Christmas Decorations

For the past 5 years I have made Christmas decorations, they take me hours of time, care and planning, I always make far to many and because of that I have a box filled with previous years decorations and I often think that when I finally move out of home my tree will be covered with them. I have just finished packaging up this years decorations and realised I hadn't shared on here about them. I dug out the previous years ones and couldn't believe just how many I had made and the work that had gone into them!

Gift giving is my love language and I love the idea of giving those in your life gifts but when I have many people in my life it isn't cost effective to purchase everyone meaningful gifts. I had the idea of buying Christmas decorations then I realised I could make them for a lot less and they would be personal as I had taken the time to make them. Of course I had to work out what to make and when I saw the clear plastic baubles you can purchase I had the idea to fill them with something but at $2 each it wasn't cost effective. I then realised that for $2.50 I could buy a pack of 5 glass bottles and fill them with something and it would be unique and different. 

2014 - this was my first year, I filled the bottle with star sequins and a note that had John 3:16 printed on it, these were designed to be taken out. I tied a candy cane charm (a sign of what was to come the following year?) with ribbon for hanging.

2015 - I did two variations of this decoration and they were inspired by an Etsy jewellery listing that had these as necklaces, when I showed my Mum she told me I could make them so the idea was started. I made the candy canes out of polymer clay which I did while watching TV. I originally just made the small candy canes but after I had made those decorations I had some clay leftover so I made the bigger candy canes and bought some more bottles. I glued the corks on so they couldn't be opened and cause a potential choking hazard for kids.

2016 - I made candy cane crosses out of polymer clay and included an angel or a star charm tied to the bottle with Christmas twine. I once again glued the cork on and I included paper stars and wrote "Love Erin" on them.

2017 - I twisted together gold, silver and bronze polymer clay and made crosses and then I made tiny candy canes out of clay. I found small gold bells in my local discount store and tied them on with Christmas twine, once again the corks were glued on. I remember making these decorations while watching the first season of  Greenhouse Academy on Netflix. 

2018 - I actually made these in June/July this year, I had a feeling that come November/December life would be busy (I was right!). I was able to buy the bottles off ebay instead of hunting them down in discount stores which saved me time and money. I decided to do a reverse of last year charms with a big candy cane and 3 small crosses out of polymer clay. I spent a night with a tiny funnel pouring 1/4 teaspoon of glitter in and then gluing the cork on. I was able to buy star charms off ebay and tied them to the bottle for an extra touch.

These bottles tell a story and it's fun each year to display them on our tree. I give them out to so many people and people now tell me they look forward to receiving them each year. They are unique decorations and you can't buy anything like them. I start thinking up the new ideas in February/March of each year. I have no idea when I will stop and I have even purchased next years bottles ready for an idea to take place of what they will be filled with. I know the right glue needed for the corks to stick and I buy the twine in the clearance sales (one roll of twine can last for ages too).
I hope when friends and family hang them on the tree they are reminded of the love and care I put into each decoration and that they made an impact on me that year.