heart shines

Four months into my happy "DO" year, lots has been accomplished and much stash moving, organizing, using, and purging has occurred. 

There have also been mutterings and curse words and phrases like "damn --- where did all this crap come from?"

For instance --- the box shown below.

I have moved this box at least 50 times over the years. Tucking it in this drawer or that one. Or on this shelf or that. Shoving it to the side to fit in "one more thing". 

Well..... about two weeks ago, as I moved the dang box AGAIN, I decided that my DO year needed to include the word FINISH as well. The studio table was piled with the stuff I was putting away and sorting through, so I took this box in the house and decided to sit down and just make the ornaments in the kit. 

I dumped it all out and read the instructions........ yes I DID READ THEM and FOLLOWED them.

I pinned and pinned and pinned and pinned. 

Resulting in this. It really is very pretty. 

And it's a very generous size too. (see below) 

FYI --- although the directions for these do not include glue, I have found it to be valuable for these in the long run. I have several beaded ornaments from my mom and over time the pins can loosen and fall out and then you have gaps. To avoid this, I squeeze a dollop of glue on a scrap of paper and after I make my bead and sequin stack up, I touch the tip of the pin into the glue just before I pin it into the foam shape. Just a bit of extra security. 

Then - because Teresa is "MaggieGraceCreates" and  ---- because MaggieGraceCreates has a GINORMOUS stash of stuff and ------ because making two of them "just alike" would be incredibly boring, I pulled out some corded trim and proceeded to design my own ornament.

I glued some red and green trim diagonally across the ornament and then beaded between them.

Then a solid green top half and a solid red bottom. 

The result 

I think this one is pretty too. 

One of the pair is winging its way to a new home as we speak. 

I'll reveal which one, when the new owner lets me know it has arrived. 

Now --- would you have simply made them both alike and called it done or are you like me and would have taken off and tried your own artistic design? 

As for myself ---- I'm just glad I can add this finish to the DO year list and move the box one last time ----- to the recycling bin. 

It's a beautiful day.