Matryoshka doll

I have received many handmade things recently that are beautiful, but not made by me. There are so many things in fact, that I wanted to spend a few posts on them to show them to you.

First I start with a Christmas present from my mom. For a charity bazaar she made these cute felt, Matryoshka doll ornaments. Along with other items women sold in the bazaar they had a great contribution to the orphanage's in Russia.

I could have gotten better pictures, but that would involve going back into all the Christmas things, and that is not happening for a long time.
Interestingly, even though Matryoshka dolls are very popular in the United states right now, they are not in Russia. Crazy how that happens. I love handmade things from the people I love, check back for more soon.

Ornament Wreath

I am sure you have seen about 200 of these on the web, but I wanted one, so I did. I saw one at Pier One had one for at least $30, it was all red and beautiful, but mine cost $9, so ha!
Here is a link to the original wreath that others, better than me, have copied.

I used one wire hanger, glue gun, a ton of dollar store ornaments, and ribbon.

First step is to hot glue all of your ornament tops to the ornament itself so that it will not fall off. This is time consuming but worth it, and it will ensure your wreath lasts.
Next, make your wire hanger into a circular shape and make it ready for putting on your ornaments.

Put all of your ornaments on. I used 8 tubes of various sizes of dollar store ornaments. I would guess it took maybe 75 or more. The wreath is bigger, so you could use less and make a smaller wreath. As you put the ornaments on they will settle in place and start to hide the wire hanger.

Once you have them all on you can carefully close the hanger by wrapping one end around the other. This can be hard, other wise you could glue or tape the ends together, and hide it with a ribbon.

I added a ribbon, and hung it nicely on my door. It is so thick that with the storm door, the door barely closes, but it works, and I love it. Now I just need to find more time to make all the other Christmas things I want to make! Merry Christmas to all, I hope you are having a blessed holiday season. 

Shutterfly Cards

I also wrote about this on my family blog, but I wanted to make sure that I included readers here too!
I have read on several blogs about how shutterfly is giving away 50 free Christmas cards to bloggers if you write a blog post about it. Ummm yeah, I will take free Christmas cards!

I love shutterfly! I have ordered quite a few photo books and calendars from shutterfly and I love them. They provide a great way to preserve memories, and they turn out so nice. All of the loved ones that I have given photobooks or calendars to have loved the sentimental gift. They have great service and with promo codes you can get some awesome deals.

I already have my cards all picked out, but there are so many beautiful options. Here is a sneak of our possible card this year. There is a possibility I may always change my mind. It is hard there are too many choices.

And here are some of the others I really love!

 How neat would these be with a wonderful message inside?

If you are interested in getting in on this deal, make sure you blog all about it, and get your free cards!