Christmas!!

This week I am really starting to feel the Christmas spirit. I made tea in my Christmas mug, lit a Christmas candle, threw on The Grinch and decided to make some Christmas ornaments! I aimed to make these as gifts so I really took my time on these. I always think about something my Mom said to me, “a Christmas tree ornament is one of the best gifts to give because when I look at the ones given to me, I always think of that person.” I thought this was such a nice thing to say and it inspired me to make some.

First ornaments I made were inspired by this video here that I found on TikTok. I did not have cookie cutters, and did not feel the need to buy them for one day haha. So I improvised. first I rolled out a thin log of clay and cut it in half so I could make two ornaments. After shaping them into candy canes, I noticed there was some cracking happening where the bend was. This was quite easy to fix with some water and smoothing techniques I had fromsome of my other projects. You just have to spend some time on it. Then I scored the spiral lines where I am going to paint the red and white stripes and created a hole in the top with the end of a paint brush. I love these and am so excited to paint them! I plan on giving one to my Mom and one to my Grandma.

The next ornament I made was a snowman. This was a little more complicated. I made the three circles which was quite easy. I just rolled balls and flattened them with a glass. connecting them was difficult because they were small and a little flimsy. I used scoring techniques I have learned before and it kind of held it together, but I decided to add some support clay to the back of the snowman where the circles attached. Finally, I added a little carrot nose, and the hole on the top.

Finally, the last ornament I wanted to try was what I thought was going to be the easiest. This was my inspiration. I used a branch that had already fallen off my little Christmas tree but it did not work at all, it was almost too pointy. I don’t live near a forest or even a tree unfortunately, so I decided to scratch that and turn it into a little dish/coaster. I aim to put it in my mom’s stocking, as I am doing hers this year. We have a little tradition where we pull names. I think she will like it once it’s painted. She always seems to enjoy our handmaid gifts a lot. I’m not too sure how I will paint it yet, but I will scroll on Pinterest for some inspo!