Oh Christmas Tree Ornaments, Oh Christmas Tree Ornaments

If you've visited my blog before, you know that I love Christmas!  My mom was always really good about special ornaments, and things like that, and I've tried to keep up with that tradition.  I would've loved to have had all of you over, but since I couldn't do that, I thought I'd give you a little tour!

Every year, I make/get us a family ornament.  I've made a felt cupcake ornaments, I made clay ornaments in the shape of Hungary, I got these really cute metal ornaments from Shutterfly, and this year, with Aidan's help, we made "Aidan's First Christmas" handprint ornaments.  This year, we also got palm tree ornaments, for our "Christmas in Florida".

I think commemorative ornaments can be a hit or miss.  They're not all cute, but the ones that are, are REALLY cute! :)

I love this Lenox "First Married Christmas" ornament.  It was a gift from our pastors in Ohio.  So pretty!!!

I got this ornament for us from Etsy.  It's one of our wedding pictures printed onto a clay tile.

Awww, I love our new little family ornament from our best friends!

Aidan got his "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament from his grandma.  I love how sweet it is!

My mom got us a few new ornaments, that I love.

 The "pastor" Hungarian figure (In Hungarian pastor and shepherd are the same word) for Dan

 Little Hungarian boy for Aidan

 And the Hungarian maiden for me

This GORGEOUS ornament made from a sea urchin and spindle.

Here are a couple other pictures from our Christmas...

My mother-in-law got me my very own Willow Tree Nativity set.  I have been wishing for one FOREVER, and was so excited she got it for me!

I really love our Christmas cards every year, and have wanted to display them.  This year, I strung some baker's twine, got some little mini clothes pins, and hung our cards above the TV.  

                                    

My mom had a Precious Moment Nativity set, which was very dear to her.  It was always my job as a kid to put baby Jesus into the scene.  I just loved his little face!  When I moved out, she gave me her Precious Moments.  I put them up every year, and get very nostalgic!

This year, instead of a tree skirt, we used a galvanized tub, and I LOVE how it turned out!!!  I'm never going back!

Last, but not least, here is this year's White House ornament.  Every year, the White House comes out with an ornament, centered around one of our presidents, and comes with a little booklet about the history of it.  My Gramps has gotten them for my parents for years, and once Dan and I got married, he started sending them to us too.  They're really special, and if you're interested, you can check them out here.

Well, there's our apartment at Christmas in a nutshell.  Hope you enjoyed a quick tour of our apartment.  Happy New Year!

DIY Clay Ornament

I love family.  I love MY family.  So, I can't even tell you how excited I was when my crazy generous uncle told me, that for Christmas he was sending Dan and I home for to see my family.  I hadn't spent Christmas with my family for 2 years, and we hadn't all been together since our wedding.  So this was huge!  I've always loved (giving and receiving) hand-made gifts, and I wanted something that would remind us of our Christmas together.

I had seen this recipe on pinterest.com for home-made clay, that sounded promising.  I followed the link to woodsidekitchen.blogspot.com.  Here is her recipe:

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup baking soda

3/4 cup water

For my specific ornament, you'll also need:

Cookie cutter(s)

Exacto knife

Heart stamp (small)

Red paint

Ribbon

Sealant spray

Chopstick- to make a hole for the ribbon to go through

(Nail file- for getting clean definition around the edges)

I also needed to add a little extra cornstarch.

This craft was a little messy, and I don't have a lot of counter space in my apartment, so the rolling it out part was a little tricky.  The rest of it worked just like the post said.

I wanted to make something really special, so I wanted to make it in the shape of Hungary.  I looked everywhere online, and couldn't find a cookie cutter in the shape of Hungary (go figure), so I tried to come up with an alternative.  Dan to the rescue!  He said if I printed out an outline of Hungary, he could figure the rest out.  So I did, and my brilliant husband bought foam board, and an exacto knife, and cut out a "cookie cutter".  So, I made the dough, and cut it out, then pressed the heart stamp over the spot where Budapest (capital city/hometown) would be, punched a whole through it, and let it bake at 175 F for about 45 minutes.  The length of baking time depends a lot on the thickness of your clay.  I tuned it over a couple times to make sure it baked all the way through.

Once they were cooled off, I painted the stamped heart area red, let that dry, and then strung a ribbon through the top.  Dan had found the perfect ribbon at Michael's, it was red white and green, just like the  Hungarian flag.  

I also write with a thin Sharpie on the back "Gracza Family Christmas 2012".

Pre-baked ornament

Baked ornament

With the pretty red heart

Four, for the four "units".  Mom and Dad, Jonathan and Katie, Stephen and Dan and I.

See the perfect flag ribbon?!

Here's my handsome brother with his ornament.

And, my other good looking brother and his girlfriend, Katie.

The original website for this ornament has lots of tips from people who tried it out, and I would recommend reading over those before you make yours for the best results.  This would be cute to make with kids, and I even made one with/for Bella out of the leftover clay: