Gifts, revealed: ornmaments

As I described last year, it's our old tradition that I give Andi an ornament each Christmas, symbolic of that year, and our new tradition to do the same for Lucy. It was so much fun this year, decorating the tree and telling Lucy about each of our ornaments. She showed every visitor to our house her special ornaments, explaining who'd given each one. Pure joy.

So, this year...

I struggled to think of the perfect ornament for Andi. It's been a hard year, full of exhaustion and personal struggles. In the end, I settled on a wish for the new year:

A simple pillow, embroidered with a hope for "rest" and a heart on the back, stuffed with lavender for rest and rosemary for remembrance. (I'd show a picture of it on the tree, but it seems to have disappeared to wherever the cats stash their favorite ornaments.)

And for Lucy, a bird. I wavered between "birds" and "stories" for her, as she's both fallen in love with birds and asks a hundred times daily for a "story, Mama, story." In the end, I went with a bird, as she fell for them so soon and continued on in her love for them all year--from our chickens, to the seagulls in Bar Harbor, to the birds in our yard. And so I made her this simple embroidered wool bird, with a tail made from one of our chicken feathers:

(The embroidery was inspired by a book I bought as a gift for a friend...and now want for myself!)