San Diego Ornaments

[Kayvee]

Last February my boyfriend and I moved from the Baltimore area to San Diego County.  In the months since we have had quite a few friends fly out to spend their vacations in southern California.  For Christmas I decided I wanted to do something small to celebrate their time out here. 




I went down to the beach and collected a little bit of sand for each ornament.  I then found seashell and wild animal buttons to represent a tiny piece of San Diego.  I also picked up a few holiday items, the candy canes and wrapped presents.  Since these will be shaken up in travel I decided to cut of the button holes on the back of each button with wire cutters. (If I had more time and my dremel tool I would have made sure the backs were completely flat, but since we are prepping to move back to Maryland I just didn't have time.)

So I glued like buttons back to back so that when they get moved around they are always visible and don't just show the back of a button.  Then I finished them off with a "So Cal '09."  They were really simple, but with my limited crafting time I am very pleased.     

[lucylost]

This is a great idea! I love the concept of gifting a little bit of the local to your friends through ornaments.

[calluna]

what a great idea! i was just trying to think of what things could fit into the tiny opening if i did beach-themed ornaments; you found a good amount of things so i may have to give it a try too. thin triangles of orange paint or paper in a circle around the top of the ornament, to look like the sun shining down, could be a cute addition. You made your friends the absolute best and most fitting souvenirs!