2011 Tree Ornament Par-tay

Last year, I gave a mini overview of all of the ornaments I had accumulated over the year (you can read that post here). Keeping in tradition, I’m happy to show you a bunch of new treasures that I added to my collection over the last 12-months.

Recap: I’m big on ornaments with meaning. Bring on the assorted colors. The unmatched. The handmade. If my tree had a theme, it’d be a Patchwork Quilt. I don’t ever see myself over-thinking a tree theme or creating a new theme year-to-year, because as much as I think those trees are totally lovely, it’s just not my free-form style. I bought a mini tree with roots this year so that I can plop it into the backyard when I’m through, but dressed, it always looks just about the same as any other tree I’ve bought.

There are new ornaments though. It wouldn’t be a new year without a few new pieces of trimming to blue-spruce-up the place.

This year, I bought two new ornaments from Etsy shops:

Amber Perrodin wow-ed me with these handmade porcelain treasures, crafted by dipping a dried myrtle branch into a handmade paper-clay porcelain. Her technique still makes me scratch my head in astonishment. I had to have one for my collection. The glossy, distinctive ornament that arrived in the mail last fall is precious (it’s been on display on one of my dining room built-in shelves since it’s arrival). Delicate, ornate, clean, it’s probably the one I’m most concerned about Cody’s tail thwacking and destroying.

I also bought a handmade ceramic Yeti from Meg at Red & Main; she graciously hand-delivered it to me while she was in Rochester recently (we got coffee together, bonus). The little guy is a total stud. I’ve coveted her work since she opened her shop last spring, and the ornament version of my favorite Yeti-concept is a perfect addition to my tree.

I’ve actually been cradling it in my palm since it was delivered on Saturday, as if it was my lucky charm. Look at it’s cute little glazed backside, squeal.

I also stocked up on vacation:

I usually try and pick up ornaments from significant destinations; I’ve already shown this sparkly, bright ornament bought during our trip to Mexico (among other items here). I’m so glad to have those bright colors out of storage.

It only seemed right to include a bunch of Pete’s ornaments on the tree too.

He moved them all into my attic last spring, and I thought they’d fit right in. We’ve got a bird, a bee, and a pig, symbolic letters (for Pete and Julia), J’s own handmade crafties, the Disney Princesses, and some artful Ukranian eggs, among other things.

We also made a few impulse purchases at Target on Black Friday.

I picked out a $3 owl because it reminded me loosely of a seasonal decor piece from West Elm. What can I say, it had its eyes on me:

And Pete’s girl picked out a set of new ornaments for the tree too. Lovely. Although I am surprised she didn’t want the Spiderman ornament that she was delicately carrying throughout the holiday section.

We’ve also acquired a few new pieces from yard sales and family members; because I like to have just a few of each variety, we graciously accept no more than 2 from each offered set and put them aside for our own tree. These gold ones are new-to-us this year.

Also new to the tree is a DIY tin foil garland strand, meticulously assembled and draped in all of 20 minutes thanks to a needle and a piece of black thread (I should note that 12 minutes of the 20 consisted of me untangling knots from the beaded thread when I dropped it, so be more attentive to your strand). So simple, the shiny and less dog-appetizing alternative to strung popcorn.

The tree’s totally alive with warmth.

Any other Patchwork Tree fans out there? 

Psst, if you missed it, I interviewed Amber (here) and Meg (here) in 2011 as part of my Workpad series. Meet both of them now if you want to learn more about their inspiration and + their work.