Every December before Christmas, I look for one ornament to symbolize the events in our family’s year. Usually it is something special. When we bought our first home I found a Radko glass house with a family out front. When my oldest son started elementary school I purchased a little German glass school bus.
In January of this year I learned I had breast cancer. Thankfully, I found it early. I knew that this year I wanted to make a special ornament for our family tree that was about the power of prayer. Without my faith I don’t know how I would have gotten through this battle.
After this I used acrylic paints to add color around the central image. I added a light layer of Golden’s tar gel to seal it and give it some weight. Next, I hand sewed the image to metallic gold netting over opalescent vintage velvet given to me by my husband’s grandma hope before she passed away. All the fabrics and trims used are from family and friends. It is so soft and silky. I hand sewed the pillow leaving the edges rough and threads hanging. I added multi-colored sari fibers to symbolize prayer flags, which were given to me by my sweet friend, Mija, when I had surgery. I added milagros, freshwater pearls, and glittery tiny mother-of-pearl beads along with more velvet, toile, antique handmade lace, a brass crown and a vintage Ava Maria medal on a satin ribbon.
Next, I asked each member of my family to write a prayer of thanksgiving on a slip of painted paper. I wrapped the prayers in toile along with lavender from our garden and put them inside the pillow.
Lastly, I added a silver rope to hang the piece from the tree. It is an ornament that I will keep out all year to remind me to give thanks daily for the many blessings with which I have received.
You can see this ornament and many other glorious ones in the November/December issue of Somerset Studios.
post script
thank you, thank you to everyone for asking how we are here in the midst of the fires. while we do have fires in my town, they are not so close to us that we are in danger. the santiago canyon fire was started on sunday by an arsonist. it has burned more than 19,000 acres. currently, it is reported to be 50% contained. the sky is a post-apocalyptic color from all the smoke. we have ashes everywhere. the children haven't been able to go outside at school for the entire week (and they eat their lunch outside). but we are safe. we will be fine. i have friends in los angeles and san diego that have it much harder than we do. please keep them in your prayers. xoxo -krs
your ornament is lovely...i love hearing about the traditions...each year when my kids were little...we would select a handmade ornament symbolizing special things from the year as well....when we were stationed in germany we had the first 7 years of ornaments with us and we were ready to deploy back to the states...and since it was august our christmas things were in storage in our unit...all of our holiday things were packed and (being new to this whole army thing) the boxes of all our european treasures and the kids handmade rememberence ornaments were listed as "storage items" on the inventory...those boxes were all lost...and there was no way to prove what they were. so we all sat down to remember special things that happened each year for each of us and we replaced them...they weren't the same but just the recalled memories were heaven....
Posted by: Barbara Burkard | October 24, 2007 at 07:15 PM
Your ornament is very beautiful and I love the description of your symbolism.
Posted by: Catherine Witherell | October 24, 2007 at 07:51 PM
The power of prayer is awesome and it is very special you created this ornament to represent the love and hope your family and friends have for you. The various layers and textures really add to the piece and the meaning behind it. I am glad you are all well in Irvine. The Post Apocalyptic sun is a bit freaky, yet beautiful. xoxooxox
Posted by: Pilar | October 24, 2007 at 08:58 PM