Wow!  Week 51!  If you are a celebrator of Christmas, are you ready?  I give myself about a B.  I have some food shopping and cooking to do, and Christmas cards, but otherwise not too bad.  My new job is much more liberal with time off over the holidays than the Air Force, and that's really quite nice.

So let's get down to it shall we?  Along with the Focus on Life weekly challenge, I also joined Sally for her annual ornament swap.


I was paired with Melissa who has a great blog called Bead Recipes. Melissa lives in Australia which I find so exciting - it is a dream of mine to visit there some day. Knowing my ornament had to travel across a couple oceans kept me motivated to get it in the mail early, and I am pleased that everything arrived on time.

Melissa spoiled me by sending 3 different ornaments (and some Cadbury - yum!)!  The first two feature lamp work beads by Marianne Bradman, Czech glass beads, and images on wood made by Melissa.



The third ornament used waxed linen, cinnamon sticks, and a star anise.  It smells divine.


And here is what I sent her:


I bought a bag of small, unfinished wooden spools at Michael's, thinking I could use them for a jewelry project some day.  Somehow it popped into my mind that I could stack them and make a snow man.  First I sawed off one end for the spools that would be the hats.  I was about to buy fresh spray paint, but then I remembered I had some artist paints from a long ago project with Emma.  The hat needed a little something, so I dug out sequins and seed beads I already had.  Now it became a challenge to finish the ornaments (I had enough spools for several) without buying anything new.  I wanted a rustic way to string them together, and had some sari ribbon in a rich red.  You can't see it in my picture, but I used steel wire and additional red beads to make a festive hook, and tied donut shaped glass beads on the ends of the ribbons to keep the spools from coming off easily.  

There are many other fantastically creative ornament swappers - you can check them out here:


And if you'd like to see how others are being ornate/ornamental this week, go here:




18 Comments

  1. Love Melissa's traditional style ornaments and your snowman is so much fun and very original.

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  2. It's been fun swapping with you Elisabeth, love my little snowman! He's proudly hanging on my tree now. Hope you have a lovely Christmas!

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  3. From your recent posts (both here and on FB), it appears you are enjoying your new job - awesome! :)

    I love all of these ornaments - both given and received. They are truly handmade - and there is nothing better to give and receive! I have never seen a Star Anise in person...where does one buy these?! Bet it smells like heaven near your tree!

    Merry Christmas!

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  4. Hi Elisabeth,
    I love the old world ornaments that you received from Melissa and the cinnamon and anise ornament I bet smells wonderful. The snowman ornament you made from spools is just too cute.
    Merry Christmas,
    Therese

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  5. What a lovely assortment of ornaments! Love the vintage look of the first two, and the spicy tree, yum! I guess you saved some of the cute snowmen for your tree, what a great ida!

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  6. Creative and green! Well played, Elisabeth, well played. Its adorable. And your pix of Melissa's ornaments are particularly stunning. Have a Merry!!!

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  7. Great snowman, Elisabeth, and wonderful ornaments from Melissa as well! Merry Christmas!

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  8. Wow....how cute on both your parts....I love the snowman, but I love the balsam wood too...Great pieces!

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  9. The snowman is so cute & so appropriate for an Australian tree! Love those cinnamon ornaments!

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  10. Sounds like you had such fun creating your snowman, raiding your stash for needed supplies and come up with creative solutions all along the way. What fun! And what beautiful ornaments you received as well.

    Merry Cristmas!

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  11. Your snowman is so cute! I love the spools and that is such a great use of them -- so creative! I love the "olden" ornaments Melissa sent as well.

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  12. Hi Elisabeth,The snowman is adorable and very unique. I really like the antique look of the ornaments the Melissa sent you too. I bet the cinnamon tree does smell good.

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  13. Merry Christmas Elisabeth!!! Your snowman ornament is so stinking clever and very cute!!! Thank you so much for participating in the swap/hop!!!

    I pinned your ornament to a pinterest board I created for the hop.

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  14. I just mentioned on Melissa's post: amazing creativity on both sides! Love your snowman - he's simply adorable!

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  15. Your snowman ornament is adorable! Reminds me of days gone by making ornaments with my mom as a kid. I picked up that same bag o' spools at Michaels....but put them back because I couldn't think of what to do with them. This is such a sweet idea! Enjoy the day and Merry Christmas to you and your family. Erin

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  16. I love the old fashioned, homey feel that Melissa's ornaments evoke, You made a really cute snowman as well!

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  17. Love your idea of using the spools to make a snowman! The ornaments you received are amazing - I also love the idea of the cinnamon tree - I bet it smells great!

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  18. How creative is your snowman ornament! You are quite the engineer for figuring out that design and it came out perfectly. Melissa's ornaments for you are so lovely - they look like the perfect touch of nostalgia on your tree. Happy holidays!

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