Ornament or Keepsake?

Earlier this week I was so lucky to be invited to an ornament exchange by a woman I had just met from church the evening before. I was so excited by the invitation, I will admit partially out of pure boredom, but more so because I was getting to finally be "in" on something. 

I feel like as newlyweds, we can be a bit ostracized after the big day… Michael and I didn't even have the chance to experience this as we moved states away less than a week after our wedding. So I don't even have people to call upon, I pretty much had to wait for someone to find me first. Thanks to our wonderful church and all the brilliant, friendly people who are members, I feel like Michael and I have been befriended much faster than we could have ever imagined. I am so thankful for this.

Back to this ornament exchange. 

I was invited on tuesday and it was to take place on friday evening. The task was to bring with you eight handmade ornaments (handmade is a loose term of course). We would then trade with each other and get to leave with eight new ornaments to don our trees with. Michael and I being so newly married, and this only being our second christmas together, needless to say our tree is bare and humble. So I was excited to participate. 

I quickly set to work on my ornaments… I decided first to go to a little home-maker shop I stumbled upon a few weeks ago for inspiration. I found this beautiful ornament that I wanted to recreate…

I already had the twine, so I picked up some styrofoam balls and the most similar (and affordable) sparkly jewel beading I could find. Hurried home and worked for an hour or so only to end up with numerous hot glue gun burns and this very sad replica…

Even Michael was having a hard time keeping a straight face while telling me that it looked good. So I scratched the whole idea and went back to the drawing board, a.k.a. Pinterest. I looked and looked… It had to be an ornament that was DIY and started with a styrofoam base. I found many cute things and finally settled with this one..

In my head I kept saying, "keep it simple" and I really thought this was simple. Supplies were just paper and pins, and the flower cutter would be an investment right? So the next morning I went out to buy more supplies. 

At the end of the day I sat down on the floor again to begin my ornaments. I even recruited michael to stamp out the flowers for me! He is so sweet and helpful.

At least another hour later I ended up with a very cute ornament, success!

 (I have no idea how or why that picture is playing tricks with the eyes! Crazy i-phones these days!)

I had to call it a night after just one. I attempted another one the next morning. My flower cutter stalled halfway through. This entire project was costing more than I imagined and taking much longer than I anticipated.. So back to the craft store I went. This time I was smarter. I chose new thinner paper and a larger flower cutter. Returned home and got to it. Just an hour before the party was to start I completed the final ornament. Each was a different variation in an effort to make it faster or easier, but each one took close to the same amount of time! Oh well, what is done is done. Here they are..

I even cut one styrofoam in half to make it quicker. 

I put them together in a shoe box and plated my scrumptious orange macaroons to share! Despite my ornament dilemma, I was still excited to participate and really hoped my flower balls were up to par.

 so yummy. 

 I was so grateful to meet a few new women from our ward and chat more with those whom I had already met. A fun time was had by all. 

We went around the room, each sharing a similar story of trial and error with their own ornaments. Then traded with one another. 

By definition an ornament is a thing used to make something look more attractive but usually having no practical purpose… What I received at this exchange was far from this definition. Yes, each one will make my tree more attractive but each also holds a sentiment. 

This year I would have to consider these new ornaments as keepsakes. Each one will remind me of this first christmas away from home. How I was welcomed and loved without question and better yet, given hand-made and heart-felt gifts. 

For christmases to follow, I know each ornament will don my tree as a simple reminder that this season isn't necessarily about making our lives more attractive with gifts and impractical toys (although fun), but reaching out to those with a loving smile and warm welcome. And remembering that a simple handmade parcel can sometimes mean more than any other gift wrapped under our trees. 

Let us dress our homes and trees with keepsakes as much as we can.

This particular woman really went out of her way to make this one specially for me!