Handmade Holidays: Ornaments

This holiday season ended up being a pintastrophe. Every Pinterest find turned into a disaster. I have yet to find/follow/execute a proper bird seed ornament. The kids' jammies were finished right before bedtime on the 24th (OK, big kid got pants, little kid had to wear a pair of leggings that matched, more or less), and the cross stitch ornaments never got finished. Moving on.

Painted ornaments for godparents. PX actually did a very careful, thoughtful job. Lots of color blocking and q-tip dots. BH gave zero effs and just wanted ALL the paint. ALL of it. More and more and more colors!

Preschool-made ornament by PX. It was supposed to be a grandparent gift (boohoo!), so we get to keep it. Not sure how to seal it so we don't have glitter/crumbs everywhere...

PX saw this in my bin o' stuff to be painted, and he insisted on making it for his baby sister. She had a very moosey Christmas! Sweet boy. He did his painting while she napped (and she while he was at school), so it was a real surprise for her.

No time to cross-stitch? Problem solved with a little heat-n-bond, puff paint, wool felt, and enough drying time. She got a matching pillow case for her big girl pillow.

Why did I buy so much sperm whale fabric? Matches his own pillow case (and his shirt, and his backpack...), and he has plans to make a family portrait of the four of us using four whales. Ha! Someday.

This is one of eighteen, each individual, sent to family. We missed the big extended family party because we were in Chicago for a different big extended family party. I thought to myself, "this is the perfect kind of project to photograph and write a tutorial for!" But the reality of squeezing in time to make 18 means no tutorial. I found a Sew Mama Sew project that was similar, but I wanted to use two fabrics, and I didn't like the way it looked just using a semicircle. So, I made my own almost-semicircle to make the folds more even. Uhg, these pictures are obnoxiously focused. This is what happens when you have to fight the battle with too little light. F-stop vs ISO. Sigh. Looked better on my teeny camera screen!

Last one! I didn't make this. It's from M's family, so it is at least 20 years old. His mom had mad talent, and I am so thankful to have pieces of her work. Especially when they have teeny holiday calico fabric and pompoms. 

I love the new year, even though it is only the illusion of a fresh start. I feel so motivated to get all my projects done, but I am also motivated to work out and cook and tidy and travel and hike and....sigh. Off to go do! Something! Anything!