12 Days of Christmas

I have been a busy little elf the last few weeks, making lots of Christmas ornaments and decorations- using Stampin' Up! products of course.  I have a very special reason for doing this.  Years ago when I was in junior high, my family and I traveled to Florida to celebrate Christmas.  This was such a fun trip for all of us and only the second time we had been back since moving to Washington.  In addition to some of the normal tourist things- beach and waterskiing in December and Disneyworld- we went to several family gatherings.  One was bit of a family reunion with my Dad's cousins.  She welcomed us into her home and showed us a beautiful Christmas tree filled with handmade ornaments.  She invited us to each select an ornament that she had made to take home with us.  This has always been one of my favorite holiday memories and I've always wanted to do something similar.  Well, 2010 is my year!  I've set up a special Christmas tree in my family room/studio and I'm filling it with Stampin' Up! Christmas ornaments from top to bottom!  I've used punches, papers, fabrics, ribbons, buttons, die cuts and more to create a variety of ornaments for my tree.  I'll be adding more throughout the month and each time someone visits my home for any reason, they will be able to pick an ornament from my tree. 

And of course, I will be sharing all the various ornaments and decorations with you so today marks the introduction to The 12 Days of Christmas, Stampin' Frog Style.  Over the next 12 days, I will sharing the various types of ornaments I have made for you, finishing up with my star.  I'll also work in a few home decorations in between the 12 Days posts.  The posts will be categorized to some extent by ornament type (fabric, punch art, die cut, etc).

As a little preview, here is a picture of the tree. At the top of the tree you will see a 5 point star covered in Stampin' Up! Designer Fabrics. I'm running a contest to win that star.  You earn entries into the drawing by purchasing products, attending workshops/classes, hosting shows and joining my team.  Check out my contest page for more details.

I also have a few photos of a wreath with some of the ornaments on it.  A wreath can be a clever way of displaying Christmas decorations or creating an advent calendar countdown.  You can make some match boxes to attach to the wreath and then add some chocolates or little toys to the boxes to use for the countdown. 

As for the decorations and some instructions, stay tuned and come back daily to see what each day brings!  I hope you will be inspired by all the projects and maybe start a new holiday tradition in your home.

Happy Stampin' and God Bless!

Charity