Instead of Ornaments

The sister missionaries from my church joined me again, this time to write love letters to Hawaii. The sisters will return tomorrow to help me string, label and package snowflakes that also will be sent for this year's Operation Ornaments. (And I hope to remember to take photos of us packaging this time around!) But for now, we wrote a bunch of love letters for Maui fire survivors. We are so excited to be able to help with this show of love and support!

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Operation Ornaments

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Early Snow

I'm pretty good about crocheting and stiffening snowflakes. I'm not so good about stringing them.

It's not that I don't like stringing them. It's more like move-on-to-the-next-snowflake mode. I also photograph every snowflake I create, and for the last couple of years, I've been photographing every snowflake on multiple color backgrounds for my digital snowflake temperature quilt panels.

Strings get in the way.

In more ways than one.

I discovered prior to my "snowflake party" last month that strung snowflakes can be a huge time hog. It took me more than an hour to detangle the hundred or so snowflakes in my decade-old stash to prepare them for donation. I should have snapped a photo, I know. Suffice it to say, I got the majority untangled before my volunteers arrived to help me begin packaging the snowflakes for donation to tornado and flood survivors in Alabama.

I invited the local missionaries from my church for lunch and stringing/packaging. We spent two hours stringing about 130 snowflakes and packaging them and the already strung ones.

Operation Christmas Ornaments from Near and Far has requested that each handmade ornament donated be placed in a resealable bag along with a message stating from whence the ornaments originate. Oh, and a message of hope and/or love...

I had been looking at other donations to get ideas for the messages we would be inserting. The first thing I decided was to hand write them instead of computer-print them. I tried to imagine what would be the most meaningful to me if I were to lose my home and then receive something as a gift from a total (and anonymous) stranger.

I thought of the cards I've received over the years following the death of a loved one, particularly when I was working at the newspaper. I received so many cards when my little sister was killed from all over the world from people I likely never will meet in person. I still have every single one. 32 years of safekeeping. They mean that much to me.

Sometimes there were typed messages, and those were nice, too. But the handwritten messages made me feel like someone -- often a total stranger -- took the time to sit down and write something with pen in hand specifically for me.

I confess, I am not that good anymore at writing messages by hand. I do it online now. I send my greeting cards via the site that prints them. I often include messages I type myself. Even my "Love, Deb and Brett" is typed. This snowflake donation project has made me wonder if perhaps I'm doing it wrong... Perhaps the messages I send each month should be handwritten. Particularly Christmas cards.

However, I'm faced with an economic viewpoint. I can pay to have the cards mailed to me so I can sign them by hand, which, I sadly admit, would be another drain on my time. Then pay to mail them again a second time. And then there's the time factor. Mailing them to myself and then to recipients would add an additional week or two to the delivery process, depending upon how much of my liesure time work gobbles up, especially during fourth quarter.

So for my own greeting cards, I'll keep sending them the way I have been doing for now. But for my snowflake donations, I want to do handwritten messages.

I printed up a bunch of my snowflake fabric designs on my own cheap little printer at home, on paper, and then cut the paper into 8ths and 16ths to make my snowflake messages. One goes in each bag with a strung snowflake.

Another time hog, but I used up all my colored ink! It often dries out because I don't use the printer often enough. I'm so happy not to have wasted this batch of ink!

I decided a brief but heartfelt message would be best, not just to budget my time, but also to KISS. Keep It Simple, Silly! I wrote "Love and prayers from Colorado" so many times, I actually ran out of ink in one pen!

I mailed the first package (yes, I do plan to send another to one of the other two states as soon as I string more snowflakes) last week.

Last weekend, the snowflakes were received. This is so motivating, it will help motivate me to get the next box in the mail before the Halloween deadline!

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Snowflake Monday

The office that employs me is moving to a new location. My bosses have been piling me up with old CDs and DVDs they need me to... well, you know, declutter. And recyle. Because they know that's what I do. I've glued a few CDs back to back to cover with snowflakes. I decided it's about time I make a few more CD snowflake ornaments!

I love making prototype CD coverings because even if I change up the pattern a bit, I end up with more ornaments than planned, and if I donate some of the extras, recipients aren't going to know or care if their ornament isn't THE final version.

When I started the first prototype for today's pattern, I intentionally created big gaps, thinking it might be fun to glue on some of the glow rocks leftover from the vases I created a year or so ago. (No, I don't make a profit from sharing that link; I'm just sharing it to make it easier for crocheters to find what I used.)

However, after I glued glow rocks onto the CDs of the prototype snowflake, I decided I like the snowflake better without the rocks.

