Taming the Christmas Beast

Every year my family tries to tame the Christmas present buying beast. In years past we have had a Secret Santa and only had to buy for one person in the immediate family (although I don't describe my family with marriages, divorces and members of the family in three different states across the country - as Immediate!).

This year we won't all be together for the holidays. So, in an effort to keep that beast at bay, we decided to limit gifts to one ornament per couple.

This put an enormous pressure on me (the illustrator) to do something creative. I wanted to paint ornaments with a winter scene with snowmen. My husband had the great idea to make each snowperson resemble the family members I was giving it to. I decided to paint the couple and their pets if they had any. Of course the busiest ornament was for my sister who has 2 cats & 2 dogs that live with her and her husband! I also put scenes in the background that related to where they live.

Okay, so I may have saved money on my ornaments, but they weren't lacking in effort and time consumption. I bought three pre-cut (thank goodness!) wooden snowflake ornaments. I drilled holes in the top, sanded the ornaments, primed them, sketched out the design on the front, painted the ornaments (front, back & gold trim on the side!), sealed the painting, threaded red ribbon through them, wrapped them up and mailed them out today. Phew, it was fun, but I'm glad its done.

I've attached a picture one of the ornaments. Enjoy!