Update: A Look At My 25 Days of Christ Ornaments

I mentioned on Facebook a couple of weeks ago that I was working on making the ornaments for my 25 Days Of Christ kit. I wrote that I had decided to go with something I wasn't sure about, using weathered wood stain on all the ornaments instead of painting them.

Here's is a long shot of my little tree. We have it on the bar counter between our kitchen and dining space. It's quite a perfect place for it because we walk by it many times each day on our way in and out of the kitchen. It's twinkling beckons us to  stop and look, a regular reminder throughout the day of the real meaning of Christmas.

My wonderful friend Katie came up with the fantastic idea for 25 Days Of Christ and then sourced all the supplies and resources needed. I have been so excited to be able to enjoy with my family now, all the work she has put into creating such an inspired kit. Being a creative sort myself, I marvel at her creativity and the amount of work it must take to create each individual kit.

I really had some reservations about my decision just after I'd stained everything. Looking at all the little pieces looking boring blue-ish gray, just sitting there in a lifeless pile, I wasn't very encouraged and in fact thought perhaps that I had made a rather fatal craft project mistake.

So I packed them all up in the box they came in and put them aside for a few days, unsure of what to do. Eventually I decided to open the box up and just see if I could make them work. Several of them needed additional work, gluing small pieces together, drawing faces on heads, etc.

In the end I was pretty happy with how they all turned out and I felt that they in fact had the look and feel I had hoped for when I got the idea to keep them simple and neutral. This look might not be for everyone but I knew it was a look that would fit in with my holiday design aesthetic.

With lots of color on our regular tree and many decorations this year everywhere in the house, I liked that this tree looks a bit more simple and understated.

I promised I would share photos after I got a few requests on FB for a peek at how they turned out. Hope you enjoy these. It has been really lovely to gather each evening to open an ornament and talk for a few minutes about the real meaning of Christmas. Our kiddo is the first to remind us that "we need to do 25 Days" every evening.

I realized on Day Two that my challenge is going to be making sure I get the right ornament in the bag each day. When we opened Day Two: Shepherds, I realized that I had put Wise Men in the bag and not the Shepherd. Oops....

You can still get your own 25 Days of Christ and enjoy it throughout December right here. They are a great gift for family and friends too. Buy one now and save it for next year if you don't have time to whip your ornaments up this month.

Hope your holiday season is enjoyable so far. Did you notice it's a short season this year because Thanksgiving was so late in November? As fast as the days are passing I fear it will all be over far too soon. But we have visits from both sides of our family to look forward over this holiday so that is lots to look forward to.

It is probably also a once in a lifetime occurrence so I want to enjoy it to the max and have lots of time and energy to love them up, make them feel very at home and show them a very good SoCal time. Hopefully that will encourage them all to come back more often.

Tonight we are headed to our first scheduled holiday concert, the annual bell choir concert and community gathering. Should be a lot of fun. Looking forward to it. Sending you happy and warm holiday wishes.