11th Annual Ornament Exchange

This year we had two new girls attend our annual Ornament Exchange, with a total of 9 ladies.  We love our special night together; it's really one of the highlights of the Christmas season for me.  

My son is usually here to get our photos, but this year we were on our own and had to take selfies.  

The night begins in the kitchen, where we have appetizers, dinner and maybe even a little Christmas cocktail.  Everyone brings something to share and the variety is always so exciting.

Don't you just love Amy's dress?  Seriously, I would wear that if it was mine.  :)

Here we are snacking and waiting for everyone to arrive.

After dinner, we move to the family room and we each take turns telling about our ornament - how we got the idea, how we made it, etc.  Linda had taken a trip to the German market and ended up making us each a little Scandinavian horse.  

This is Kim and she made some pretty little trees that she sewed and added sewing embellishments onto.  

Amy found some greenery and made a cinnamon stick Christmas tree embellished with buttons.  Although I don't have photos of all of the ornaments (not sure why), they were all amazing!  The ladies spent so much time and effort into making their ornaments.

After our exchange, I have another ornament craft ready to make at the crafting table!  We wrap up the night crafting, chatting and just having a great time.  

I am honored to have these wonderful crafty friends and each year I can celebrate that by putting their ornaments on my tree.  Have you ever been to an Ornament Exchange?  Have you ever thought about hosting one?  You just need a few crafty friends to get started.