I decided I like the shimmer of the CDs in the sunlight better than the glowing rocks in the moonlight. But, each to their own. You might like yours better with glowing rocks. The fun part of making snowflakes is we can personalize to our hearts' content. I plan to make a whole bunch of these (because I have about 200 CDs!!!) to hang on an outdoor tree this Christmas. I also plan to donate some to Operation Christmas Ornaments from Near and Far.

I also decided the modified pattern makes a pretty awesome snowflake!

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes and/or ornaments you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 4.5 inches from point to point for CD covering, 5.5 inches from point to point for modified standalone snowflake
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, 2 optional used and useless CDs, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, permanent glue for ornament, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener for snowflake, water, small container for soluble glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Kalte Sophie Snowflake Instructions (make 2 for CD ornament)

NOTE: If you are using this pattern to cover a CD or 2-CD stack (my ornaments are 2-CD stacks), gauge is going to be somewhat important. If your stitches are larger than mine (or if you use a larger thread size and hook), your snowflake will be bigger than the CD. If your stitches are smaller/tighter than mine (or if you use a smaller thread size and hook), you will need extra rounds to fit the CD. My dcs are .25 inches tall, and my trs are .5 inches tall. Any snowflake you've made measuring 4.5 inches across from point to point will fit a CD.

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 10 (counts as 1 dc and [ch 8), 1 sc in 7th ch from hook, ch 1, 1 dc in ring] 5 times; ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 10, ch 3, 1 tr in top of dc just made to form 6th ch 6 loop of Round. Pull magic circle tight.

Round 2: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 4 dc over post of tr directly below, [in next ch 6 loop work (5 dc, ch 8, 1 sc in 8th ch from hook, 5 dc)] 5 times; 5 dc in next ch 6 loop, 1 hdc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2, ch 3, 1 dtr in top of hdc just made to form 6th ch 7 tip of Round.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

NOTE: I switched up the ch 8 point with ch 15 instead and bound off here for an adorable little flake.

Round 3, First Snowflake: Ch 6 (counts as 1 tr and ch 2), over post of dtr directly below work ([1 tr, ch 2] 2 times, 1 tr), [ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, in next ch 7 tip work ([1 tr, ch 2] 3 times, 1 tr, ch 3, * 1 tr, [ch 2, 1 tr] 3 times)] 6 times, ending * on final repeat; sl st in 4th ch of starting ch 6; bind off. Weave in ends.

Round 3, Second Snowflake: Ch 6 (counts as 1 tr and ch 2), over post of dtr directly below work ([1 tr, ch 2] 2 times, 1 tr), [ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, **ch 1, 1 dc in corresponding sc picot of First Snowflake, ch 1, 1 sc in ** ch, ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, in next ch 7 tip work ([1 tr, ch 2] 3 times, 1 tr, ch 1, 1 sc in corresponding ch 3 tip of First Snowflake, ch 1, * 1 tr, [ch 2, 1 tr] 3 times)] 6 times, inserting CD(s) after 4th repeat and ending * on final repeat; sl st in 4th ch of starting ch 6. KEEP READING BEFORE BINDING OFF!!! If you are planning to hang your CD ornament outside, a strand of thread for hanging likely will not be strong enough to brave the elements (and may not be strong enough to hold the weight of 2 CDs). You may incorporate a ch 30 or so at the end before binding off to create a hanging loop (make the hanging loop big enough to fit over whatever you are going to hang the ornament from), or, you can glue or sew on a ribbon loop for hanging. A store-bought wire ornament hanger could be used, too. I used a six-inch piece of black acrylic worsted yarn. That should be pretty darned weatherproof! If you choose to chain a hanging loop, do so, then bind off. Weave in ends.

Round 3, Standalone Snowflake: Ch 6 (counts as 1 tr and ch 2), over post of dtr directly below work ([1 tr, ch 2] 2 times, 1 tr), [ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, in next ch 7 tip work ([1 tr, ch 2] 3 times, 1 tr, ch 10, * 1 tr, [ch 2, 1 tr] 3 times)] 6 times, ending * on final repeat; sl st in 4th ch of starting ch 6; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: For CD covering, carefully dab a tiny bit of glue over the center and finishing knot of each snowflake and gently massage in, quickly cleaning up with a cotton swab, or as I did, a drop of spit on my finger, any glue you accidentally get on a CD. After making a few of these, I decided it's easier to weatherproof the flake centers (and the finishing knot of the first snowflake) prior to joining and inserting CDs, just waiting a few minutes for glue to dry a bit before finishing up the ornament. Permanently attach desired hanging device if you didn't chain a hanging loop. Hang and step back to bask in the reflections the CD scatters!

For standalone snowflake, tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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