Ornaments

Well, you wouldn't believe it from looking at our homemade ornaments this year, but I really can do crafty things...

The trick is getting Noah to do crafty things. Now, this salt-dough ornament may look ugly, but let me at least point out that someone (cough-cough) had the brilliant idea to let a three year old use a straw to punch holes in the cookie-cutter ornament and it's almost, almost cool. Even when he doesn't punch the holes all the way through. Right? Right? Family Fun will be calling me up any minute to learn all about our clever technique.

And why, yes, that lovely yellow gold color is organic turmeric powder that I worked into the dough for 15 minutes while the piccolini poked each other (and themselves) with straws.

Sigh. I'd like to say Noah made that all by himself, but even that ornament needed lots of help from Mommy.

Sitting by the tree the other day, I saw this old salt-dough ornament. I put them side by side on the soapstone counter so you really get the full effect.

That beautiful little Jack-in-the-Box ornament was painted by my mother the year that I was roughly the same age as Noah. And my brother was roughly the same age as Mattias. AND my mother was pregnant with child number three.

Wow. I'm humbled. You know what the problem is. Let me quote myself: "Sitting by the tree yesterday..."  Um, yeah. That's the problem. You can't make beautiful things when you sit on your lazy butt looking at the ornaments on the tree.