Life Long Friends

Twenty-some years ago when I started my first full-time job after college, I met some amazing ladies and made some dear friends. We’ve been through engagements and weddings, starting families and raising children, and so much more. These ladies are so very special to me.

For the past several years, I’ve been making handmade ornaments for each of them for the Holidays. Here is this year’s ornament. The ornaments are made from plastic ball ornaments that I get at a local craft store. I use only one half of the ball for each ornament so I end up with a 3D dome with a flat backside. To make these winter scenes, I stamp and create each element separately. The mini trees were covered in embossing paste to make it look snowy. The night sky was created using Brusho. The house was die cut using the Hometown Greetings Edgelits and then watercolored with ink pads and my Aqua Painter. Once all the individual pieces were dry, everything gets glued to the base. The tree is glued down using a hot glue gun for extra strength.

Once the base is set and dry, I glue the plastic dome to the front and trim any excess cardstock sticking out. Then a scalloped circle is hot glued to the back side of the ornament. Once that cools down, I glue a length of ribbon along the seam between the plastic dome and scallop circle. This gives it a nice finished look.

Here is a close up shot of the inside of the ornament. I add in a little bit of fake snow in the bottom of the ornament to enhance the 3D look.On the backside of the ornament I include the year that it was made. Making these ornaments has become a really fun tradition. Sometimes I have them planned out really early and other times not. The ladies really seem to enjoy receiving them every year. And I really enjoy making them. If you want to see some of the ornaments from year’s past, check out this post here.

The Year End Sales Event is still going on and you can get a good deal on some stamps. Items on the retirement/clearance list are while supplies last ONLY. Don’t wait if there is something you really wanted to get.