19 December 2009

My Quest To Establish A New Christmas Family Tradition - 2nd Attempt

Last year I tried to bring my family closer together by establishing a new Christmas tradition. One that we started and future generations would continue on and on into eternity. It was a total failure.
Optimist that I am, I decided to give it another go this year. My sons do not share my enthusiasm for Christmas decorations and decorating. A good friend of mine suggested that I try and recruit grandchildren. They are usually more receptive to this type of thing than your children. None of my boys are married, nor have they provided me with grandchildren.
My sons thought that I would let it go seeing as how none of them could produce a grandchild for me at this very moment. But I already had another plan. My husband has three children from a previous marriage and they (being the perfect children that they are) have children. Small ones - ages 6 and 8. PERFECT!
After a meeting of the "Make New Christmas Traditions or Bust" Society, we three decided that we would participate in an ornament exchange that the women's group at their church was having. The idea is this: You bring a dozen handmade ornaments to the exchange and you swap them with a dozen people, bringing home a dozen different ornaments.
Long story short - the borrowed grandkids bailed on me after only 45 minutes leaving me with having to make a dozen ornaments. I am not sure how long it SHOULD have taken me to construct my ornaments, the directions did not include that information. But it took me 3 weeks to make a dozen. I boxed them up and went to the damn party by myself and came home with the promised dozen ornaments.
Here are a few of the beautiful creations that I brought home. They are so pretty and the women who made them are really talented. But I think that I shall pass on this type of venture for next year.




Let's just say that I was a wee bit over-confident in my ability to create something as elegant. I got my twelve ornaments but there were a few people who declined to accept my offering. I guess I should have read the rules more closely.



So I have a few extra Reindeer left over - any takers?

8 comments:

  1. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! my grandbabies would love it , too!!!!

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  2. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! I'll take one!!!

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  3. You're the best by a mile, Sherri. If we can't have a little humour in Christmas celebrations, what's left for us? Global depression? I'd *like* to say, don't bother trying to communicate or bond with anyone under about 30 years of age ... doesn't mean I actually said that (maniacal laughter). Even understanding the 30-somethings is a challenge. For sure I'll take a reindeer.

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  4. where did my comment go, woe ...

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  5. Aw Sheri, I would lend you Sammy if I could. At age 2, he's not much with the crafts, but he would get a huge kick out hanging out with you and he loves anything with googly eyes.

    Merry Christmas!

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  6. You are just a screamingly riotously fun woman. I'd take one of those googly-eyed fellas any day!

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  7. One of those googly-eyed reindeer would make the perfect edition to my less than perfect tree, so if you have any orphans left I'll take one. And if you ask me, your wicked sense of humor is the best tradition.

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  8. I love it! What a fun Christmas tradition that is!

    Maybe next year you should make simpler ornaments though (buy the plain clear ornaments at a craft store and then put small amounts of paint in them and spin them around to get the color all over the place. The end result is a cool swirly ornament that is incredibly easy to make.

    Maybe you should also split the ornaments with some friends next year so they don't turn down your ornaments.

    I think the reindeer is cute!

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