That Ornament Time of Year
I know I’ve written about ornaments in the past, but I’m gonna do it again anyway! I groan just as much as the next person when I walk into a store in OCTOBER and see Christmas trees! But, here’s the thing. If I want to sell my ornaments at fall shows (and I DO want sell them at said shows), I have to have them ready by October. That means I have to start choosing colors and checking availability WAY early. It's a whole PROCESS and goes something like the following:
Mid-summer, I peruse Swarovski pendant crystals on the website where I buy them wholesale to decide what colors appeal to me and what pendant style I can afford. There are some I’d love to use, but they’re just WAY to expensive. Sigh. Then I send the company an inquiry as to availability and delivery dates. There have been times when I’ve had to change plans up to three times! Occasionally I manage to hit their unpredictable 5% off sale. But sadly, not this year. Some of what I order almost always has to come from Austria because it's not in stock with the supplier, so I definitely have to start while enduring 100 degree plus temps! Once the pearls, crystals, and pendant crystals arrive, the emailed invoice gets filed digitally in financials and each element gets listed in my component inventory spreadsheet.
NOW the fun begins! Here you see the bits & pieces for the “frame” spread out. It takes about 10 minutes to cut the memory wire, form the first loop, lay out the pearls, crystals, & seed beads in the correct order, thread them all on, and form the closing loop. I failed to get a pic of the component layout process, oops!
The next step is to cut the stainless steel wire, attach it to the centerpiece pendant, and attach that to the frame - NOT as easy as it might sound!
Last construction step involves threading 18" of ribbon into the joined top loops and tying the prettiest bow possible. As I’ve said before, Mother ties the best bows, so I try to emulate her. By the time I finish bow #90, I don’t care if I never tie another one - at least until next year! But wait, THERE'S MORE (to borrow from a million infomercials). Because I’m VERY picky, I put a substance called Fray Check on the tips of the ribbon and a dab of Elmer’s clear cloth glue on the back of the bow knot to keep everything looking great for years to come!
For packaging, I determine what spiritual symbolism I want to share and create the background for the card with Print Shop 22.1. After my trusty Brother printer spits out the requisite number of heavy cardstock pages, I use a handy-dandy paper cutter to hopefully divide them into equal sized individual cards that will fit in a 4"x6" plastic bag. Because I want the ornaments to stay in place, I use my small sewing scissors (gasp) to slant cut a couple of places center/top to create a “hanger” for the ribbon. And lastly, I place them - always neatly - in the plastic bags. This year I forgot to check my bag supply and had to last minute order more. Grrr...
Once they’re all ready, pics must be taken and loaded on the website for all to admire and hopefully purchase.
These are the only items I make in multiples. They are definitely a labor of love. I assure you that what I charge is nowhere near what the time involved and high quality elements used are worth. But I love offering a keepsake item at an affordable cost. I make 90 each year, and when they're gone, they’re gone. Why 90, you ask? The answer lies with the numbers of crystals, pearls, & pendants in a factory pack from Swarovski. Ninety works out, 100 does not without having a LOT of leftovers.
I hope you want to collect them all to enjoy year after year on your tree or in your windows! You can see all that are available here: https://mladycreations.com/collections/crystal-pearl-ornaments
This is where I say Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving . . . and Merry Christmas!
How about I just wish you a very blessed Fall!
Anna