Pausing in Advent for Madonna and Child

Never having been much of a collector over the years, and with that being said, I do admit to having a few Christmas collections;  most years I search out at least one box of assemblages for seasonal display.  One collections is of angels, another is of Christmas ornaments, and the third is pictures and icons of the Madonna and Child.

At last count, I had 24 religious icons. Some are Romantic era pictures, and some are replicas from the Byzantine period.  Most have come from different countries, where I searched them out among coffee bars and trinket shops. It gives my heart a thrill to find one, purchase it, and carefully pack it up to carry home where it is then carefully nestled along with the other icons, awaiting their retrieval for living room display (in lieu of a tree) in the Advent Season.

Here are a few Madonna and Child icons/pictures in our cadre:

Do you have a collection of objects that you enjoy viewing and displaying?  If so, I would really like for you to comment.  And show me what you collect.

linked here:

The Madonna and Child has been a common topic of art throughout the centuries but they were most influential in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance time periods. Paintings of the Madonna and Child have been dated back to before the sixth century and have continued to appear throughout the ages even to the present day. Despite how old and how popular of a subject the Madonna and Child is, artists manage to show a great deal of variety and originality over the years.

Sequins and Seed Beads and Styrofoam Ornaments

Ten years ago, I came across a magazine article that gave a tutorial on making ornamental holiday balls to use either as gifts, tree ornaments, or to group together in bowls for light reflection. These sequined balls look especially nice with candles placed close to the sequin and beaded balls, because the light plays off the surfaces and gives a soft, glowing effect.

 

In total, I have made about 20 of these sparkly ornaments, all in different sizes. 

Supplies:

• Styrofoam balls in various sizes
• 8 mm sized sequins
• more clear plastic beads that come in one size at the craft stores, in packs of 100
• 3/4 inch sequins (silver is preferred)
• Beads with a hole big enough to fit on the pin and small enough that it won't slide past the head of the pin (size 9)
• Ribbon, optional for hanging

Directions

1) Spray different sized Styrofoam balls with acrylic paint (silver or gold being the preferred color for Christmas, ensuring a base of color which will show behind the sequins);

2) after the paint is not quite dry on the Styrofoam, generously sprinkle silver or translucent glitter on the ball;

3) place a (silver) sequin on the ball, thread a seed bead through a size 9 dressmaker's pin, and then thread on a plastic bead

4) stick the threaded pin onto the sequin, holding all together, almost like a shish-ka-bob

5) repeat so that just a little of the glittery paint peeks between the sequins

Here are a few of the sparkling sequin and bead balls which we display each holiday season

Try making a few, they are fun to put together and will last forever if you carefully pack them away.

Christmas Exchange

Betty (the Woodfairy) suggested a fairy or angel - fairy ornament exchange this season.  I was all over that one, boring this blog to the outer reaches of the blogosphere for a week or so with pictures of a tree fairy made to exchange with PomPom. 

Boy, did I ever reap the better part of that exchange!  PomPom sent not only an ornament, handmade and sweet, but a book and a card, all wrapped up so Christmassy that I did not want to even open it.  But I did.  Here is what she sent:

Darling girls, stuffed and embellished with heart buttons galore.

 The girls are holding flower bouquets.

And PomPom sent a sweet book Mollie Makes Christmas, with loads of Christmas crafts explained.

 

 Cute baby booties patterns, complete with beads.

Happy, happy !

 

 

Mercy says WOOF! (that means "Merry Christmas" and "see my scarf")

 

Thanks to Betty for suggesting the exchange, and to PomPom for all the goodies!  I hung the ornament on the outside wreath for sharing views with the neighbors.

 

Stefan Lochner (1442-1451