpack them at all this year, just wasn't in the mood.



                                                                       I also didn't unpack the box of handmade but unbreakable ornaments I've acquired over a lifetime of crafting and knowing crafters. Moneka figures heavily into this box with probably half of it coming from her craft room over the years.



This year I did buy a real tree - a 4 foot pine tree from the lot behind the mall that I pass driving home every day. It smells good and all I put on it are little white lights and several strands of silver and pearl garlands. It's very simple and I just love it. I have it on a timer so that it's on when I get home and it's so nice to walk in and see it shining there by the fireplace.




We're far from family and friends, so we're staying home tomorrow with lots of good food, our books, and our computers, and enjoying a quiet day to ourselves. I hope you're all doing whatever it is that makes it a good day for you. Merry Christmas!