What's on the line, uh, make that..what's on the tree?

I am still in the "Christmas Spirit" and so instead of a quilt, I'm going to share more of the ornaments that hang on our Christmas tree.  I thought I'd tell you a bit more about them. Many I've made and some were my made by my mother, my daughter and by friends. Each one is a treasure. Yesterday, I shared this photo..........

The four straw ornaments were some of the first that we added to our tree. Bought years ago in San Diego. I often cluster ornaments from special places together. Hanging the ornaments on the tree is like opening a book of memories!  The little Joy ornament was made by my mother, Mary.

The Joy ornament is this photo came straight from Hobby Lobby. :-)  The little egg ornament is a real egg. I will eventually post a tutorial on how to make these egg ornaments. The Christmas tree is felt and is one of several that I made when I taught ornament classes at Murphy's Landing and at Community Ed classes. The snowman is another one I designed and you can find the tutorial for him here . I started a blog to share my ornaments but then life and family health issues just kept me from getting back to it. This year will be different. More ornaments tutorials will be posted!

The Santa in the photo above and the one below were made my mother in the 1960's. I am sure the patterns were in an issue of Pack-o-Fun or perhaps Workbasket magazine! The little snowman is just a sketch drawn on a styrofoam plate and then glittered and embellished with puffy paints.

In the late 1970's, daughter Collette and I drew designs on balsa wood and then colored them with marking pens. You can see the one with the candle in the photo above. She was about eight when we made a dozen different ornaments from balsa wood.

Some of my favorite ornaments are the ones made from real chicken eggs like the pink angel above and the blue angel below........

The angel made from tulle and with the bright yellow hair (my grandson thought that color was a little bright) was made in 1971 while we were stationed overseas in Japan. My father-in-law knew how much I enjoyed crafting and tucked in some supplies with a package they sent.

During our time in Japan, I loved to trip to an area called Asakusabashi that was known for it's dolls and craft items. I found the snowflakes you see in these photos. They are thin but sturdy foam and were plain white. I embellished them with pretty pins and beads. There are six of them and they are usually the first ornaments that I put on the tree.

I also covered styrofoam balls with velvet and ribbons, trims and cut-outs from Christmas cards like the blue velvet one in the photo above.

I made lots of felt ornaments like the heart above and enjoyed teaching felt ornaments to kids and adults!

Sometimes Collette and I made patchwork ornaments and sometimes we cross stitched designs like those above.

I love the embroidered felt ornaments above and remember when we made these for a church bazaar. I remember someone found them in a craft magazine but it was years ago so I am not able to provide a source.
Many of my ornaments were gifts like the quilt block one below that my sister gave me in memory of our Grandma Goldie. The horse was bought at a craft show that I attended with my friend, Sandy. Every year it reminds me of her and the many craft shows we went to together.

Almost all the ornaments on this branch were made by my friend, Judith. We connected over Crazy Quilting more than a dozen years ago and when we held our Christmas potlucks we often exchanged ornaments. Judith made me the Scandinavian elf.......the twig tree......the knitted snowman and stocking......the basket of yarns and the fabric covered ball..........

and the best one is a tiny soft-sculture sleeping Santa in a twig bed! He has to be seen in person to appreciate the detail!
In October of this past year, I taught a county extension class in decorating real eggs. This next October (2012), I'm going to teach the Christmas tree ornaments made from clay.......

Some are embellished with bits of clay, others with rhinestones and some with those old cooking crystals (remember those?). Easy to make and I'll share the tutorial next fall.

The Redwork ornament in the photo above is one I designed and shared with the Prior Lake Quilter's several years ago. I only ever made a couple but my friend, Marianne, made a couple dozen for her tree that year!

Some ornments recall family and friends who are no longer with us like the candy cane snowman. It was a gift from my friend, Cindy. She is the one that left me all her fabric and I shared about it in this post.

 There are a couple dozen bears that are nestled in the branches of my tree.........

and one of my newest ornaments is this felt Reindeer from blogging friend, Cindy in Arizona. Makes me smile when I see this one. :-)

Every year, I make something new and the red holly trimmed ornament was this year's addition to our tree. I promised I would show how I made it but never found time before Christmas. I promise I will show you eventually. :-)  The unique Snowman ornament above and also the Santa below are two favorites. Collette and I went to a large craft event near Waseca, MN and we each bought these ornaments. They are wood slabs that are diecut with the snowman or Santa outline and then hand-painted!

There are spool themed ornaments that were gifts from friends and a little wool stocking made by my friend, Sue, that remind me of special friends that I don't see as often since we moved. But, as I said.........hanging the ornaments on my tree is like opening a Memory Book. I would show you more but I'll save a couple hundred for another day. :-)
Have a good Monday! I'll be watching that Rose Bowl Parade in the morning and then doing some sewing. I'm learning how to use that new sewing machine. Quilty projects will be coming up soon............
Sandi