After Gwen was born, I started to make DIY Painted Christmas ornaments to represent memories from the year. Each year, I add a few to the tree. Here is a look at my seasonal craft project.
The ornaments are reminders of Halloween costumes, trips to the zoo, family vacations, go-to outfits, or favorite toys. Over the years, they have gotten more detailed.
My DIY Painted Christmas Ornaments:
The London ornaments are some of my favorites. They are little summaries of our trips with lots of little details: Peppa Pig driving a double-decker bus because we love the Afternoon Tea bus tour, black cabs, Paddington, the mini row homes from the Paddington Recreation Grounds, red post boxes, and a penguin from the London Zoo.
Last year, I painted a summary of the Christmas activities that we did in Chicago: the Polar Express, the Christmas tree exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry, Santa on the CTA, Winter Wonderland at Wrigley Field, and Christkindlmarkt.
It's a special reminder of Christmas 2023 - a perfect Christmas at home. It's unique since Winter Wonderland and the Polar Express aren't returning to Chicago this year.
While some ornaments are summaries of trips, others are painted from photographs from the year.
Gwen in the pool wearing one pink sandal during our trip to San Miguel de Allende.
I love capturing sweet, silly little moments like this.
We LOVED our first trip to Nantucket. This is Gwen running along the Sconset Bluff Walk.
I have the best memories of Gwen running down this path. The colorful flowers were really fun to paint.
The other side of the ornament was painted from a photo of Charles carrying Gwen over the hill to the beach. She loves the beach!
The ornament says Nantucket 2024 on the side. I usually include the place and the year.
Gwen running around wearing fairy wings during a trip to Maine in 2023.
I use photos as a reference point, often changing the composition to focus on specific elements.
The other side of that ornament shows Gwen at the beach.
Sure, you can buy ornaments when you travel, but I think that these painted ornaments are more special.
One ornament is an ode to Gwen's trusty companion: Lion. Gwen loves this ornament. When she first saw it, she excitedly said, "Hey! That's my lion!"
I make a handful of ornaments to give as gifts, sometimes using ceramic ornaments with such a lovely shape.
At this point, four years into the project, I've painted a total of 18 ornaments for our tree. I look forward to painting more and displaying them each year. I have given even more as gifts. It's a little hobby that makes me happy. One thing that I have learned is to start early. I painted a batch over the summer! One year, I was still painting ornaments until January, and I kept my tree up until they were all done.
If anyone is interested in creating their own DIY painted Christmas ornaments, here are my tips:
I use paper mache ornaments. Since some of the ornaments take hours to paint, I don't want to risk one breaking. I prime the paper mache ornaments with gesso, use acrylic paint, paint details with paint pens, and seal with about four layers of gloss varnish so that they become shiny.