Wednesday, December 13, 2006

2006 Advent Blog Tour

Marg and Kailana came up with this fun idea of an Advent Blog Tour. I signed up for today. I wanted to share with you a few of the cute ornaments my husband used to carve BEFORE becoming a UPS man, which is synomous with Santa Claus this time of year.


Every year he would carve me a star or snowflake. Here's a sampling of the beautiful stars I have hanging on my Christmas tree. The middle picture is a star of David and even though we are not of Jewish lineage, it's this star that sits atop the tree. It looks quite big in this picture. In reality it is about the same size as the other stars.

This bottom picture shows three of the ornaments he carved for our three daughters.


At the time he was carving we only had 3 daughters. Now there's 4. Sadly, M had stopped carving, so daughter #4 only has store-bought ornaments. I'm hoping when he retires, M will carve some for her.

I love these 3 ornaments because they look similar to the girls at those ages. They are wearing the coats, gloves and boots they wore then. I made the youngest's coat out of a pleated skirt my mother had made me when I was 8th grade. Isn't that a terrific example of resourcefulness?!

The idea was that when the girls left home they could take their ornaments with them. It was a nice idea all those years ago, but now we don't have their darling ornaments to adorn our tree any longer. The only ones we wouldn't let them take were the 3 carolers. We felt like they needed to stay together until we are both gone. The kids enjoy putting their ornaments on their trees in their new places, though, so I'll miss them in a happy sorta way.

16 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

Those are terrific! I'm sorry for you that he doesn't get time to carve because of his job.

Cardine said...

Very cool. Very cool.

Bob & Muffintop said...

They are absolutely gorgeous! Your hubby has much talent. I hope he continues with his hobby especially when he is stressed and overworked. Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

The carolers were always my favorite of the lot.

CindyS said...

How wonderful!! Did he also do the painting or was that your touch?

CindyS

Marg said...

Wow...those are so good! And your blog is looking very festive! Thanks for participating!

Booklogged said...

Carl, it is too bad that he doesn't have time to carve anymore, but hopefully during retirement.

Cardine, I'll pass the compliments along.

Bookwormom, Merry Christmas to you as well.

Framed, yes, the carolers are pretty special.

Cindys, thanks for visiting. He did the painting, too. I did start tole-painting sometime after these were made, but he always did the ornaments.

Marg, Thanks for the compliment about my blog. And thanks for hosting the Advent Tour. It was fun. Hope you do it again next year.

Alyson said...

I was always sad that we didn't get hand carved ornaments anymore. I understand though, and would never want dad to feel bad that he couldn't continue that tradition. I'm just happy for the ones I did get!

Jennie said...

Those are gorgeous ornaments! And hand-made ones are always the most special.

hellomelissa said...

i've always had a hidden urge to make things out of wood. these ornaments make that urge grow stronger. wish i had that talent!

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Those hand-carved ornaments are just beautiful! I love the stars and the carolers both, and how you must cherish them! I, too, hope your hubby finds time to do more, even if it is later on when he retires. I imagine your daughters would so love to have those and more from their dad :)

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Booklogged said...

Alyson, I really hope there will be more ornaments coming once your Dad retires. Keep your fingers crossed.

Jennie, they are special ornaments. Thanks for the compliment, I'll pass it on to The Man.

Melissa, I made 3 doll cradles one year in a wood working class and the next year a 3-piece wooden kitchen set. It was lots of fun. You should go for.

Stacey, thanks for the sweet comments. I do cherish them. When it comes to the putting up Christmas decorations, they are what first enter my mind. We were at one of my daughter's house last night and it was fun seeing her ornaments on her tree.

Bellezza said...

I thought I might find a Thursday Thirteen from you, but it's not on either blog. Perhaps you're too busy! At any rate, I stopped to say hi, and I hope all is well.

get zapped said...

This is a precious post and such adorable carvings! So creative.

Miao 妙 said...

Your husband is really talented! The carvings are lovely. :)

- paradoxical-rose.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Your husband is a beautiful carver. I'd love to have one of his stars.