December 30, 2006

Memory Ornaments

For Mom and Dad's Fiftieth Anniversary we gave them a party inviting family and friends. Since they were married on Christmas Eve, we asked everyone to bring an ornament that has to do with their lives together. I made this ornament for my son to give them. His grandma used to make chocolate cakes just for him. He loved them.

My Dad was an English teacher so I made this book for him. My husband used to listen to the radio on the way to our house to pick me up for a date so he'd have something to talk to Dad about when he got there. Dad always said he never had to listen to the news, because my future husband would fill him in on everything. So I made this radio for Hub to give them.
I made this to show my Dad after he retired. He loved to stand in the backyard with his binoculars and watch birds. Posted by Picasa

7 comments:

FarmWife said...

Wow! Those are really special! How did you make them?

Anonymous said...

Yes, tell us! I wonder if ornaments can be made out of that color clay...that stuff...oh I can't think of the name of it and that makes me sad.

I adore the one with your dad looking through binoculars. Nice suspenders!

phinner said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
phinner said...

Oh Cate!!!

Fantastic job!!! We get to see your creative talents revealed bit by bit!!! Thanks for sharing this great idea!!! So creative!!!

(I can't wait to see the cake topper!!!
: .)

Nan said...

They're really easy to make. I did them SEVENTEEN years ago!!! I can hardly believe it's been that long ago. Mom and Dad have been married sixty-seven years now!

I used Super-Sculpy which is a polymer clay available almost anywhere. You sculpt it then bake it in the oven and it turns really hard. Be very careful not to overbake or at too high temp. I belong to the "black noses" club because I walked away and didn't keep an eye on one of my heads I was baking.

I didn't use the colored sculpy because they were so small. Instead I painted them with acrylic paint like you get in the craft dept. at Walmart and sealed it with a shiney sealer from the same aisle in the store.

I love it that I can look at the ornaments and remember little things about Mom and Dad's life together. I even had a plucked chicken and a dollar bill tied together on the tree to remember mom sending us to church followed by our dog Snowball, and how he always got into the chicken lot of the man who lived next door to the church and killed one of his chickens. So Mom started giving us a dollar every Sunday to pay for the potential victim.

zann said...

Excellent work! You are a true 3-demensional artist. Something I envy greatly.

I too am a member of the "black noses" club. Nearly burned down my apartment with sculpy back before I got married. Now DH who is much more detail oriented and less easily distracted helps me keep tabs on things. But I second the follow the baking instructions comment.

madretz said...

Oh Cate! These are wonderful. I'm just so sorry it took me so long to take a look at them. They're so cute and I love how they are so personalized.
I have a whole box full of polymer clay. I've done maybe 2 projects and thought I'd do so much more with it but alas, the box hasn't been cracked open in 2 years.