I know I say it every year, but I really can't believe the holidays are here again. I'm not sure how they sneak up on me every. single. year, but they do. Maybe it's the long hours on the holiday gift guide, maybe it's the kiddos ages, or maybe it's that I take on a little too much every holiday season, but whatever it is, it makes December just fly by.
This year, I barely had time for one of my absolute favorite parts of the holiday season, but I finally found time to get to it this week and I'm so glad I did. As you may remember from
previous posts, I have been making my own ornaments with my family every year for the past decade, churning out Christmas Cheer at an alarming rate.
Unfortunately,
our Christmas Cheer is also nearly impossible for me to
part with, which means my Christmas bins runneth over each and every
December. So, this year I decided to make ornaments for other people instead of only doing them for my immediate family and I think it made making Christmas Cheer even more fun.
I sent some ornaments to some faraway blogging friends, some local friends, some family, a few wonderful PR reps that I've worked with over the past year, and even managed to sneak in two special ornaments for the kiddos…whew!
Recognize this little guy? That's right, it's Ryan, our Elf Magic buddy. Since the kiddos are so into Elfcapades this year, I thought it would be fitting to add this little guy to our tree.
Being able to create ornaments that
represent something special for their recipient is really fun and I spend most of my time thinking about what I'm going to create for each person that will make them smile every time they place it on the tree. While I still found it a bit hard to part with the finished pieces, I know that they will be loved and that makes letting them go very worth it.
If you would like to start this tradition, you can pick up oven baked
clay at just about any craft store. We’ve started adding beads,
marbles, small metal do-dads, and other accessories to our ornaments a
few years back and I really like including materials that you don’t pick
up and think “ornament” automatically. Every year we usually pick up
one or two items at the craft store when we replenish our clay
collection and that’s what helps kick-start the creative process.
Here's some clay stockings I made for a friend's kids that are modeled after their actual stockings and filled with miniature versions of their favorite toys. Now, tell me this isn't adorable.
The one great thing about making your own ornaments is that really, anything goes. You can create ornaments from inside jokes, places you've been, toys your kids love, or you can go traditional and do a few of Santa himself. While my favorites I've made are the really quirky ones, like the clay version of a dollar store toys my daughter loved or the Nannerpus from the
old Denny's commercials, they all have a special place in my heart.
One side note: The traditional clay compound is a brand called FIMO,
but I found that the softer and more pliable Sculpey is easier to work
with. There are also many generic forms of oven baked clay to choose
from, so you can often find it on sale during the year. If you are
creating with kiddos {and you should! They love it!} the more pliable
clay is also better for them to work with because it doesn’t crumble as
easily. While my 4 year old has a little trouble getting started with the hard clays, once she's going, there's no stopping her.
Merry Christmas from everyone here at Rave Central!
