Mother Nature Inspired Christmas Ornaments
I’ve always loved plants and I’ve always loved to create. My rural upbringing in the Berkshire Mountains of Litchfield County, Connecticut had me scampering through the woods collecting things to use for future masterpieces. I wanted to write my first book to combine my love for nature and creating. And that is how Mother Nature Inspired Christmas Ornaments came to be.
Growing up, Christmas was big in our household and decorating usually started before Thanksgiving. In years to follow, that passion carried over into a profession when I owned a Christmas decorating business. Yes, for many years I climbed ladders, decked hall and made merry for commercial spaces in the San Francisco Bay Area. I bought all kinds of fancy pants ornaments from manufacturers and wholesalers. Sometimes I would dress them up with ribbon, jewels or glitter to go with whatever the theme was. Most people do not have access to those decorations so I decided to show how to create ornaments from materials found in nature.
I have a craft table set up in my garage (which doubles as a potting table) so glitter flies and I make a mess but as least it’s not in the house. There’s a Bougainvillea glabra which climbs up and over the garage door so hummingbirds and butterflies are frequent visitors. Sometimes I work in a sea of fallen magenta blossoms – a pretty mess.
I’ve been walking around Santa Barbara, CA, where I now live, with my eyes peeled downward looking for treasures. This is a horticultural haven so I always find some kind of seed, pod, twig or cone to haul home. And then there’s the beach. I’ve collected a lot of driftwood, shells and “sea debris” on my walks. And, for the crowning jewels, I embellished each ornament with succulents from my garden and/or air plants.
In this book I share techniques, tips and tricks that I’ve learned along the way, some from talented people I worked with and some from my own trial and error. I owned a Christmas Decorating business for 15 years – yes, it was actually my profession so I have a few tricks up my shelve in this department. Here’s a couple of techniques from the paint section for you to preview:
Dry Brushing
This is very effective for highlighting where you don’t want solid color. Make sure your brush is relatively dry before you dip it in the paint. Use quick strokes to put the paint where you want it.
Brush Sizes
These ornaments are all small projects so I use small brushes. You don’t need to break the bank on brushes here – I bought the ones I use (as a package set of 8) at one of our dollar stores 4 or 5 years ago. Of course, the smaller the brush, the finer the detail work you will be doing.
As a bonus for buying the book you’ll get access to videos illustrating all those techniques. We have broken them down into 5 individual videos, all shot at my craft table, so you don’t have to go through the 1 long video. What a bargain for $1.99!
For your previewing pleasure, here’s one of the 20 ornaments and the steps to its creation:
WACKY SEA STICK
Materials Used:
- – 1 kelp stick
- – 3 Teasel heads
- – pale gold Metallic Masters paint
- – red Metallic Masters paint
- – 1/16” gold glitter
- – burgundy ribbon, cut to desired length to make a bow
Adornments:
– 2 succulent cuttings (I used string of pearls)
– 2 air plants
Steps:
1) Dry brush the stick with the pale gold Metallic Masters paint and paint the teasel heads with red Metallic Masters.
2) Coat just the tops of the Teasel heads with 1/16” gold glitter.
3) Hot glue the Teasel heads to different parts of the sea stick at different angles.
4) Tie the burgundy ribbon into a two loop bow with tails at the top of the stick.*
5) Hot glue the air plants to the stick. Secure the string of pearls cuttings to the stick with fishing line. Let some of the trails hang loose.
*Note: this stick has a loop at the top, which acts as a natural hanger.
Here’s the video trailer to the book:
Buy It Here:
Happy Creating Everyone
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Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.
