I signed up for the Arkansas Women Bloggers handmade ornament exchange and immediately thought what on earth was I thinking? I had to come up with a homemade ornament idea just when my mind felt tired and blank. Ornament.Exchange.Remorse. With only a couple of weeks to made final edits and get my manuscript to my editor, I was doing everything except what I should have been doing. (Not gonna lie, it feels good to say my editor even though there’s always a chance she may return the thing back marked “lost cause”.)

Anyhoo.

I was matched up with Jessica who blogs at Life With the Bauer Bunch. Jessica, a small town Arkansas girl, is super busy working and raising three kids. She blogs about motherhood and figuring out life as she goes (her words). Jessica is real and normal and reading her blog is like visiting with my best friend.

I finished my edits, my manuscript has been sent and I managed to make an ornament for Jessica too. The season of eternal holiday magic.

Here it is.

Jessica and her kids seemed to like it. Whew:))

I sort of cheated because I’ve made this ornament before. You can get the basic pattern HERE. I changed up the process somewhat by using scrapbook paper instead of vintage book pages, and I Mod Podged it to make it a bit more substantial. The buttons and rick rack are vintage. I used glitter glue instead of real glitter which is not so messy.

Now for my surprise.

Alicia who blogs at Simple Words by A drew my name. Alicia and I met last year in Helena and even canoed the Mississippi River together without incident, a bond not many people share, right?

A self-proclaimed crafter and apparent overachiever, Alicia sent me two handmade ornaments. (Sorry, Jessica. You got shortchanged…)

Her gift included a sweet, handwritten letter. When was the last time I received a letter?

The ornament on the left is filled with Hemingway quotes because she knows now much I love Ernest Hemingway. Very thoughtful! The fun ornament on the right is covered with a soft red and white yarn. Both really boosted my holiday spirit.

Now if I could just get my Christmas tree up!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis url=”http://wp.me/p58902-1aU”]#Homemade #ornaments = holiday spirit! @SimpleWordsbyA @thebauerbunch @ARWomenBloggers [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Celtic Women – It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas